Examiner.com

[shawmutt]

Who are these douchbags and what did they do to my Google news alerts? According to wikipedia, they are a group of "citizen journalists" (wiki link) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Examiner.com) What the hell is the difference between this and a blog? The main reason I only get news alerts, and leave out the blog alerts, is to avoid garbage like this. I searched around the site a bit, and there are a few decent articles, but for the most part it's Weekly World News meets the blogosphere.

Here I get sent such gems as today's headline: Swine flu better treated naturally with homeopathic medicine (video)" (http://www.examiner.com/x-11394-Spiritual-Pathways-Examiner~y2009m7d20-Swine-flu-better-treated-naturally-with-homeopathic-medicine-video).

I'm going to write Google about this, but I'm assuming nothing will be done. Does anyone know of anything similar to Google news alerts that filters out garbage like this?

[Denver]

Who are these douchbags and what did they do to my Google news alerts? According to wikipedia, they are a group of "citizen journalists" (wiki link) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Examiner.com) What the hell is the difference between this and a blog? The main reason I only get news alerts, and leave out the blog alerts, is to avoid garbage like this. I searched around the site a bit, and there are a few decent articles, but for the most part it's Weekly World News meets the blogosphere.

Here I get sent such gems as today's headline: Swine flu better treated naturally with homeopathic medicine (video)" (http://www.examiner.com/x-11394-Spiritual-Pathways-Examiner~y2009m7d20-Swine-flu-better-treated-naturally-with-homeopathic-medicine-video).

I'm going to write Google about this, but I'm assuming nothing will be done. Does anyone know of anything similar to Google news alerts that filters out garbage like this?

The examiner is an online unit of Philip Anschutz's Clarity Media Group Inc. Big money. Crappy content.

[shawmutt]

Well, I filled out a complaint, I'm curious to see what will happen.

[Questioninggeller]

Well, I filled out a complaint, I'm curious to see what will happen.

Keep us posted on any response.

I agree, I no longer view anything that comes from the Examiner.com because of such poor work. Everytime I see that as a source I skip passed it.

[Fnord]

Who are these douchbags and what did they do to my Google news alerts? According to wikipedia, they are a group of "citizen journalists" (wiki link) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Examiner.com) What the hell is the difference between this and a blog? ...
.
Professional Journalist: An otherwise ordinary reporter with a by-line, a regular paying job as a reporter, and at least two years at university towards a journalism degree.

Journalist: An otherwise ordinary reporter with a by-line and a regular, paying job.

Citizen Journalist: An otherwise ordinary reporter with a by-line, Internet access, and no job.

Blogger: See "Citizen Journalist."

Stringer: Any person that thinks they have something worthwhile to say to a reporter, with little or no credibility for what they're saying (a.k.a., "Unconfirmed Anonymous Source").

Reporter: That class of over-worked, underpaid hacks that put in their time, earn their chops, and really know what they're doing, but whose credit is taken by members of the "Journalist" class.

[shawmutt]

Followup:

I never did receive a reply for my email, but there was a subtle change. When an examiner.com link is given it looks different on the news alert. I'm not sure what that means. After a bit of Google searching (lol), I did find I'm not alone in complaining about the "news" service.

Screen cap of the news alerts now:

http://home.comcast.net/~shawmutt/screencap.jpg

[bryan]

You are right,

The Examiner has become a giant in the spreading of woo.

I live in the Denver area and the Examiner has become a way for the UFO types to have a public platform to spread beliefs without any kind of editing or fact checking.

The big one here is the guy who is pushing the "Extraterrestrail Affairs Commission" to be formed as a local government group. He takes anything that he can spin to fit the "If the government was not covering it up you would be safer and have more money" angle for the past year now.

The good thing is that most of the people reading Examiner articles seem to be posting negative comments, so maybe the "publisher" will take notice.

Another good thing is that it seems the Examiner is asking it's writers to find sponsors for the pages that they are on. So maybe this is the beginning of the end? I hope.