Research Guide for Journalism Project

Selecting a Journalism Topic

Journalism is a broad topic that encompasses a wide range of news and media related issues. Your first task is to locate a list of related subjects to the field of Journalism. The library offers a variety of resources, both online and in print, to use in identifying Journalism related subject headings. These sources include: the RHS Catalog, Library of Congress Subject Headings Index or Subject Specific Encyclopedias.

Search Terms for Journalism

Here is a brief list of related terms in the field of Journalism

There also are a variety of subtopics related to Journalism that could be the focus of your research:

Journalism -- Ethical aspects.
Journalism -- Moral and ethical aspects See: Journalistic ethics
Journalism -- Objectivity.
Journalism -- Political aspects.
Journalism -- Social aspects.
Mass media -- Ownership.
Mass media and propaganda.

Selecting a Topic (example)
Select a topic you are interested in.

General Topic: Federal Communications Commission

Find Background Information on your Journalism Topic

A Subject Encyclopedia is an excellent place to begin your research. It provides you with background information, a historical overview of your journalism topic and a bibliography of additional resources and/or websites.

Click on Gale Virtual Reference Library and type in your topic.

1. Gale Virtual Reference Library

You can conduct a general keyword search throughout the 100's of subject encyclopedia in GVRL, or go directly to the Encyclopedia of Journalism.

Narrow Your Topic: Media Ownership

Most of us start with a broad topic when we have to choose a topic for a research paper. Narrowing the focus of this broad topic can be difficult. That is why doing some background research/reading on your topic is helpful. It will assist you in coming up with ideas on how you might narrow that topic even more.

Example: Click here for an example of a broad topic being narrowed down to a more manageable scope.

Narrowing your Topic worksheet with strategies you can use to narrow the focus of your Topic.

Formulate a Research Question:
After you narrow the focus of your research, formulate a research question using WHAT, WHY or HOW.

For example:

WHAT impact has corporate ownership of the media had on a journalist's ability to provide objective news coverage to viewers or readers?

WHY did the Federal Communications Commission change the rules on media ownership allowing large corporations to dominate local media markets?

HOW has corporate ownership of the media affected the content and news coverage of the major television networks?

Example of Research Questions related to a Journalism topic.

Research Question Assignment

Identify Your Key Search Terms

Select the Question that most appeals to you and identify the keywords from the question which could be used to locate information that will help you answer your Research Question.

Example of identifying keywords from a research question, and alternate keywords.

Find Books on your Journalism Topic

Once you have identified the area or aspect of Journalism you want to research, you need to determine if there are any books or videos that deal with your topic.

1. Click on RHS Book Catalog from the Library’s Home Page and type in your topic.

2. Clicking on this Subject Heading will bring up all titles in the catalog that deal with this topic.

Find Articles on your Journalism Topic

The following Research Databases are the most appropriate ones to use in locating magazine and journal articles about journalism related topics.

1. Academic Search Premier

Using the Keywords from your Research Question will locate articles from academic journals in this database.

2. Expanded Academic ASAP

A Subject Term search in Expanded Academic allows you narrow your topic by subdivision.

2. Student Resources in Context

This database provides a combination of magazine, newspaper, reference books, primary source documents and biographical sources.

3. Discovering Collection

You can obtain a historical perspective on your journalism topic from this research database.

4. Biography in Context

You could choose to do a report on a prominent journalist. Biography in Context, in most cases, will provide you with several biographical reference sources, magazine and journal articles and recommended web sites on the journalist you select.

5. Global Issues in Context

If you wanted to compare how different events are covered by international media, take a look at this database, Global Issues in Context. It gives you a global perspective on your journalism topic. For example: do a keyword search for “war correspondent”. This database also provides video clips and broadcast transcripts with an actual war correspondent.

Web Resources for Journalism Topics

American Journalism Review ( http://www.ajr.org/ )
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press http://www.rcfp.org/
Center for Investigative Reporting http://centerforinvestigativereporting.org/
Columbia Journalism Review http://www.cjr.org
Comics Research Bibliography http://www.rpi.edu/~bulloj/comxbib.html
Committee to Protect Journalists http://www.cpj.org/awards/
Daily Censored - underreported news and commentary http://dailycensored.com/
Early Radio History http://earlyradiohistory.us/index.html
Journalist Resources - examines news topics through a research lens http://journalistsresource.org/
Media Freedom International http://www.mediafreedominternational.org/
Media Matters http://mediamatters.org/
Newseum http://www.newseum.org/
Paley Center of Television and Radio http://www.paleycenter.org/
Project Censored http://www.projectcensored.org/
Project for Excellence in Journalism http://www.journalism.org/
Pulitzer Prize http://www.pulitzer.org/
Pulitzer Prize Winning Photographs http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/archivedexhibits/pulitzer/
Syndicated Comics http://www.ucomics.com/comics/