Civil rights: history, impact, and contemporary issues

¶ … PBS Web site "Eyes on the Prize," produced and narrated by Julian Bond. Specifically it will analyze the site's reliability and credibility.

The authors of this Web site created it as a companion to the 14-hour miniseries on Civil Rights that was broadcast on Public Television stations in 1987. The multi-faceted site reviews the series, adds additional information, offers transcripts of the episodes, and even offers the primary source documents and photographs used in creating the mini-series. There are also personal reflections, a timeline of events during the Civil Rights movement, and much, much more. In effect, this is a comprehensive site that looks at the history of black rights in America, and takes the viewer down the path of successful civil reform and need. If the authors' intent was to create a site full of relevant content and information, then they met their goals admirably, as this site provides a wealth of information for anyone from the amateur historian to the academic professional. The site is comprehensive, interesting, and informative, and the viewer could spend hours mulling over the information presented here.

Perhaps the biggest clue to the series' quality and success is its list of honors. The PBS Web site notes the film is "Winner of numerous Emmy Awards, a George Foster Peabody Award, an International Documentary Award, and a Television Critics Association Award, Eyes on the Prize is the most critically acclaimed documentary on civil rights in America" (Editors). The site's credibility and reliability are without a doubt, in part because the authors provide not only much evidence and information on the movement and its history, but they provide documentation of sources and further reading, as well. Thus, it is clear how the site was created, and how credible and reliable the information provided on it really is. Awards and accolades do not necessarily mean the site is credible, but in this case, they do provide additional evidence that the content is reliable and credible. That makes the overall effectiveness of the site hard to fault. It is comprehensive, but more than that, it presents the information in an interesting tone that is easy to read and navigate. In many cases, information provided on Web sites is good, but the information is hard to follow or find because of navigation problems. That is not the case here, everything is well labeled, easy to find, and easy to return to, if necessary. In addition, because the site provides so much information, it is effective because it gives a complete and comprehensive look at this moment in history that has become a milestone for civil rights around the world. When the viewer gets done visiting this site, they have a much wider understanding of the Civil Rights movement, including the people involved, why it was necessary, and how it has made a difference in all our lives today.