Politics & the Media

News Sources | News Transcripts | Finding Scholarly Articles | Locating Online Full-Text Articles

News Sources

The Penn State Libraries subscribe to many print, online, and microform versions of U.S. and International newspapers. The primary reference point for news is the News & Microforms Library, Ground Floor West Pattee Library.

The New York Times

• New York Times Historical (1851-2003)
• Current -- more recent articles are available in several sources including ProQuest National Newspapers and Lexis/Nexis Academic.

Other National News

• NewsCAT
  The News & Microforms Library has a very large collection of historical newspapers on microfilm. The Libraries' NewsCAT web pages are the easiest way to locate newspapers in the Libraries' collections.

Newspaper Indexes

• Print indexes are available in the News & Microforms Library to:
  • Atlanta Journal Constitution (1971-1991)
  • Chicago Tribune (1972-1991)
  • Christian Science Monitor (1958-1991)
  • Detroit News (1976-1994)
  • Los Angeles Times (1972-1991)
  • New York Times (1851 to the present) Available online full text 1851-2003
  • Washington Post (1971-1991)
  • Wall Street Journal (1955 to the present)
• Indexes are also available for other U.S. and International papers for selected years. Use the Newspaper Indexes Web page for more inforamtion about finding newspaper indexes or ask at the News & Microforms Library desk (Ground Floor, West Pattee Library) for help.
• Hint: If an index isn't available to the newspaper you are studying, try using one of the existing indexes (New York Times, Washington Post, etc.), identify the date when something was being reported and use the same date in the newspaper you are studying.

For a more complete list of News Databases use the Articles and More subject list of News databases — Generally, except for the New York Times Historical file, these databases begin picking up articles in the early 1980s. Also, be aware that online databases do not include all the articles in the print newspaper. Often coverage is selective.

News Transcripts

Current Transcripts of U.S. News

• Lexis/Nexis Academic
  Provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal, and reference information. Covers many news sources for 20 years. Court cases and statutes from all federal and state jurisdictions are included. Most resources can be searched in full text.

International News Broadcasts

• World News Connection
  Current (last 3 years) World News Connection®(WNC) contains full-text translated summaries from the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports for the following materials:
  • newspaper articles
  • conference proceedings
  • radio and television broadcasts
  • periodicals
  • non-classified technical reports
• FBIS : Foreign Broacast Information Service Index
  An index to the microfiche collection FBIS Daily Reports, which include translations of broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals, and government statements from nations around the world are the sources of this information. Microfiche of full reports are available in the Social Sciences Library Microfiche Collection, 2nd Floor Paterno Library.
• Summary of World Broadcasts (BBC)
  Transcripts of selected BBC broadcasts. Available on Microfiche in the News & Microforms Library, Ground Floor West Pattee Library

Finding Scholarly Articles

Locating articles in scholarly journals that analyze the role of media in politics requires using indexes in both political science and journalism/media studies.

Political Science databases

• Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  Covers research within the political science discipline and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration/policy from 1975-to date. Includes links to some full text.

Journalism/Media Studies Databases

• Communication & Mass Media Complete
  Online index to articles in a broad range of communications and journalism titles.
• Communication Abstracts
  Provides coverage of recent literature in all areas of communication studies (mass, interpersonal and new communication technologies). Coverage: 1998 to the present.

Additional Databases

Use the Find Articles and Databases : By Subject lists for additional resources. Some subjects to try: General and Interdisciplinary, Poltical Science, Communication Studies, Journalism, History.

Locating Online Full-Text Articles

The Penn State Libraries subscribe to over 15,000 online full-text journals. Even if the database you are using does not contain full-text articles, you still may be able to get what you need online. Use Citation Linker to find out if what you want is available full-text online.