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How to Cite a Newspaper Article in APA

Newspapers can be an excellent source of information, as they are published daily and can illustrate emerging events in specific communities. This guide covers how to cite a newspaper according to APA 7.

Newspaper: A daily or weekly publication that contains news; often featuring articles on political events, crime, business, art, entertainment, society, and sports.

Guide Overview

This guide includes the following sections:

How to cite a newspaper article in print

How to cite a newspaper article found online, how to cite a newspaper article with two authors, how to cite a newspaper article with three or more authors, what you need, troubleshooting, in-text citation structures:.

(Author last name, Year published)

Author last name (Year published)

In-text citation examples

(Bowman, 1990)

Bowman (1990)

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Note:  If the article is printed on discontinuous pages, list all of the page numbers/ranges and separate them with a comma. (e.g., pp. C2, C4, C7-9.)

In-text citation structure:

In-text citation examples:.

(Kaplan, 2013)

Kaplan (2013)

When you use a bibliography tool like EasyBib to help you with your citations, make sure you are citing a newspaper article – not a website!

(Hermann & Brice-Saddler, 2022)

Hermann and Brice-Saddler (2022)

(Dixon et al., 2022)

Dixon et al. (2022)

Updated November 3, 2020.

APA Formatting Guide

APA Formatting

• Annotated Bibliography
• Block Quotes
• et al Usage
• In-text Citations
• Multiple Authors
• Paraphrasing
• Page Numbers
• Parenthetical Citations
• Reference Page
• Sample Paper
• APA 7 Updates
• View APA Guide

Citation Examples

• Book Chapter
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Website (no author)
• View all APA Examples

To cite a newspaper article in APA format, you should have the following information:

• (Year, Month day).
• Article title (in sentence case).
• Newspaper Name.

Solution #1: What to include in the citation information

• You do not need to include retrieval information (e.g., date of access) in APA citations for electronic resources.
• If you found a newspaper article through an online database (e.g., EBSCO’s Academic Search Complete), you do not need to include that information in the citation, either.
• If a URL runs across multiple lines of text in the citation, break the URL off before punctuation (e.g., periods, forward slashes) – except https://.

Solution #2: Online newspaper article vs. Online news site article

If you’re citing an online article, first determine if you are citing an article from a newspaper OR an article from a news site. APA style has a slightly different format for each.

• YES –> Cite it as a newspaper article.
• NO –> Cite it as a web page or a news site article .
• NO –> Cite it as a web page or news site article .

The rest of this guide gives reference structures and examples for newspaper articles.

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To cite a newspaper in APA style, you need to have basic information including the author name, article title, newspaper title, date of publication, and page numbers. The templates for in-text citation and reference list entry of a newspaper and examples are given below:

In-text citation template and example:

Author Surname (Publication Year, Page Number)

Canton (2021, p. A1)

Parenthetical:

(Author Surname, Publication Year, Page Number)

(Canton, 2021, p. A1)

Reference list entry template and example:

Surname, F. M. (Date of publication). Title of the article. Title of the Newspaper , Page numbers.

Canton. N. (2021, August 5). Covid-19: India to be removed from UK ‘Red’ travel list on August 8. The Times of India , A1.

Give the exact date of publication of the news in Year, Month Day format. The newspaper title is italicized. The title of the articles is set in sentence case; however, capitalize the first word after a colon.

To cite an online newspaper in APA style, you need to have basic information including the author name, article title, newspaper title, date of publication, and URL. The templates for in-text citations and a reference list entry of an online newspaper and examples are given below:

Author Surname (Year)

Belluck (2021)

(Author Surname, Year)

(Belluck, 2021)

Surname, F. M. (Date of publication). Title of the article. Title of the Newspaper . URL

Belluck, P. (2021, August 8). ‘This is really scary’: Kids struggle with long covid. The New York Times . https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/08/health/long-covid-kids.html?searchResultPosition=3

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Newspaper Article

Newspaper Article Conventions :

Newspaper articles are focused on sharing the essential points of a given topic with a wide readership.  Newspaper articles typically follow a standard format: they address the 5Ws (who, what, where, when, and why).  The article will then go into greater detail and provide the key ideas and information that the general readership should know.  There is often a focus on speaking to witnesses or getting an interview with people who are closely related to the subject of the article; as such, you will often find a lot of quotations being used to qualify and quantify claims and data being presented.  

