Posted on 10/22/2001 7:37:25 AM PDT by YosemiteMarmite
+ Searching for News - Beyond the Headlines
Here are a number of sites I'm finding helpful for keeping a balanced perspective on the news. There's no particular relationship among them, other than they offer thoughtful, high quality information.
Today's Papers
http://slate.msn.com/code/todayspapers/todayspapers.asp
Today's Papers takes a critical look at how a number of major newspapers are covering top stories, comparing approaches and often pointing out discrepancies in reportage. The analysis is written by journalists who occasionally use newsroom jargon; if this leaves you puzzled there's a link to a glossary of terms at the bottom of each page.
Sky News
http://www.sky.com/news/
Sky News offers an overview and analysis of the front pages of U.K. papers, complete with images. The link above is the closest you can get -- scroll down to the lower left corner of this page and click on the button for "The Papers" to run a popup "slide show" of front pages.
Opinion Pages
http://www.opinion-pages.org/
Opinion Pages is a database that provides access to the most current editorials, opinions, commentaries and columnists from English newspapers and magazines on the World Wide Web. It also lets you search more than 200 Letters to the Editor Web pages. The design of the site is a bit awkward, but if you're interested in Op-Ed and reader commentary it's an invaluable resource.
The Poynter Institute
http://www.poynter.org/
The Poynter Institute is a school for journalists, future journalists, and teachers of journalism with a mission of promoting excellence and integrity in the practice of craft. Its web site is a rich resource for understanding the news, offering stories by staff, links to some of the best journalism on the web, opinion from regular columnists, and much more.
Scroll about half-way down the home page for links to in-depth attack and war related coverage, including images from 237 Day-After front pages and 179 Extra Edition front pages.
Foreign Media Reaction
http://usinfo.state.gov/admin/005/wwwhmenu.html
The U.S. Department of State's Office of Research produces a daily roundup and analysis of foreign media commentary on a major foreign policy issue or related event. These reports provide a global round-up of editorials and op-ed commentary from major newspapers, magazines and broadcast media around the world. Though these reports aren't published to the web until a week after they see print, they still provide an excellent summary of what the rest of the world's media thinks about important recent events.
Stratfor
http://www.stratfor.com/
Stratfor writes incisive commentary on geopolitical issues. Its staff consists of business professionals and intelligence professionals with backgrounds in the military, academia and leading think tanks. A variety of journalists and editors also serve on the staff. Stratfor's analysis can get quite technical, but it's always thought-provoking, and often offers information that doesn't seem to be available anywhere else.
Jane's Information Group
http://www.janes.com/
Jane's Information Group is widely regarded as one of the most authoritative sources for defense, aerospace and transportation information. Their coverage of recent events has been excellent. While much of the content on the site is available only to subscribers, there's enough that's free to make this a worthwhile stop on your quest for understanding the news.
Daryl Cagle's Professional Cartoonists Index!
http://cagle.slate.msn.com/
Editorial cartoons do a wonderful job of capturing opinion in pithy images. Cagle's index has links to most of the major editorial cartoonists around the world -- including those who are critical of the U.S. or are even supportive of Bin Laden and the al Qaeda network.
By Chris Sherman
Associate Editor, Search Engine Watch
http://searchenginewatch.com/
Copyright (c) 2001 INT Media Group, Inc.
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