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STR 290 Ordinary People Change the World: News & Article Databases

STR290 Winter 2025

Using news sources for company, product and industry research

Daily newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post, business-focused publications (Wall Street Journal, Forbes or Fortune), and other sources of in-depth and analysis such as NPR, The Atlantic or New Yorker are often sources of information that is not easily found in company filings, financial reports etc.  Company databases like D&B Hoovers often include some recent news stories regarding company actions, executives, and other related events, but a news scan in one of our news and article databases is another highly recommended way to learn about a company.

Use the various fields on the main search page in the Factiva database to get started - a company search, or some subject terms, or keywords like "children's literature", or narrow by industry (publishing).

Factiva also provides company and industry profile data - click on the Companies/Markets tab at the top of the Search page to search by company and link to latest news, financial and related data.

Best Resources for News and Journals

Considering research resources

SIFT is an evaluation strategy developed by digital literacy expert Michael Caulfield (Washington State University Vancouver) to help you judge whether or online content can be trusted for credible and reliable information. The SIFT strategy is quick, simple, and can be applied to various kinds of online content: social media posts, memes, statistics, videos, images, news articles, scholarly articles, etc.​​​​​​​

  • STOP. Think critically. Avoid being too emotionally charged or looking for information that confirms your own biases. Have an open mind to consider new or controversial topics, and seek to understand.
  • INVESTIGATE. Find out who the author is, why they wrote it, where was it published.
  • FIND BETTER COVERAGE. Read laterally. Once you get to the source of a claim, read what other people say about the source and the claim.
  • TRACE CLAIMS. Trace claims, quotes, and media to the original source.