How to Find: Newspapers

Media sources keep us informed, discussing current or recent information of either general interest (for example daily newspapers like The Australian or the New York Times), or a specific subject focus (e.g. political or trade news like the Foreign Policy or the Australian Financial Review).

Media sources include newspapers, magazines, TV current affairs programs, online news organisations and news blogs.

Image: News Daily Newspaper Press by Michael Gaida CC0

News and other media sources provide up-to-date reporting on events as they are occurring, while journal articles and books may take months or years to move through the publication process.

Media sources are great for images, quotations, opinions, and other primary source material. They can:

• Present issues in the context of when they occurred. The way issues are discussed is likely to closely align with the feelings and opinions of the general population at a particular time;
• Seek comment or opinions from representatives of both sides of an argument, providing multiple points of view about an issue;
• Present statistics as they are released, including data related to jobs, economic outlook, health, companies and industries.

News and other media sources reflect matters that are of interest to the population they serve, whether that be the general public or a more specific audience.

Searching for news and media sources may require a different approach than searching for journal articles or other academic content.  As news and media sources are usually aimed at a general audience, you will need to consider the audience.

It is also best to avoid using technical language and discipline-specific jargon in your search to increase your chance of success.

Consider the difference between the language used in the newspaper article headline and the journal article title below:

Newspaper headline:

Journal article title:

You can find newspapers and other media sources by searching Google, however some of the content may be a behind pay-wall, and you may not be able to access the full content without paying for a subscription. If this happens, try searching in the databases listed below.

Newspapers

It is important to evaluate the information you discover on the Internet. Check out the Library's guide below for more information.