As a journalist, reliable information and websites are an essential part of the job. Over the years, I have learned the best places to get what I need and know that I can count on the information being correct and truthful.
The Associated Press has long been the source of news. Long before the internet, every radio and television station and most newspapers got their non-local news from the Associated Press, Reuters, or UPI. Those were the days of “rip and read” where the news came through on a teletype machine and newscasters would literally tear the information off of the machine and go before the camera to read the “breaking news”.
The AP is still a very reliable source and one that many newspapers and such depend on for their news…including me. If you are a news outlet and can afford $560 each month, the AP will let you print their news verbatim with no issue of copyright. I don’t have that kind of money, but they are still a great source of information.
The Internet Movie Data Base and the Internet Broadway Data Base are excellent sources for information about actors, performers, and anyone associated with the entertainment business. When I see personal information on someone, I know I can rely on what I see; unlike sources like Wikipedia where there is a great deal of false and unreliable information. The day I saw Rod Stewart credited with songs he neither sang or wrote, I knew it was not a place to get what I needed.
All Music is a good place if you need discographies for artists. The bios are good for a chronological order of album releases and such but doesn’t have a lot in personal info…that’s what IMDB is for.
Lately, I have seen a great deal of “news” pertaining to NASCAR, but when I go to the official NASCAR website, there is no mention of nearly all of it. Facebook might be a great place to keep track of what friends and family is up to, but I would not depend on it as a complete source of news….at least not before checking other sources first. Racing News is good for getting NASCAR news as well.
And of course, if it wasn’t for Word Press, I wouldn’t have a site to post my own news.