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CONN 322: Jihad, Islamism, and Colonial Legacies: Newspaper & Magazine Sources

This library research guide is intended for students enrolled in Connections 322, taught by Prof. Sam Kigar.  It provides resources and research strategies for the "Knowledge of Islamism" project.

Use the three tabs above to find research tools and tips for each of the three parts of the assignment:  newspapers and magazines, policy-oriented papers, and critical academic works.

Newspaper Resources

For your news articles, you may wish to consider mainstream national newspapers, regional newspapers, ethnic or alternative press newspapers, and perhaps, news magazines.

  • Mainstream national newspapers have a national readership beyond their geographic scope.  Examples include The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, and Los Angeles Times. These newspapers are the most likely to include original news reporting on international and national events, as well as op-ed pieces.
     
  • Mainstream national magazines with strong news content include Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Nation (left-leaning), New Republic (left-leaning), National Review (right), and others.
     
  • Significant regional newspapers include the Atlanta Constitution, Star Tribune (Minneapolis), San Jose Mercury News, Baltimore Sun, Denver Post, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, etc.  News articles on international and national topics tend to be taken from the national newspapers, but op-ed pieces likely consist of both syndicated pieces and local viewpoints.
     
  • While most ethnic and alternative press newspapers have local readerships, there are some that are more national in scope.  These include Chicago Defender (African American), Azizah (Islam/women), Sojourners (Christian/social justice), and more.  These occasionally publish original reporting, but you may find them useful also for op-ed pieces.

The following full-text newspaper databases will help you discover news articles for your project.  As you search for articles relevant and appropriate for this assignment, pay close attention to the sources of the articles.  (Search for the newspaper in Wikipedia to learn more about the history and readership of the newspaper.)  Also focus on whether the articles are news reporting or op-ed; most databases will indicate the type of article you are looking at.

 

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News & the Political Spectrum

Where does a newspaper or magazine fall on the political spectrum?

There is no completely clear answer to this question because there is no one exact methodology to measure and rate the partisan bias of news sources.

Here are a couple of resources that can help:

The Allsides Bias Ratings page allows you to filter a list of news sources by bias (left, center, right).

AllSides uses a patented bias rating system to classify news sources as left, center, or right leaning. Components of the rating system include crowd-sourcing, surveys, internal research, and use of third party sources such as Wikipedia and research conducted by Groseclose and Milyo at UCLA.