Library 103    Week Three

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Information About Newspapers

A newspaper is a periodical with the mission of presenting and commenting on the news. There are basically three types of newspapers: Those published daily, those published weekly, and those published for special interests. Basic characteristics of newspapers are as follows:

        Appear under the same title and editorship
        Use non-durable newsprint paper
        Are printed on presses with typeset
        Paging is not consecutive; ends with the particular edition

On-line newspapers are also a reality. Most on-line newspapers are free, but many times the free articles are only available for a short period of time. Many charge for searching and downloading past articles in their archives.

Newspapers provide the following advantages over other media:

        Usually cover more stories than other media
        Usually cover the stories in more depth
        Readers can absorb the news at their own pace
        Provide information that only a few readers want such as obituaries, stock reports, want ads
        Local coverage
        Editorials and columns comment on controversial issues

In spite of the advantages of newspapers, newspapers are decreasing. The high cost of labor and newsprint and distribution problems along with competition from the other media and the Internet have driven some newspapers out of business. As a result very few American cities have more than one daily paper. Those newspapers with increased circulation are national in scope such as USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, rather than regional.

Another trend is toward ownership of daily newspapers by large chains such  as the Times Mirror Company and the Tribune Company. Family owned newspapers with circulations over 300,000 are becoming very rare.

Not even the largest newspapers can afford to have reporters in every large city in the United States and the World, so newspapers rely on what are called News Services for their foreign and some of the national coverage. News Services have reporters stationed worldwide. The primary U. S. new services are the Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI). With the cutting back of staff to save money, more and more newspapers depend on these services. As a result, there is less in-depth and more uniformity of coverage.

The exception to these trends has been weekly ethnic newspapers, which are experiencing increased revenue and circulation. The largest growth has been in Hispanic weeklies.

The New York Times is known as "the newspaper of record," because it has included the full text of important speeches and official documents and also because of the completeness and quality of its news coverage.

The Pulitzer Prize in Journalism is awarded for articles published in newspapers and commend high standards in writing and reporting. To find out more information about the history and recipients of the Prize, you can go to the link: The Pulitzer Prizes.

Some basic newspaper terms to remember:

        Headline - the title or caption of a newspaper article usually appearing in large type.
        By-line - is the name of the writer or a story usually appearing under the headline.
        Lead - is the opening paragraph of a story summarizing the most important parts of the story.
        Editorial - is an article in a publication expressing an opinion of the editor or publisher.

Remember:

Newspapers vary widely in quality and coverage. The news items included depend on the editorial policy of the individual paper and the area where the paper is published.
For additional information about newspapers, complete the tutorial: How to Read a Newspaper, developed by librarians at Pennsylvania State University.
 

Electronic and Print Newspaper Indexes

Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe is the most extensive database available of full text newspapers, newsletters, newswires, trade journals, popular magazines, and broadcast transcripts and has extensive archives as well.
The main focus is in the areas of general news, business, law and medicine. This is a text only database and does not currently include photographs or charts or graphs.

The COS Library also has available an Newsbank Inc. online index to the Los Angeles Times and the Fresno Bee.

The newspaper print indexes that the COS Library carries are listed at the link: Index Titles Holdings.

The newspapers that the COS Library carries are listed at the link:    Newspaper Titles Holdings.

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Date Last Updated:11/13/06

For questions and comments please E-mail ginah@cos.edu