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Effective Use of Secondary Sources in Journalism

Learn how to effectively utilize secondary sources like newspapers, broadcast reports, magazines, and books for journalistic research. Understand the importance of fact-checking and verifying information to enhance the credibility of your reporting.

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Effective Use of Secondary Sources in Journalism

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  1. Secondary sources Building on previous reports

  2. The first draft of history • Journalism is often called “the first draft of history” because it is the first reporting on an event/person/issue. • Primary sources: Official reports. • Secondary sources are previous reporting on an issue. • Newspapers, magazines, books, broadcast reports.

  3. A starting point • Seeing what has been reported previously on an issue can lend insight or yield a pattern. • Be careful when using secondary sources, though – what is reported may be inaccurate. • Check to see if there were any corrections, follow-ups, etc. • Can I talk to the original reporter?

  4. Newspapers • Check the paper’s website or, you may physically visit its “morgue.” • Good place for info that may be part of your story. In addition to issues and government coverage:- birth announcements, wedding announcements, obituaries, police blotter, legal notices (estates, property sales, divorces, name changes.)

  5. Broadcast reports • More broadcast reports are available online all the time. • In addition to the video/audio component, adding written accounts. • YouTube

  6. Magazines • Many magazines are making their entire archives of back issues available for research online. • Similar to newspapers, can you find out the start of the story? Talk to the reporter who worked on the original? Or an editor who guided coverage? • Most will be willing to help you.

  7. Trade publications/newsletters • These can be very helpful, similar to newspapers in that they may contain valuable bits of info – work backgrounds, awards, citations, major industry developments. • The people who work at these are usually quite excited about what they cover, willing to talk.

  8. Reference books • Dry, but valuable sources of names, dates, places – basic facts. • Phone books, business directories, reverse directories, property records. • Current editions of these often online. Previous editions you may have to track down in printed form.

  9. Books • Regular old books may be unique to a particular topic – local histories.- Local history author a good source • Can quickly scan appendixes, bibliographies, endnotes for specific references helpful to your topic.

  10. Library searches, dissertations • Scholarly work – dissertations, theses – are held at university libraries and can be valuable sources. • Reference librarians can be quite helpful in avoiding a bunch of wasted energy searching. They can quickly help you focus your research.

  11. Conducting the search • In searching for secondary sources, the Internet is a quick tool at your fingertips. • But you may have to try several different searches/angles to find what you are looking for. • Use search engines properly and effectively.

  12. Key word searches • Often if you check specific disciplines, you can get help searching by key words:- Institute for Scientific Information- Social Sciences Citation Index- Arts and Humanities Citation Index • Check for the specific discipline to cut down on search time.

  13. Databases • LexisNexis and others (Dialog, Factiva.com) provide access to databases produced by hundreds of organizations. • Great for searching, but … • Many of these are pay services.

  14. Web free • Lots of information is available for free online; lots of good information also costs money to find. • Couple paragraphs of a story may be available, then have to pay for the rest. • Or, an archived article may cost money.

  15. So … • Database giants like LexisNexis are great, if you can use them. • But if cost is an issue, you may have to find another way. • Try to go right to the source – narrow the search before you search. For example – Michigan crime statistics database on state website rather than just a general Michigan crime search.

  16. To summarize • Secondary sources can be a good starting point for a story. • Follow the trail of stories. • Verify that what was reported is accurate. • Can you talk to the original reporter/editor? They may have some insight that is helpful.

  17. To summarize, cont. • Key word searches can draw quick results, but if not, try many different combinations/words to see what you unearth. • Commercial databases are great, but not always available.

  18. Questions?

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