A newspaper is a serial publication, a resource that is published regularly and ongoing, that is ideal for researching current events such as political topics, trends, or surprising anomalies. Since newspapers are normally specific to a local area, they are a good source of regional or local news unlike magazines which are published for a wider audience. Newspapers are known for having opinion based articles or editorials, often called "op-eds," that are presented as a biased perspective on a topic.
Traditionally, newspapers were published in physical sections. Some examples of sections in a newspaper include Opinion, Sports, Entertainment, Travel, and Arts.
When using a newspaper as a resource, it is important to be aware of what section is being used. An article from the opinion section could have the same topic as an article from the finance section, but would be written much differently.
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Newspapers are a popular source and often asked for when starting a research topic. Keep in mind that newspaper articles are never peer reviewed or scholarly. They are published so quickly that they are on the early side of the information cycle, but later than social media and blog posts. Newspapers are good when your instructor asks for a "popular" source.
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