Critical review of web content

1. Critical Review of Website
Analyze content of
http://www.rythospital.com/2011/

2. Critical Review of Website
Analyze content of http://www.rythospital.com/2011/
WHO
Personal page or site? RYT Hospital – corporate site
Contact information No address, phone number or e-mail listed. Just
message form to be submitted for information.
Author or publisher Non listed other than hospital
Organization credentials Simple web search for [RYT Hospital] lists several results
that claim this site is a hoax
Bios or resumes No bios or resumes for medical professionals mentioned
Credibility of contributors Doctors listed do not appear in simple searches; the
pharmaceutical company, Nevardis, and the medication,
Rivitalex do not exist outside of site
Source: kathyschrock.net

3. Critical Review of Website
Analyze content of http://www.rythospital.com/2011/
WHAT
Type of domain .com
“About Us”
section
Looks very credible at first glance but then lists several medical
innovations that seem more like science fiction than medical
science. These include male pregnancy; NanoDocs, nanotech
robots which monitor a person’s body status in real-time while
traveling through their blood and tissue; first transgenic mouse
with human intelligence
Site navigation Site is very easy to navigate and slickly designed
Documented
facts or opinions
There is a testimonial listed from a Broadway dancer who claims
she was performing again one week after nanotechnology
procedure; there is no specific mention of which procedure nor is
the dancer well known; a Yahoo search does list a Cynthia Smith as
a former dancer with Sesame Street Live who now teaches dance in
NYC.
Source: kathyschrock.net

4. Critical Review of Website
Analyze content of http://www.rythospital.com/2011/
WHEN
Date created or
updated
No date listed; copyright has no date
Links current Most links do not work and revert back to original info;
Site navigation Site is very easy to navigate and slickly designed
Source: kathyschrock.net

5. Critical Review of Website
Analyze content of http://www.rythospital.com/2011/
WHERE
Source of
information
RYT Hospital is affiliated with Dwayne University Medical College.
Neither entity exists elsewhere and are not affiliated with any
other university or established medical research institution
External links No external links; no mentions of other sites or
medical/governmental agencies
References No bibliography or sources listed
Info found via
other sources
The medical innovations discussed cannot be found elsewhere
Source: kathyschrock.net

6. Critical Review of Website
Analyze content of http://www.rythospital.com/2011/
WHY
Reason for site There is no apparent motive for the website other than promoting
RYT Hospital and its “innovations”; search results do claim it is a
hoax but the website is quite elaborate
Information
useful
The information is not useful because it is unsubstantiated
Selling product There are no product offering or external ads promoting
merchandise
Advocating
agenda
Website does not promote any specific agenda; information listed
in the “factual” style used by medical institutions; the lack of bias
adds to the site’s presumed credibility
Source: kathyschrock.net

7. Critical Review of Website
Analyze content of http://www.rythospital.com/2011/
Bottom Line
Is the website a credible source of information?
NO
Yet, if you entered via the patient care or education
page the site could appear rather plausible.

8. Critical Review of Website
Analyze content of http://www.rythospital.com/2011/
A deeper web search of RYT Hospital website finds that it is actually part of an art
installation by Virgil Wong. Wong is a graduate faculty member in the MFA media
studies program at The New School University in New York. He developed the
project to demonstrate that the visual conventions of an institution (logo and
website) can produce an aura of credibility which “coaxes viewers to suspend their
disbelief for just a moment and consider the remarkable implications if such
stories were actually true” (Eifmova & Wong, 2003).
In 2009, the New York Times reported that it “promotes a fictitious medical center
— its Web site, rythospital.com, is disarmingly authentic — that specializes in
male pregnancy (Ryzik, 2009).
This may be an extreme case of misinformation on a website but it highlights the
most important part of evaluation –
ALWAYS LOOK BEYOND STYLE FOR SUBSTANCE

9. References
Ryzik, M. (2009, May 10). ‘HomeBase IV’- at an abandoned clinic, artists reflect on
home. The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/arts/design/11home.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adx
nnlx=1354471295-7jnKxru21fXx5goD1GjYhQ
Scheibe, C. & Rogow, F. (2008) 12 Basic Ways to integrate media literacy and critical
thinking into any curriculum (3rd ed.). Project Look Sharp, Ithaca College. Retrieved
from http://www.ithaca.edu/looksharp/Resources%202/12BasicWaysBooklet.pdf
Schrock, K. (2001). The five w’s of web site evaluation Retrieved from
kathyschrock.net/abceval/5ws.pdf
Efimova, A. (Interviewer) & Wong, V. (Interviewee). 2003. Art exhibitions G-Commerce
(Interview Transcript). Retrieved from University of California, Berkeley Art Museum
and pacific Film Archive Web site: http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/art/AN0208