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CRJU 2100: Introduction to Criminal Justice (Kopf): News sources

This guide contains suggested resources for completing assignments in CRJU 2100.

Introduction

Before we set out to look for news sources about criminal justice topics, it's important to have some context in mind. What is news? What is journalism?

"Journalism is the activity of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and information. It is also the product of these activities." -American Press Institute

It's also important to note that journalism is a key component of our democracy.

"The Society of Professional Journalists is dedicated to the perpetuation of a free press as the cornerstone of our nation and our liberty: To ensure that the concept of self-government outlined by the U.S. Constitution remains a reality into future centuries, the American people must be well informed in order to make decisions regarding their lives, and their local and national communities. It is the role of journalists to provide this information in an accurate, comprehensive, timely and understandable manner." - Society of Professional Journalists mission

Types of news articles: news or opinion?

News articles:

  • written to inform readers about recent events
  • author reports essential information (who, what, where, when, why, how)

News Analysis:

  • written to inform readers about recent events
  • author reports and attempts to deepen understanding of recent events—for example, by providing background information and other kinds of additional context

Feature articles:

  • more creative or exploratory and less focused on efficient delivery of essential information
  • categories of feature articles include: how-to-do-it articles and profiles

Credit: News or opinion? By Christine Photinos (permission to use via Creative Commons license: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Investigative Journalism:

  • author investigates a singular topic of interest thoroughly, which may take months or years

Editorials:

  • unsigned opinion piece that represents the views of the news organization's editorial staff

Opinion pieces:

  • opinion article by a staff columnist or guest columnist

Reviews:

  • evaluation of a book, movie, album, etc.

Credit: News or opinion? By Christine Photinos (permission to use via Creative Commons license: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Select keywords for your search

Try multiple searches with similar or related terms

  • a search for sentencing will bring successful results, but you might also try mandatory minimum to find additional results.
  • while juvenile is the term widely used is criminal justice conversations to refer to young people, words like youth or adolescent will also result in relevant sources

Having trouble finding articles from competing view points? Try adding keywords such as:

  • debate
  • controversy
  • change
  • reform
  • advocate
  • inequities
  • disparities

Where to search for news sources

One of the advantages to searching in newspaper databases is the ability to filter your results by article type, date, geography, and more.

Search with keywords that describe your topic in Google's single search bar. Select the "news" button above your list of results.

If you are asked to subscribe in order to read the content, check to see if Jerome Library has a subscription. Follow the steps below.

  1. Begin at the BGSU Libraries home page [linked below] and select the "Journals by title" link underneath the search box.
  2. Search for the title of the newspaper in which the article was published.
  3. If BGSU has a subscription, you will see one or more options for accessing the newspaper. Below these, you will see a search box to "search inside this journal".
  4. Type the first four or five words of the article title into the search box.
  5. A new window will pop up with your search results. Find the result that matches the article title (if more than one result appears). [If you get no results, return to step 3 and select one of the options for accessing the newspaper with the date range that includes the date your article was published.]
  6. Click on "full text online" OR "direct link to PDF" to access the full text of the article.

These are some selected criminal justice online news resources. I found these by searching for keyword combinations such as: "criminal justice" news. What, if any, advantages exist when the journalist specializes in criminal justice?

Evaluate news sources

Feedback

Food for thought