Week Three: Validating Websites

I found that the article I used on arming teachers and school staff was a commercial page for School Security consultants. This company is founded by Ken Trump, who is an official consultant on securing schools and communities. The article was biased in its opinion towards not letting school faculty be armed, because of his interests and potential work avenues. It didn't mention the pros to having staff armed, but repeatedly talked about the cons. There were no other resources mentioned to support these claims, other than Trump's own professional opinion. I looked at the archive for the website, from archive.org, and it originally was used to display the company and its services. The website is owned and operated by Ken Trump, according to easywhois.com. I really like the "easywhois" and the "archive.org". I also, looked at the external links and a blog appeared as the only external link. Media Matters is a non-profit organization that tries to disseminate factual and non-factual information from the media and disperse the truth to the public.

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What I found:

·         Domain Name: www.schoolsecurity.org

·         Extension: any organization

·         Not a personal page

·         Directory path: trends

·         Website is provided by and directed by 25-year career school security expert, Ken Trump

o    School Safety Consults’ Website

·         Easywhois.com

o    Domain Name:SCHOOLSECURITY.ORG
Created On:21-Mar-1998 05:00:00 UTC
Last Updated On:27-Sep-2009 16:28:10 UTC
Expiration Date:20-Mar-2019 05:00:00 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Melbourne IT, Ltd (R52-LROR)
Status:OK
Registrant : email: kentrump@aol.com
Admin ID:10687461628470
Admin Name:Kenneth Trump

·         Archive.org

o    November 11, 1998 (first look of website)

§  Discusses the professional services for safe schools and communities that Ken Trump and his associates can do for the reader.

§  List other professional resources and headline news about safe schools.

·         External links:

o    Linked to other pages on schoolsecurity.org

o    Linked to ken’s blog and twitter

·         Purpose of Links:

o    Promotion of offered services

·         Link command in Google:

o    http://mediamatters.org/print/blog/2012/12/20/conservative-media-take-up-call-to-arm-teachers/191932

§  This is a blog post from solange uwimana on December 20, 2012

§  Media for America claims it is a non-profit organization that monitors, analyzes, and corrects conservative misinformation in the U.S. media

·         Currency:

o    Last updated on April 21, 2013 (my birthday)

o    Expiration date: March 20, 2019

o    The page is not dated

·         Point of View/Biases

o    Against arming teachers

o    Biased because he offers services for schools and communities to make them safer

o    I believe it is a commercial piece

o    It is one-sided on the controversy of arming teachers

·         Accuracy and Reliability

o    There is no other sources listed or cited, except for quotes from Ken Trump

o    No outside links are created inside the article

·         About Intellectual Property/Copyright

o    http://www.schoolsecurity.org/disclaimers.html

o    "National School Safety and Security Services" ® and the service mark of a schoolhouse within a shield ® are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All rights reserved.

·         Author

o    Ken Trump

o    Provides e-mail, phone number, and location for author

o    Provides credentials and education of Ken Trump as well as interviews with various media outlets, print and otherwise.