| Relative expertise of the reporter, or the individual
providing information about an event helps to create credibility in reports.When
one speaks about safety factors regarding nuclear power, the nuclear physicist,
has more relative expertise (a degree in nuclear physics) than the concerned
English professor/citizen who may have legitimate concerns, but whose areas
of expertise is not in nuclear physics.
The greater the relative expertise of a witness,
the higher the credibility of reports of that witness.
In the media today, we have many people professing to be "experts." It
is important, when possible, to assess the relative expertise of individuals.The
key question to ask is "How do they know?" have they studied extensively
in this area, have they lived in an area, do they have specialized knowledge
pertaining to the area in question.While everyone is entitled to their
opinion, some opinions carry more weight than others. |
