I've been messing around with cracked.com of late. This seems like a good place to try getting published, especially if you've never been published before. I was surprised by how serious they seem to be about having good credible sources for the facts they use. But, the trick is, it has to be online so they can link to it. No using some old leather bound tome that you pulled off the shelve (unless, it's been scanned onto the web - which, if its really old is likely to have happened.)
So, with that in mind (at the moment), below are links to sources I've found to be interesting possibilities for doing online research.
Smithsonian - with lots of categories like history, science, arts & culture, and travel - this is a treasure trove of interesting information
Brought to Life - is a website provided by the Science Museum, London. It offers access to images of thousands of fascinating objects from the Museum’s great medical collections. The site also incorporates detailed descriptions, introductions to major themes in the history of medicine and engaging multimedia.
Sources Used by Cracked.com -- Since this is my current focus, and the main reason for this particular blog entry, I'm going to note the sources that cracked.com has used below, with maybe some stats and/or info on the source.
From one of the 20 Most-Read Cracked Articles of 2018, I found the following sources being used:
RESEARCH CENTER SITES:
Pew Research Center (2) - According to their website, the "Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. We conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research. We do not take policy positions." Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
The Brookings Institute (1) - According to their website, the "Brookings Institute is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC. Our mission is to conduct in-depth research that leads to new ideas for solving problems facing society at the local, national, and global level." Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
NEWS SITES:
NPR (3) - One of my favorite news sites, so I'm putting it up here at the top! Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
BBC News (1) - Another of my favorite news sites. Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
The Atlantic (2) - A credible news site, with lots of interesting sections such as politics, culture, technology, ideas, science, books, family, business, global, health, and education. Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
Bloomberg (1) - A very credible news site with a focus on Business and Investing, but also a lot about Politics. Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here. This one requires a subscription, however, with a number of free views. I think it gave me five, and was counting down as I read stories. I'm not sure how long it takes to refresh back to my having freebies again once I use them all up.
CBC (1) - This looks like Canada's version of the BBC. Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
Washington Post (3) - This one requires a subscription, however, with a number of free views. I don't know how many free views, I'm not sure how long it takes to refresh back to my having freebies again once I use them all up. I do love their tagline, "Democracy Dies in Darkness."
The New York Times (1) -
HuffPost (1) - Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here. But, personally, their reporting does feel very skewed to me, so...
NBC - Dallas Fort Worth (1) - NBC is an obvious news source. I'm not certain if I'll keep links to the various affiliates or combine them all. For now, I'm keeping them separate. Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
ABC News - FiveThirtyEight (1) - ABC is another obvious one. I'm not sure where this affiliate is based (California??). Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
CNN (2) - This used to be one of my favorite news sites. They definitely leaned left, which was ok with me. But then when Trump became president they seemed to throw out any pretense of trying to be unbiased and so now I only go there on occasion, just to get the far left's view on things (kind of like I do with Fox for the other side's view). Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
UPI (1) - a news site - used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here. Of note is the "Odd News" section.
SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY SITES:
Phys.org (1) - This is an interesting science website, and the first non-news site that I've found being used on cracked.com, Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
EurekAlert! (1) - From the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). According to their website, "EurekAlert! is an online, global news service operated by AAAS, the science society. EurekAlert! provides a central place through which universities, medical centers, journals, government agencies, corporations and other organizations engaged in research can bring their news to the media. EurekAlert! also offers its news and resources to the public. EurekAlert! features news and resources focused on all areas of science, medicine and technology." Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
Science News (1) - Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
Ars Technica (1) - According to their website, "the name is Latin-derived for the "art of technology"—we specialize in news and reviews, analysis of technology trends, and expert advice on topics ranging from the most fundamental aspects of technology to the many ways technology is helping us discover our world."
