Website Critique : Journalism - Essay Example

However, it is important to distinguish between the purpose of a blog and the purpose of media sources. A blog is a purely opinionated piece, which may tend to give a heavy bias to a particular group. While bias is rarely completely absent from media coverage, it is expected that reputable news sources will do their best to tell the story omitting prejudicial biases. Powerline.com is a valuable source of information but its readers must take into account that the majority of pieces written for the blog have a heavy conservative twist in the writing.

The authors of Powerline.com are three lawyers that graduated from Dartmouth College together before pursuing their law degrees. John J. Hinderaker, Scott W. Johnson, and Paul Mirengoff produce a prodigious amount of opinion pieces per day. Their compiled biographies detailed on the site demonstrate an astounding array of scholarly achievement. Both Hinderaker and Johnson are published authors in prominent journals of law. According to his biography, Hinderaker has been named one of the top attorneys in the US by multiple achievement lists.

Their listed credentials alone give the authors a perceived authority on political topics. As the name may suggest, Powerline.com appears possessed by the notion of power, both globally and within the United States. The name assaults the viewer in big block print at the top of every page with impressive lightning bolts striking over a classical building façade. The layout of the pages are simple, sticking to the black backdrop built upon by white text boxes. Every page is also adorned with an American Flag overlaid with patriotic quotes from the Liberty Bell and Winston Churchill.

These simplistic images build upon the motif of power by constantly reminding the viewer of his patriotic duty. In this blog, it is the writers who holds the power of creation, which is demonstrated by the lightning bolts placed next to the writers’ names on each