Monday, January 24, 2011
Aspen's Top 5 News Sources for Reporters and Consumers!
Hello fellow Media students! Sometimes research can be agonizing and difficult, but over the last few years I feel like I have come up with some sources that would really help me if I was a true reporter. Depending on what kind of a story I was covering, I would try to stick to only direct sources of information. If my story was a political story, I would use a website like http://www.senate.gov/, where you can view recent floor activity, and all pieces of legislation from previous years. I have used this website before to research a piece of controversial legislation called the DREAM Act, and it really helped! Another great source I have used before is the website http://www.jstor.org/. This website lets you type in keywords and pulls up already published articles from various sources like medical journals, and encyclopedias, and it is a much more reliable source than wikipedia! Another great website like JSTOR is http://www.lexisnexis.com/. On this website you can pull up millions of different documents, and press releases, and it is a very reliable place to start gathering ideas and finding points of reference. Sometimes when you are writing you just need some facts, am I right?! Where better to look than the CIA World Factbook? You can find the website at https://www.cia.gov/index.html. At this website I can find maps, fact, stats, and other vital pieces if info when I am in a crunch. Another great place to start your research is via old news archives. You can find news archives on almost any online News source, for example: http://www.nbcnewsarchives.com. You can use news archives to get a baseline for your research! As a consumer, there are many different sites that I love to get my news from. The first is http://www.cnn.com/. The reason why I love to read CNN is because it you can have immediate access to breaking world news, and not just U.S. news, and I feel like the site is really organized and accurate. As a true Denverite, I love to read the Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com/. I can keep up on breaking news worldwide as well as news here in Denver! I like to keep up on sports, and my favorite sports website is obviously ESPN, http://espn.go.com/. As a female college student, I like to read a blod called College Candy, http://collegecandy.com/category/buzz/. College Candy lets me keep up with interesting College News, and it is very fun to read. Last but not least, as a consumer, I love to keep up with my music news! I love Rolling Stone! http://www.rollingstone.com/music, it is a great source to use.
Sources of News for Consumers and Journalist
5 sources of news that I could use as a consumer. These websites have a variety of current event information. They are essentially the equivalent of TV news stations available on the internet
1. http://www.msn.com/
2. http://www.newsweek.com/
3. http://www.yahoo.com/
4. http://www.nytimes.com/
5. http://www.espn.com/-for sports news
5 sources that I could use as a journalist. The reason I have profiled these websites as news sources I could use as a journalist is that they are the first hand accounts, primary sources, of information. The only way to get closer is to follow on twitter, but since tweets can be misinterpreted…
1. census- http://www.census.gov/
2. congress- http://www.house.gov/
3. presidential information- http://www.whitehouse.gov/
4. lil wayne’s official website- http://www.lilwayne-online.com/default.aspx
5. information on the broncos- http://www.denverbroncos.com/
1. http://www.msn.com/
2. http://www.newsweek.com/
3. http://www.yahoo.com/
4. http://www.nytimes.com/
5. http://www.espn.com/-for sports news
5 sources that I could use as a journalist. The reason I have profiled these websites as news sources I could use as a journalist is that they are the first hand accounts, primary sources, of information. The only way to get closer is to follow on twitter, but since tweets can be misinterpreted…
1. census- http://www.census.gov/
2. congress- http://www.house.gov/
3. presidential information- http://www.whitehouse.gov/
4. lil wayne’s official website- http://www.lilwayne-online.com/default.aspx
5. information on the broncos- http://www.denverbroncos.com/
Sources Exercise: Journalist vs. Consumer
5 SOURCES AS A JOURNALIST
Nielsen Ratings for the week of Jan. 3--
As a journalist, if I were covering anything about television, the Nielsen Ratings would be the first place I'd go. These ratings are the end-all-be-all statistic when discussing the popularity of specific programs, because they cannot be argued or refuted. Using the Nielsen Ratings is a great way to back up an argument about how you think "Two and a Half Men" is better than "The Big Bang Theory", if you were to write a column about it.
http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/top10s/television.html
Pacers at Nuggets Box Score Jan. 23--
Not unlike the Nielsen Ratings, box scores of sporting events are a great source of information. Purely factual, box scores provide a concise recap of the game and statistics to give even further insight on what happened.
http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=310123007
West Regional Forecast--
If I were covering anything in the western region that had an event outside, The Weather Channel is an obvious place to start the report. If there is heavy snowfall, or gusting winds, it is likely to affect that event, which would be something readers would like to know about.
http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/region-western-us-weather-forecast_2010-03-25
Nielsen Ratings for the week of Jan. 3--
As a journalist, if I were covering anything about television, the Nielsen Ratings would be the first place I'd go. These ratings are the end-all-be-all statistic when discussing the popularity of specific programs, because they cannot be argued or refuted. Using the Nielsen Ratings is a great way to back up an argument about how you think "Two and a Half Men" is better than "The Big Bang Theory", if you were to write a column about it.
http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/top10s/television.html
Pacers at Nuggets Box Score Jan. 23--
Not unlike the Nielsen Ratings, box scores of sporting events are a great source of information. Purely factual, box scores provide a concise recap of the game and statistics to give even further insight on what happened.
http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=310123007
West Regional Forecast--
If I were covering anything in the western region that had an event outside, The Weather Channel is an obvious place to start the report. If there is heavy snowfall, or gusting winds, it is likely to affect that event, which would be something readers would like to know about.
http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/region-western-us-weather-forecast_2010-03-25
The Los Angeles Times--
The LA Times is a newspaper that breaks a lot of stories on the west coast and nation wide. They are an accredited, established, newspaper, making them a quality journalistic source.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/
Channel 7 News Denver--
For a local story, there is a very good chance that Channel 7 News Denver has a reporter on the scene. Many times, they are there live, even breaking into other programs if they deem the story important enough.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/index.html
5 SOURCES AS A CONSUMER
Facebook--
For news on friends, there is no better place to go than Facebook. I am even "friends" with my favorite sports teams on Facebook, allowing me access to photos, news, and announcements that I may have otherwise missed.
Deadspin--
A website comprised of bloggers, Deadspin uses citizen journalism more than any other sports website I've read, having readers send along the stories via email. The writers then post the stories with some of their own analysis mixed in.
The New York Times--
As a journalist, the New York Times may be too long of a read for my purposes. As a consumer, The New York Times is informational and entertaining, offering lengthier, more in-depth articles.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/25/world/europe/25moscow.html?_r=1&hp
USA Today--
USA Today offers many different avenues in news output, with a multitude of different categories to choose from such as travel, weather, sports, and technology.
Twitter--
Twitter is becoming more and more relevant because it is the fastest way to break news. By cutting out reporters, the breaking stories reach the public much quicker. If I am following Chad Ocho Cinco, and he is traded this afternoon, I may read his tweet about it before he tells a reporting source such as ESPN.
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