Analyzing Newspaper Articles

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AnalyzingNewspaperArticles

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Newsarticlesaretypicallywrittenintheso‐calledinverted

pyramidstyle,mostimportantinformationatthebeginningof

thearticleandincreasinglylessimportantdetailstowardthe

endofthearticle.Ifstructuredthisway,anarticlecanbeedited

fromthebottomuptomakeroomforadditionalnews

items

thatmighthavesincebroken.Theaimofmostnewsarticlesis

toanswersixquestionsaboutthehappeningsaboutwhichthey

report:

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Who

What

When

Where

Why

How

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Whilenewspaperarticlesarenottypicallythefirstchoicesforinclusioninacademicresearchpapersfor

their

analyticalcontent,theydoprovide first‐handaccountsofeventsthathavehistoricalsignificance

andareexcellentexamplesofprimarysources.

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Ofcourse,articlesfromnewspapersmightalsoserveotherpurposesinacademicresearch.Oneprime

examplewouldbeassupportforapaperanalyzingeditorialstylesofvariousnational

newspapersor

newssyndicates.Aresearchermightalsobeabletoassesstheleaningofthenewspaperbyreadingthe

editorialpage.Isthepaperconservative? Is thepaperliberal?Oristhepapermoremiddle‐of‐the‐road?

Havingasenseoftheinclinationofthepaper'seditorialstaffmight

beusefulinassessinghowa

particularsituationisanalyzedinaneditorial.Aresearcherrelyingoneditorialcommentaryona

particularsituationwouldwanttobeawareofanyinherentbiasinthecommentaryasameansfor

gaugingtheaccuracyoftheallegationsmadeintheeditorial.

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Someexamplesofresearchthatmighteasilydependonarticlesfromnewspapersinclude:

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 ContemporaryreportingoftheBayofPigsinvasioninCubain1961.

 ContemporaryaccountsofthesinkingoftheBattleshipMaineinHavanaharborin1898.

 ThecaptureandkillingofLibya'sGadhafiinOctober2011.

 Publicsentimenttowardthe2003invasionofIraqbythe

UnitedStates.

 ConservativeandliberalanalysesofNATO'sinterventioninBosniain1995.

 ChangesincigaretteadvertisementsinnationalnewspapersoftheUnitedStatesfromtheearly

1900suptotoday.

 ExcerptsofLincoln'sNovember19,1863,Gettysburgaddresspublishedatthetimeofits

deliverywitheditorial

commentaryofthetime.

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Therearemanyotherpotentialtopicsforwhichnewspaperarticlescanserveasvaluablesourcesand

certainlyscientificandtechnologicalbreakthroughswillbereportedinnewspapers.Ofmoreimportance

toaresearcherkeepingtrackofadvancesinscienceandtechnologywouldbeannouncementsofwhere

thebreakthroughsweremadeandby

whom.Findingthescientificliteraturesurroundingthe

breakthroughwouldbethenextstepfortheacademicresearcher.

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WhereandHowtoFindNewspaperArticles

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Mostlibrariesnowprovideaccesstoarticlesfromnewspapersviaonlinedatabases.Acoupleofthe

mostcommonlyavailablesystemsthatcanprovideworldwideaccesstonewspapersareNewsBank,

ProQuest,andLexis‐Nexis.Anumberofdatabasesthatprovideaccesstomagazineandjournalarticles

alsoincludenewspapersin

theircoverage.Forexample,AcademicOneFile,inadditiontohavingarticles

fromawidevarietyofmagazinesandjournals,alsoprovidesaccesstothefulltextofnumerous

newspapers.Mostoftheseonlinesystemsarelimitedinthedatescovered,frequentlyprovidingaccess

fromthelate1990sforward.Anumber

ofdatabasevendors,however,arebusilyscanningolder

publicationsandmakingtheirarticlesavailableonlinethroughlibraries.AnexampleistheEarly

AmericanNewspaperscollectionmarke tedbyNewsBank/Readex.Thiscollectioncoversnewspapers

publishedintheUnitedStatesfromaround1730upthroughthe1920s.Notalllibrarieswillhaveaccess

tothiscollection.

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ArchivesofsomenationalcalibernewspapersliketheTimesofLondonandtheNewYorkTimeswillbe

availableinmanylibrariesonmicrofilm.Bothofthesenewspapershavetheirownprintedindexesand

evenofferonlinesearchandretrievalforafee.Manylibrarieswillalsolikely

housemicrofilmof

importantlocalpapersaswell.

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GoogleisbusilyscanningnewspapersandmakingthemsearchableandviewableovertheopenInternet.

Aresearchercangotone ws.google.comtoaccessnewsarticles availablethroughGoogle.Whileit

featurescurrentlyavailablecontentonline,oncearesearcherdoesasearchof

thenewsforahistorical

topic,Googlewillprovidedaterangestowhichthesearchcanbelimited,in manycaseshelpingthe

researcherlocatecopiesofarticlesasearlyasthe19thcentury.Forexample,aquicksearchonU.S.

PresidentWilliamMcKinleyresultsinarticlesasfarbackas

1869,theyearthathewaselectedpresident.

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Whattokeeptrackoftoadequatelyciteanewspaperarticle.

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Articleheadline

Articlebyline

Newspapername(andplaceofpublicationifithasacommon title)

Dateofthenewspaper

Pageandcolumnofthearticle

Wherethearticlewasretrieved(inprint,fromadatabase,online,etc.)

Whenthearticlewasretrieved(thisisespeciallyimportantifthearticlewas

foundontheopen

Internet)

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ReadingbyJimAlderman.UpdatedMarch2014.

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