Background Research on Current Events
- CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
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Full-text reports on a wide range of topics including health, education, the environment, technology, the U.S. government and economy, international affairs, crime, civil liberties, social movements, transportation, agriculture, and other political and social issues. Reports are 12,000 words long and include topic overviews, background information, statistics, chronologies, maps, current outlook, pro/con statements, and extensive bibliographies. The CQ Researcher archive goes back to 1923 and includes reports from its predecessor publication, Editorial Research Reports.
- Journalist's Resource: Research on Today's News TopicsThe "project examines news topics through a research lens ... surfac[ing] scholarly materials that may be relevant to media practitioners, bloggers, educators, students and general readers."
- Pew Research CenterPew Research Center is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, and nonadvocacy fact tank that conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research. They study U.S. politics and policy; journalism and media; internet, science and technology; religion and public life; Hispanic trends; global attitudes and trends; and U.S. social and demographic trends.
Investigating Media
- FactCheck.orgMonitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases
- FAIR: Fairness & Accuracy in ReportingA national progressive media watchdog group that challenges corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
- Center for Media and Democracy"[A] national media group that conducts in-depth investigations into corruption and the undue influence of corporations on media and democracy."
Sources of Information on Current Events
See the Current Events Sources tab in this guide for a continuously updated list of resources on topics ranging from climate justice to voting rights.
Newspapers Research Guide
See our Newspapers Research Guide for links to media sources on topics currently in the news. The guide also contains links to databases containing U.S. and international, current and historical, mainstream and alternative newspapers and magazines.
Fact Checking, Verification, & Fake News
The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism's Research Center has created a highly useful guide to help journalists and non-journalists develop a sense of skepticism when reading the news. The guide contains tools and tips for fact checking details and identifying fake news.
See the full research guide here: Fact Checking, Verification & Fake News
Another notable source is FactCheck.org, "a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics."
Tip Sheets from the Journalist's Resource
The Journalist's Resource is based at Harvard's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. It is an excellent place to begin research on topics currently in the news. Government Information, Economics, the Environment, Politics, Society, and International topics are covered.
Especially useful for researchers -- and not just journalists -- are the tip sheets and explainers in the Know Your Research section that help users "understand academic research methods, find and recognize high-quality research, and avoid missteps when reporting on new studies and public opinion polls." Covered topics have included Lead in drinking water: Key facts and reporting tips; Information disorder: The essential glossary; and How the federal budget process works.
You can also find research chats with noted journalists and scholars, and tutorials on finding vital records, understanding ranked choice voting, learning the difference between white papers, working papers and research articles, and much more.