There’s been a bunch of great advice on Twitter over the last week about finding good resources online for media research. Here’s several examples.
How can I tell how often things are mentioned on cable news?
Wondering how often a name or topic shows up on cable news? Journalism students, you don’t need to guess about it – This WaPo story does it well using open access tools. https://t.co/yReLYIzGUZ
— RalphIsNow@rhanson40@threads.net (@ralphehanson) October 24, 2022
I have done lots of work looking at frequency of buzz words like “fake news” in print reporting, but I’ve not been sure on how to extend that to cable news. This story on conservative Texas Gov. Greg Abbott does a great job of showing how frequently he gets covered on cable news compared with Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The reporters use the Television Explorer tool to produce reports from the Internet Archive’s Television News Archive. A great resource!
Does it feel like there are a huge number of political ads this election season?
Does it feel like there are crazy number of political ads out these this election season? That’s because there are! (Windfall for local TV in competitive markets…) via @WSJ
— RalphIsNow@rhanson40@threads.net (@ralphehanson) October 21, 2022
That’s because there are…
What is the fastest growing social media source of news?
NEW: More Americans are getting news on TikTok, bucking the trend on other social media sites. https://t.co/Z7dQoDNQ1I
— Pew Research Journalism (@pewjournalism) October 21, 2022
Pew Research is always a good place to look for information!
How can I use Wikipedia for research in a way that won’t get me an “F” on my paper?
Every professor I've ever had has always hammered this into us. Find one good source on Wikipedia and that'll take you down a rabbit hole of amazing scholarly articles that you never would have found otherwise.
— Tom Broome-Jones (@slasherb0y) October 24, 2022
Don’t use the text and analysis on Wikipedia; instead, take a look at the source list. There’s often something really good there to get started with. (But pay close attention to what the actual source is. There can be some stinkers.) But never, ever use Wikipedia itself as your source!