La Rose, L. (2017, June 7). From Gander to Broadway: The journey of ‘Come From Away’. The Canadian Press. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/3509415/from-gander-to-broadway-the-journey-of-come-from-away/

Article: From Gander to Broadway: The journey of ‘Come From Away’

By Lauren La Rose

As a theatre producer in Toronto [ where ], Michael Rubinoff [ who ] was always on the lookout for stories that would translate into musicals [ why ]. He found unexpected inspiration in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks [ when & what ].

The remote East Coast town of Gander, N.L., saw its population double in size as it provided refuge to 6,579 passengers and crew members from 38 planes after U.S. airspace was closed. Reports about the hospitality shown by the people in Gander and surrounding communities immediately struck a chord.

“As I learned more about the stories out there, (in) Newfoundland the way they tell stories are through music. Music is so much a part of their DNA and who they are. I really believed there was a compelling story and a compelling reason to musical-ize it.”

Rubinoff’s idea would eventually lead to the unlikely success story “Come From Away,” the feel-good musical that’s up for seven Tony Awards on Sunday, including best musical.

But finding the writers to tell the story was a challenge.

“I went to a number of people who didn’t share my enthusiasm, I think because of the subject matter and the backdrop of that day, people didn’t see how this was possible. I’m so grateful my paths crossed with David Hein and Irene Sankoff.”

Rubinoff was sold on the husband-and-wife duo after seeing their acclaimed show “My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding,” based on real-life events in Hein’s life.

Rubinoff sent a Facebook message to the couple and met them for dinner a few weeks later, where he told them about wanting to find someone to write the musical about the events in Gander. They were on-board.

Rubinoff was in the midst of taking up his role as associate dean of visual and performing arts at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ont., which would ultimately serve as a key stop in the musical’s storybook journey from Newfoundland and Labrador to Broadway.

One of Rubinoff’s strategic objectives at the school was to launch the Canadian Music Theatre Project (CMTP) and he committed to Sankoff and Hein that the Gander musical would be among the first shows Sheridan would produce.

Rubinoff also wrote a letter in support of a Canada Council grant to get the couple to Gander for the 10th anniversary of 9/11, where they got to experience the warm welcome Newfoundlanders had extended to the stranded passengers and crew in 2001.

“We would check in every couple of days and they would say, ‘Oh, we just moved out the hotel -someone gave us their house and said take care of the cats,”‘ he recalled. “They were being the recipients of this outpouring of kindness and they came back with stacks and stacks and stacks of interviews and materials and stories, and set about this challenge of how to tell 9,000 stories of the locals and 7,000 stories of the people that showed up on 38 planes.”

The working title of the show was originally “Gander,” but after Sankoff and Hein returned from their time there they felt the moniker wasn’t the right fit.

“They didn’t want to call it ‘Gander’ because there were a number of communities involved. Lewisporte, Appleton, Norris Arm, Gambo, Glenwood, they all played a very significant role,” Rubinoff said.

In the spring of 2012, Rubinoff paired the duo with a cast of Sheridan students and brought in a director and musical director. The goal was to produce 45 minutes of the show in five weeks.

“I usually like to come in at the rehearsal at the end of the first week … and I’ll never forget hearing the opening number ‘Welcome to the Rock’ and that refrain: ‘I’m an islander, I’m an islander,’ and (thinking) ‘Wow! This is grabbing my heart in the same way the story did initially.”‘

Rubinoff decided to house the initial performances of the show in the rehearsal hall to lower expectations for the fledgling musical.

“I think on the first night, I put out 35 chairs. On the second night, 45. And then 60. And on the next night, 75 – and we could not fit any more people in this room,” he recalled.

Although it’s now a 100-minute show with no intermission, Zeyl recalled the emotional wallop delivered at the end of Act 1 during the musical’s early days.

“We had no idea what we were getting into; we just knew the title of the show, basically, and we all left just crying at the end of just the first act,” Zeyl recalled. “I remember speaking to the writers and just gushing about it and (saying) ‘Just please, please, please continue what you’re doing…. We knew it was going somewhere. I don’t think anyone (could) say, ‘This will have seven Tony nominations.’ Obviously, it was beautiful work.”

