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News coverage

for your Thematic Overview

SOCI 409 HONOURS RESEARCH SEMINAR

https://bit.ly/3XQPMGB

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your first assignment

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Thematic overview of news coverage

  • Choose your controversy or debate
  • Find 8-10 mainstream news items
  • Prepare a thematic overview: show all sides of the issue
  • Make sure there is also scholarly interest in the topic

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Thematic overview grading stuff

  • Bibliography includes all sources and URLs
  • Sources are substantial and mainstream
  • Citations follow Chicago (author-date) style accurately and are complete

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workshop AGENDA

  • Library databases for news content
  • YOUR TURN - evaluate examples and find your own
  • QUESTIONS / STICKING POINTS
  • Real life tips & strategies
  • Citing those news articles: Chicago style
  • REMINDER & homework for next week: Zotero

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Susie Breier (she/her)�Sociology Librarian

AskSusie: book a consult with me �

AskUs Desk Wednesdays 1-3 pm

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Find me on the website:

  • concordia.ca/library/guides/sociology�
  • Google: �concordia library sociology�
  • Email: susie.breier@concordia.ca

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YOUR TASK �using your familiar tools

Find a topic that has been adequately addressed both in the news – legacy, reliable, mainstream media (longer articles, not 2-line reports) – and the scholarly literature.

YOUR TOOLS FOR NEWS:

  • Google news?
  • News websites?
  • social media?
  • Google?

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YOUR TASK �using the library

Find a topic that has been adequately addressed both in the news – legacy, reliable, mainstream media (longer articles, not 2-line reports) – and the scholarly literature.

LIBRARY TOOLS:

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  • news databases�
  • scholarly article databases�
  • databases that combine both

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Databases combining scholarly sources & major news sources

Databases combining scholarly sources & major news sources

  • ProQuest Combined Canadian (Canada news & academic)�
  • Proquest Central (internationalish news & academic)

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  • Academic Search Complete (U.S. academic focus, only a little bit of major news)

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  • CPI-Q: Canadian Periodicals (Canada news & academic, limited)

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search tips for library tools

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Search in the title

(headline) for news

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Add limits relevant to to your context

WC(>500)

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NEWS-FOCUSED sample #1

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don’t forget the limits

WC(>500)

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NEWS-FOCUSED SEARCH sample #2

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add those limits

WC(>500)

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YOUR TURN:�evaluating/selecting news articles

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my SEARCH RESULTS �take a look at each of these

�Unschool days: With no teachers or tests, unschooling is the radical twin of homeschooling

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Is homeschooling socially harmful?

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Evaluating articles and considering them for inclusion in your 8-10

  • publication/source name - do you recognize it, can you Google it?
  • what section of the publication, if relevant
  • author - can you Google them
  • structure/format: is it an interview, a feature article…
  • how long is it, or what is the word count
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scholarly article searches

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use less/

DIFFERENT limits

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Comparing news and scholarly

Searching for news vs scholarly sources:

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news sources: �

  • bothsidesism or false balance

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  • use keywords journalists or debaters on each side would use

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  • you may need to reduce your scope - by date, region, or a more specific ‘subtopic’ for example

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scholarly sources:

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  • not many simple pro/con articles�
  • use keywords scholars or academics would use

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  • you will most likely find far fewer articles on your topic, may need to expand/adapt your scope

For deeper/broader thinking about this and more, see our Critical Toolkit for Navigating Information segments:� Choosing your search tool and Inclusive Voices

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YOUR TURN�test your topic

Try to find:�

news articles

  • and CHECK IN WITH US on at least one�

scholarly articles

  • just to make sure there are some

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QUESTIONS?

STUCK?

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Where can you find/learn more about your topic?

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CITING THOSE ARTICLES

IN CHICAGO STYLE

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Chicago style Examples: IN TEXT CITATION

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In at least one debate-style piece, an anti-homeschooler describes “Echo-chamber concerns in homeschool communities” (Powell and Fields-Smith, 51).

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Lengthy features in both the Globe & Mail and the Gazette include extensive interviews with satisfied and successful unschoolers (Smith 2020; Doe 2015)

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Chicago style Examples: NEWS REFERENCES (with url)

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Worthen, Molly. 2020. “The Promise of ‘Unschooling.’” New York Times, September 27. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/25/opinion/sunday/unschooling-homeschooling-remote-learning.html

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Powell, Lindsey T., and Fields-Smith, Cheryl. 2021. “Is Homeschooling Socially Harmful?” New Internationalist, April. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2488113596/abstract/FEAA954C99724415PQ/1?sourcetype=Magazines

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Karnasiewicz, Sarah. 2005. “Unschool Days: With No Teachers or Tests, Unschooling Is the Radical Twin of Homeschooling.” The Ottawa Citizen, October 8. https://www.proquest.com/docview/240899787/abstract/826D1A0B5E3549D2PQ/1

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Concordia Guide:

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More Chicago style guides

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More options for news and scholarly articles

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more tools to search for

scholarly/sociological sources

  • Google scholar (try adding sociology to your search)�
  • Sociology-specific:
    • SocINDEX

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Keeping track of and citing your articles: Zotero

  • needed for next week: register & install.

Instructions:�https://bit.ly/3Luglul