Library DIY

General characteristics of newspapers

• Coverage of current events, both local and national
• Eyewitness accounts of an event
• Are written in plain language
• Authored by staff writers and columnists
• Most articles are very short in length
• In-depth coverage of local issues (in local or regional newspapers) 
• The public's reaction to a specific event or issue
• The media's current portrayal, or portrayal over time, of a specific issue

Many newspapers are on the open Web, but some have paywalls for current issues or offer a limited amount of free access per month. 

When to use newspaper articles

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.

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.

Accessing newspapers through the BVU Library

The BVU Library subscribes to several newspapers in print format. However, many more newspapers can be found in the library's databases.  At the A-Z Database page, select "Newspaper articles" from the "All Article Types" options.

Which items are relevant to my topic

Found too little or too much