The message
from "JennyC" contains these words:

"Janet Baraclough" wrote

Imho trawling usenet archives for unverifiable soundbites hardly
counts as research...or even, professional journalism :~}
Janet.

So what counts as serious research Janet ?
Surely the web is just as reliable or not as other sources ........?

I referred to archives of usenet discussion groups, where misguided
advice or opinion from an inexperienced ignoramus is recorded together
with the careful observations of those who have learned from experience.
A "researcher" with no personal knowledge of a particular field,would
have the greatest difficulty in sorting the wheat from the chaff, and
any conclusions he drew would therefore be suspect.

Janet