Rubinoff encouraged Sankoff and Hein to keep working on “Come From Away,” which was programmed as a developmental production at Sheridan in early 2013.

The show was then submitted for consideration to the Festival of New Musicals, organized by the New York-based National Alliance for Musical Theatre. It was the same festival where Canadian musical “The Drowsy Chaperone” also found its commercial producers. “The Drowsy Chaperone” went on to pick up 13 Tony nominations, including a nod for best musical, and won five awards including best book of a musical and best original score.

“Come From Away” was among eight shows that made the cut. In October 2013, a 45-minute showcase was staged for an invite-only crowd of producers, regional theatres and academic institutions that create new musicals.

“People just reacted so emotionally,” said Rubinoff. “I think there were people who felt ‘I don’t know what this is, I don’t know if I want to see this, I don’t know if I’m ready to see this’ – and there was again just an outpouring of gratitude.”

Sankoff and Hein opted to partner with Tony-winning Junkyard Dog Productions as lead producers on “Come From Away.” Their behind-the-scenes team – including Tony-nominated director Christopher Ashley – began to take shape.

The musical would eventually be staged in La Jolla, Calif., Seattle, Washington, D.C. and Toronto before its current award-winning run on Broadway. But Rubinoff still sees a slice of Sheridan on whichever stage “Come From Away” is playing.

“When I do see the show, I do think of our students, I do think of those moments, the creation, the genesis. It’s really beautiful to see that.”

© 2017 The Canadian Press

Newspaper Article Copyright © 2023 by Sheridan College. All Rights Reserved.

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Why Use Newspapers?

Finding a specific newspaper, finding articles if you have a citation, finding articles on a topic, finding article full text.

• Newspapers in the Library Collection
• Newspaper Websites

Newspaper articles can provide a useful source of information, serving as a primary source of information about historical and current events. Some of the benefits of using newspaper articles as primary sources include:

• seeing how people viewed an event when it happened;
• providing multiple points of view about an issue, including a comparison of the United States and international views;
• permitting researchers to trace the historical development of subjects over time;
• examining issues in the context of their time (by seeing how stories about an issue relate to other stories, or by examining the type of coverage provided);
• giving a snapshot of a time period detailing how people lived, and what they purchased, etc. which is helpful for writers, playwrights, historians, etc.

Because newspapers also contain commentaries or retrospective articles about events, they can also serve as a secondary source. (Modified from Why Use Newspapers? - OhioState University)

To find a specific newspaper, try the following:

1. On the library home page in the search box click the Journals tab. Type the newspaper title.

The search will return results for titles starting with the words you typed. If you want to search for the exact tile or are not sure of the the complete title, use the E-Journals Search (link below the box). From the drop-down menu you can select "Title contains all words" if you are not sure in what order the words appear in the title or "Title equals" (the latter would be useful for short titles like "Time" or "Times").

2. For titles not available online, click "Print Journals" under the search box for journal searches. This will take you to the library catalog. Click on the "Title" tab. Do a catalog TITLE search for the newspaper title. It is useful to limit your search to Periodicals/Serials.

Results list may include several entries for different versions of the title and various formats (print, microfilm, and electronic). If you are confused, ask a librarian for help. For your convenience, information about popular newspapers in our collection is provided in this guide.

Library records may include information about current print holdings and microforms, as well as links to online content. Please note that the catalog does NOT have links to ALL newspapers available online, use the e-journals search for this.

First, determine if the issue of the newspaper is available online.

Method 1 . Search for the article title in quotation marks (and author's name, if the title is common) in the red search box on the home page (under the "Articles" tab).

A successful search will include a link to the article full text.

Method 2. Use the E-Journals search to see if the issue you need is available online. This method is more comprehensive, because it will find ALL of library electronic subscriptions. It also helps when a link in Method 1 does not work.

In the results list find a database that covers the period when the article of interest was published.

You can click "Look up Article" or go to the database. Most databases will allow you to browse to the volume and issue or search for the article.

If the article is not available online or you need to see the article as it was published with original graphics, do a catalog search for the newspaper title in the library catalog as described above . Important note: search for the newspaper title, NOT the article title.

• Start with searching Summon . After you enter your search terms and get results, you will be able to refine you search by Content - Newspapers . You may also select a date range for the articles.