SSRN (1) - Is a site with scientific papers. I believe most if not all require you to pay to see the full paper, but you can see abstracts. While you would never rely on an abstract alone if citing it in another scientific paper, for Cracked's purposes it is sometimes enough to support the point being made. Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
American Economic Association (1) - According to their website, "Established in 1885, the AEA is a non-profit, non-partisan, scholarly association dedicated to the discussion and publication of economics research. The Association supports established and prospective economists with a set of career-enhancing programs and services." Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
LAW SITES:
American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (1) - According to their website, APPL (pronounced "apple"), is an organization of psychiatrists dedicated to excellence in practice, teaching, and research in forensic psychiatry. Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
GOVERNMENT WEBSITES:
Department of Commerce (1) - Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
Department of Education (1) - Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
National Center for Health Statistics (1) - Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
The National Center for Biotechnology Information (1) - Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
HIGHER LEARNING SITES: Carnegie Mellon University (1) - I think all major universities are good sources for interesting information, although they vary widely as to how well the information is organized. Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
University College London (1) - Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
University of Arizona (1) - Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
Marginal Revolution (1) - I'm not sure yet if I'm going to make a "blog by experts" entry or not. If so, I'll probably move this to there. Otherwise, since it's written by professors, I'll leave it here for now. According to their website, "Marginal Revolution is the blog of Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok, both of whom teach at George Mason University. MR began in August of 2003 and there have been new posts daily since that time. In numerous reviews and ratings over the years Marginal Revolution has consistently been ranked as the best or one of the best economic blogs on the web, but it is more (and less) than that, also representing the quirks of its authors." Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
YOUTUBE SITES: I think YouTube has been one of the biggest surprises for me since I've started looking for information for Cracked. I'm guessing their search function must be very user friendly, or at least it's proving very intuitive for me personally as I keep finding what I'm looking for by searching their site. I do think it interesting to see what specific YouTube posters that Cracked is using, so here are some of those:
Joseph Anderson (1) - This seems to be a videogame focused, and it seems to be some guy's comments on the games. Nonetheless, it was used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here. (He basically only used it to say he had watched one of the videos to reinforce his own opinion of something, so not using it as an info source really -- I'll probably drop this entry at some point)
TABLOIDS:
Us Weekly (1) - This is one of the few surprises for me as to Cracked's use of this, as I don't think of this as a news site so much as a celebrity tabloid. I do think it's appropriate for very limited certain things, like talking about a famous person's reputation or accusations, but not so much to support facts. It was used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
OTHER SITES:
Wikipedia (1) - I saw in more than one place that cracked.com doesn't prefer wikipedia as a source, but then this isn't the first time I've seen it used. They do, I believe, say it's ok under certain circumstances. But probably more important is the fact that the story isn't centered around the wikipedia cite, it's really just a small aside. Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
Amazon (1) - This is an interesting source of information. There's pretty much no denying that a thing exists if it's being sold on Amazon! And, sometimes you can use Amazon to get inside a book you might otherwise might not be able to cite. Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
Campus Safety Magazine (1) - According to their website, "Campus Safety (CS) magazine and CampusSafetyMagazine.com exclusively serve campus police chiefs, security directors, IT personnel, emergency managers and executive administrators involved in the public safety and security of major hospitals, schools and universities in the United States." Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
Australian Human Rights Commission (1) - Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here. I think this one is a good example showing how broad Cracked can be with their sourcing.
The Slate Star Codex (1) - I'm not really sure what this is. I think it's a very long and complicated personal blog. But I'll have to wander around it some more to know for sure. For now, I know that it was used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here, although he does call it an "interesting writeup" when he cites it.
Wonkette (1) - Another one where I'm not sure what it is. Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
RAINN (1) - An anti-sexual violence organization. Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
Cracked (1) - Yes - sometimes Cracked cites themselves. Good to know! But, it probably has to be some small point in an article. I wouldn't point it out while pitching since it would look like it's been covered already. And, while I'm new, I'll probably just avoid it all together (I note that here it's being done by an editor - so he know's he's safe to do it). Used by Cracked Executive Editor Jason "David Wong" Pargin here.
