The Offensive Parade Float: A Discussion of Unrestricted Web Publishing

An Independence Day Float in Norfolk, Nebraska, angered some residents and is gaining attention on social media. It depicted President Obama's Presidential Library as an outhouse. In The Huffington Post article 'July 4 Parade Features Obama Presidential Library Outhouse Float,' describes the negative reactions of some Norfolk citizens and actions taken by the Nebraska Democratic Committee.

In this post I'll discuss the credibility of the article's author, Mollie Reilly, and the article's source using the Criteria to Evaluate the Credibility of Web Resources.

Mollie Reilly is the Deputy Politics Editor at the Huffington Post, a reputable online news publication, and has been formally trained in both English and political science from Colgate University. She has interned at news organizations and worked her way up the chain of political reporting. Her background qualifies her to report on the article, which deals with the division between Obama's supporters and his opponents, and the arguments of racism vs. free speech. She has authored hundreds of articles on political subject matter for the Huffington Post dating back to September 2011.


Photo courtesy of The Gazette

The article's tone does not appear to be biased, Ms. Reilly merely states the facts that the float did appear in this year's Independence Day Parade; some residents were angered, including a resident of Kenyan descent who wrote to the mayor to complain; while others were not, including a parade committee member who defended the float and compared it to a political cartoon. Ms. Reilly covered both sides of the controversy and offered no indication of her opinion of the matter.

The article cites the following sources: an Omaha World Herald article and a Lincoln Journal Star, both are online publications (news and journalistic site) that cover news stories of Nebraska. The authors of both articles are staff writers who cover a variety of topics for the publication, not just political news. These sources also pass the credibility checklist.

In reviewing the three articles I saw how they differed in the author's storytelling. Ms. Reilly's article didn't offer much emotion, simply stating the facts; however, the other authors, Hunter Woodall and Mara Klecker, offered vivid detail of the scenery of the parade route, the cheers of the residents, and the reaction of Glory, the Kenyan immigrant who said she and her daughter were frightened by what they saw. Both articles delved into Glory's feelings and her feelings of the racial undertones of the float. Though these articles spurred emotion, I still believe they were unbiased because they offered as much time to those officials who were not offended and defended the float.

An impact of unrestricted web publishing through mass media is that it allows for varying view points of the same topic. Where Ms. Reilly's article only touched briefly on Glory and her reaction, Mr. Woodall and Ms. Klecker's article allowed us a glimpse into why Glory was so frightened, which has roots in her upbringing. By reviewing these additional sources I feel I was told a more complete story. One that might not have been possible with just one. Unrestricted publishing shows us that the same story can be told from different angles, all while remaining accurate and unbiased.