• Search one of the general newspaper databases . You should also be able to filter your results to newspaper content and specify dates.
• Many subject guides provide information on newspapers in the discipline.
• Ask your subject librarian for assistance.

Please note that newspaper databases come in different formats.

Digital archive databases provide scanned reproductions of original newspaper pages (the full-text and any accompanying graphics).

Full-text databases provide the complete text of newspaper articles (but not accompanying graphics).

Index only databases provide citations (references) to newspaper articles. You can use these to identify the publication date and page number details for specific articles.

Therefore you may still need to use digital or traditional microfilms to view the articles you found using an online database.

If you working with newspapers not available online, you may need to use an index, which may be available in print or on a microfilm. Ask for help at the desk or via an online form .

Remember that if we don't have access to an article you can request it through interlibrary loan (ILLiad) .

(Modified from Newspapers & news services: Finding newspaper articles on a topic - University of Wollongong)

• Next: Newspapers in the Library Collection >>
• Last Updated: Mar 11, 2024 11:25 AM
• URL: https://guides.libraries.uc.edu/newspapers

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In this section

Using newspaper content analysis to understand media representations of health issues and inform improved health policy advocacy

Patterson, Christopher C. (2020) Using newspaper content analysis to understand media representations of health issues and inform improved health policy advocacy. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

The mass media represent a powerful societal institution that reflects and shapes the social, cultural and political world. Within health research, media content analysis is an increasingly popular tool for examining how the media represent, and potentially influence, audiences’ understandings of health. This submission comprises eight published papers analysing UK news media representations of health issues and policies, and an explanatory essay. The essay seeks to contextualise the papers within relevant theoretical literatures and demonstrate the papers’ original contributions, both individually and collectively, to knowledge in health communication and policy advocacy. The analytical developments between the submitted papers are contextualised within literatures on the mass media, media research and policymaking, each of which is has been a site of paradigmatic change.

The submitted papers demonstrate the application of content analysis to UK newspaper and online news coverage of obesity, single-episodic drinking, alcohol pricing policy, smoke-free policy and e-cigarette regulation. Approaches used include quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods content analysis, consistent with the epistemological heterogeneity of the field. Each paper is informed by relevant theory, chiefly agenda setting theory and framing theory. While each paper produces its own novel topic-specific insights, the explanatory essay also considers commonalities across topics that lead to transferrable learning for practice in health communication and policy advocacy.

The submitted works’ novel contributions to knowledge include: documenting media frames; analysing trends within media frames; documenting stakeholders’ engagement in media debates; highlighting the strategic importance of defining target groups; identifying areas for improvement in media health communication; identifying the need for a social justice approach to public health communication; and identifying the need to engage with values of public health. Specific transferrable learning emerging from synthesis of findings includes: the effectiveness of positioning children as affected groups in negating opposition arguments about individual responsibility; the opportunity to use trends in media coverage to anticipate media framing and policy actor engagement in media debates; and the need for health communication to avoid reproducing harmful stigma, stereotyping and inequality.

While content analysis alone cannot provide conclusive prescriptions for media engagement, the submitted works mitigate the inherent restrictions of the method through the use of rigorous, theory-led methods and the triangulation of findings between different topics and analytical approaches. In doing so, the submitted works contribute to a growing international literature by providing health communicators and policy advocates with novel learning that may contribute to practice. The explanatory essay justifies the importance of studying mass media representations of health issues and policies, and demonstrates the contribution of the submitted works to understanding media representations of health issues and informing improved health policy advocacy.

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Interacting with digitised historical newspapers: understanding the use of digital surrogates as primary sources

Journal of Documentation

ISSN : 0022-0418

Article publication date: 15 September 2021

Issue publication date: 19 December 2022

The paper examines academic historians' information interactions with material from digital historical-newspaper collections as the research process unfolds.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employed qualitative analysis from in-depth interviews with Finnish history scholars who use digitised historical newspapers as primary sources for their research. A model for task-based information interaction guided the collection and analysis of data.

The study revealed numerous information interactions within activities related to task-planning, the search process, selecting and working with the items and synthesis and reporting. The information interactions differ with the activities involved, which call for system support mechanisms specific to each activity type. Various activities feature information search, which is an essential research method for those using digital collections in the compilation and analysis of data. Furthermore, application of quantitative methods and multidisciplinary collaboration may be shaping culture in history research toward convergence with the research culture of the natural sciences.

