Short Assignment 4: Wikipedia Fact Check

Wikipedia Fact Check: The Walt Disney Company

Did you know that on this day in 1923, Roy and Walt Disney founded The Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, which would eventually become the Walt Disney Company?

·                What kinds of sources do the article you are assessing use? 

   The types of sources include news articles by TIME, The New York Times, and other respected news organizations, Disney’s own financial records, industry related reports, and the archived web pages of several organizations, including the Catholic League.

·                Are any of those sources unreliable or not well-respected? Why do you think so? Are there any you are unsure of? Why? 

I am unsure of some of the news articles, because news can be biased, especially entertainment news, and in addition, the Walt Disney Corporation has become ‘Hollywood Legend’, which could lead to some exaggeration.

·                Check five individual facts in the article against the sources. Are the facts reported correctly in Wikipedia? If not, what is incorrectly reported? 

The facts are reported correctly.

·                Do you think the information in this article is generally reliable based on your analysis of the sources? Why or why not? 

I think it is generally reliable, since the sources are reliable and the article is styled like a timeline, and doesn’t contain anything sensational, apart from the amount of money that Disney earns annually (!).

·                Do you think the information is reliable based on the level of detail? Why or why not? 

Yes, because the level of detail includes over 80 sources, and information for further reading.

Analysis

In Lazere’s ‘Reading And Writing for Civic Literacy’, he states: “The word bias is an ambiguous one; it is usually, but not necessarily, used with a negative connotation. Bias can simply mean a particular subjective viewpoint….”

It was through this lens that I examined the sources of my selected Wikipedia article, especially in light of the standing that Walt Disney holds in the American Public’s hearts and minds. I wanted to make sure that the chronology of the growth of The Walt Disney Company was not misrepresented by an overzealous fan.

Fortunately, since the company has been in the public eye since the early 20^th century, there is a wealth of factual public records that can be used to verifiy the reliability of this article.