Analyzing Historical News Coverage:Choose a topic. Research and write about a historical event that interests you.

Research Paper Assignment: Analyzing Historical News Coverage

News coverage shapes the public’s perception of events, but different news outlets often cover the same events in different ways. In this paper, you will choose a significant episode in U.S. history involving the news media and compare/analyze how three different newspapers covered it at the time. Your goal is to assess how each newspaper covered this event, to compare and contrast the three newspapers’ coverage, and to formulate an overarching argument about the press’s coverage of this event.

(1) Choose a topic. Research and write about a historical event that interests you. There are a few criteria for selecting a workable topic:
It needs to a major national news event—something about which newspapers throughout the country would have published several articles within a few days.

It needs to be a specific event, not a broad phenomenon. For example: Great Depression is no good, stock market crash of 1929 is good; civil rights movement is no good, Montgomery bus boycott is good.

It needs to be something that different newspapers are likely to have covered in at least slightly different ways. For example: topics such as the JFK assassination, the moon landing, or the 9/11 attacks are no good, because nearly every newspaper covered them essentially the same way.

(2) Watch the video tutorials. If your research topic is from 1980 or earlier, watch the video titled “Searching for articles using ProQuest Historical Newspapers.” If your research topic is from 1981 or later, watch the video titled “Searching for articles using ProQuest U.S. Newsstream.”

https://echo360.org/media/50dbfd2b-c931-46fd-ac0a-e495e5d58f51/public
https://echo360.org/media/bbbae746-c489-4ebe-b8ff-07614e41df9a/public

(4) Do some preliminary research into your topic. Find out the exact dates when the event occurred and familiarize yourself with some of the details and the people or groups involved. You may use Google/Wikipedia for this.

(5) Start searching for articles! For topics prior to 1980, use the ProQuest Historical Newspapers database. For topics since 1980, use ProQuest U.S. Newsstream. Do not use other databases or Google. Magazine articles, academic journal articles, blog posts, and more recent newspaper articles should not be part of your analysis. Enter an appropriate date range and keywords for your search

(6) Decide which three newspapers you want to compare. You don’t need to choose the three newspapers that published the greatest number of articles on your topic. Just make sure all three published enough for you to analyze—at least three substantial articles published within the space of a few days.

(7) Read as much as you can find on your topic in each of the three newspapers you selected. Your goal will be to compare the totality of the coverage in the three newspapers, not just to pick one or two articles from each (which may not be representative of the overall coverage). Your essay should cite/discuss at least three articles from each newspaper—that is, at least nine articles in all.

(8) Think about how you would characterize the coverage in each of the three newspapers. Remember to focus on the coverage of the event, not the event itself. For example, did they play up or play down this news? Did they cover it in a serious or light-hearted way? Did they show sympathy or agreement with one side or the other?

(9) Formulate an overarching argument about the coverage in the three newspapers. For example, did they all cover this topic in a similar manner? If there were specific differences, what were they? How might you explain the differences? This should be the thesis that you introduce in your first or second paragraph.

(10) Write the paper. It will probably help to start with an outline and notes. Make sure the paper is well-organized, with clear topic sentences and smooth transitions. Illustrate your points with specific examples from the articles you researched. Don’t just summarize what the articles say, analyzing why they say it (or say it in certain ways).

Tips for analyzing news coverage

Make sure you understand what type of article you are looking at. Is it a straight-news article by someone on the paper’s staff? Is it a straight-news article from a wire service or from another newspaper (e.g., Associated Press, United Press International, Washington Post-LA Times News Service)? Is it an editorial? Is it an opinion column?

Consider the placement and “play” of the article. If you are using ProQuest Historical Newspapers (before 1980), you can see the placement by clicking on the tab that says Page View-PDF. If you are using ProQuest U.S. Newsstream (since 1980), you will see the page number right under the headline (after the byline, publication title, and date).

Consider the angle and emphasis. What information goes in the lead? To which topics does the article devote the most space? What issues does the article address (or not address)?

Where did the journalist(s) writing this article get their information? Which sources get their quotes/points of view presented first/last? Does the article express skepticism about the information/quotes/statements? Does it express approval?
Analyze the headline. Is it sensationalized? Boring? Does it seem more sympathetic to one side or another?

FORMAT: Double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, standard one-inch margins. No cover page or bibliography needed (references/works cited page needed if using parenthetical citations).

LENGTH: 2,000-2,800 words, not including citations (7-10 pages)

SOURCES AND CITATIONS:

Your main source should be the historical newspapers, since that is the material for your analysis. Use online sources for factual background only (consider getting a book from the library for more detail). All direct quotes, and all ideas that are not your own, must be cited. You may use either Chicago style citations (footnotes) or MLA/APA style (parenthetical citations with a “references” page at the end). When citing newspaper articles, simply give the author’s name (if provided), article title, name of the publication, and date.

Citation format for newspaper articles (Chicago style): Author name, “Article Title,” Name of newspaper, publication date, page number. Example:
Paul Valentine, “Poor People to Step Up Militancy,” Washington Post, June 3, 1968, p. 1.

Possible paper topics

Bombing of Los Angeles Times building (1910): radical labor activists are accused of bombing the headquarters of the anti-union newspaper, killing 21 and injuring many more.

Passage of Sedition Act (1918): wartime measure places severe restraints on what Americans can say about the government and what newspapers can publish.

Scopes “Monkey” Trial (1925): a Tennessee high-school teacher goes on trial for breaking a state law that forbade the teaching of evolution in schools. The case was a media sensation.

Repeal of Prohibition (1933): The 21st Amendment (introduced by Congress in Feb. 1933, ratified in Dec. 1933), makes alcohol legal again, after a 13-year period when the production, transportation, and sale of alcohol was prohibited in the United States.

Dillinger killed (1934): the famous Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger, after more than a year on the run, dies in a shootout with FBI agents in Chicago.

Selma-to-Montgomery March (1965): Civil-rights activists march through Alabama to demand voting rights for African-Americans. Law enforcement responds with extreme violence but the march continues.

Feminist protests at the 1968 Miss America pageant (Sept. 1968): a demonstration outside the beauty pageant in Atlantic City helps launch second-wave feminism into mainstream consciousness. Protesters insist that they will speak only to female reporters.

“Battle of the Sexes” tennis match (Sept. 1973): At the height of the feminist movement, 55-year-old former tennis champion Bobby Riggs claims that he can defeat any female tennis player in her prime. He loses to Billie Jean King in a nationally televised spectacle.

Washington Post fabulism scandal (1981): reporter Janet Cooke wins the Pulitzer Prize for an article about an eight-year-old heroin addict, then gives back the prize after being forced to admit that she had fabricated the story.

Magic Johnson announces HIV (1991): NBA superstar Magic Johnson holds a press conference to announce that he is HIV positive and says he will retire immediately.

Publication of Starr Report (Sept. 1998): the report from Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr details President Bill Clinton’s relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, including explicit descriptions of their sexual encounters; Starr suggests that Clinton may have committed perjury in an attempt to cover up the affair.

Controversy over 60 Minutes II report on George W. Bush’s military service (Sept. 2004): the TV-news program suggests that President Bush used his family connections to avoid serving in Vietnam. After it emerges that the report was based on fabricated documents, CBS News anchor Dan Rather and other journalists lose their jobs.

Rolling Stone and Gen. Stanley McChrystal (June 2010): the commander of the U.S. war in Afghanistan is the subject of a Rolling Stone profile in which he and his troops criticize the Obama administration using crude language. Some of the troops claim that their quotes were meant to be off the record. McChrystal is forced to resign.

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