Originality/value

For sustainable digital humanities infrastructure and digital collections, it is of great importance that system designers understand how the collections are accessed, why and their use in the real-world context. The study enriches understanding of the collections' utilisation and advances a theoretical framework for explicating task-based information interaction.

• Digital libraries
• User studies
• Task analysis
• Task based information interaction

Late, E. and Kumpulainen, S. (2022), "Interacting with digitised historical newspapers: understanding the use of digital surrogates as primary sources", Journal of Documentation , Vol. 78 No. 7, pp. 106-124. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-04-2021-0078

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Elina Late and Sanna Kumpulainen

Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

Introduction

If we are to design sustainable digital humanities infrastructure and digital collections, it is highly important to understand how and why these systems are accessed and used, in real-world context. Otherwise, some crucial aspects of work practices that shape the digital tools' and platforms' use could get ignored. To address this issue, we conducted a qualitative research aimed at providing a user-centred picture of digitalised historical newspapers' utilisation that covers all activities involved in the research process.

Digital texts have become integral to research in the humanities and history ( Late et al. , 2019 ; Sinn and Soares, 2014 ). With the digitisation of the materials have come concepts such as the digital historian, digital history ( Crymble, 2021 ; Gregory, 2014 ) and computational history ( Nanetti and Cheong, 2018 ). They involve applying digital materials and/or computational methods in research. Multidisciplinary research work involving fields such as computer science characterises many of the new digital research methods. Historians' traditional individual-oriented research practices have given way to more collaborative efforts ( Given and Willson, 2018 ).

The start of the 21st century has seen public and private organisations around the world digitalise historical newspapers ( Gooding, 2016a ; Mussell, 2012 ). This digitisation has influenced the work of historians in at least two ways. Firstly, most of the collections display ubiquitous availability: historians can use them from their own devices, at any site. Secondly, many user interfaces serving as a gateway to digital newspaper collections offer advanced techniques for searching and analysing the contents. The standard procedure of optical character recognition (OCR) enables instant text search. In addition to basic full-text and keyword-based search, typical functions include providing metadata, browsing and filtering of results. The most advanced interfaces offer functionality for user interaction (e.g. saving of articles to “Favourites”), content enrichment (e.g. post-OCR correction), connectivity (e.g. links to other repositories) and code extensions and APIs ( Ehrmann et al. , 2019 ).

Most studies of historians' information-related practices have focused on the use of archival materials in general ( Toms and O'Brien, 2008 ). There is a dearth of research into the real-world utilisation of digital collections ( Allen and Sieczkiewicz, 2010 ; Bulger et al. , 2011 ; Hughes, 2012a ; Meyer et al. , 2009 ; Sinn and Soares, 2014 ). Among others (e.g. Bulger et al. , 2011 ; Warwick et al. , 2008 ), Gooding (2016a , b) has appealed for qualitative research, to inform our understanding of scholars' practices in the digital world. We set out to address this research gap and study qualitatively history scholars' information interactions in the realm of Finnish digital newspapers and their use as primary research sources – that is, as sources of research data that provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence pertaining to the topic under historical investigation.

We analysed material from qualitative interviews by means of a model for evaluation of task-based information interaction ( Järvelin et al. , 2015 ) that enables studying how a given digital collection is used in varying task activities during the research process. It is widely agreed that information behaviours do not occur in a vacuum; they stem from the larger motivating tasks ( Toms, 2011 ).

We begin by discussing previous research focusing on historians' information practices. Then, we present the framework for our examination of task-based information interaction and describe the research setting, along with the data-collection process and the analyses conducted. With these foundations in place, we proceed to the results and lay out some discussion and our conclusions.

Historians' information practices in a digital information environment

The increased usage and ongoing development of technological tools for humanities research has changed history scholars' ways of working over the past decade ( Baruchson–Arbib and Bronstein, 2007 ; Given and Willson, 2018 ; Toms and O'Brien, 2008 ). This change has not been entirely smooth. For example, while Burton (2005) noted that mainstream academic historical journals began to accept digital content as a part of their publication in around 2000, work with digital formats has not been rewarded in the same way as that with more traditional forms of history scholarship ( Clement and Carter, 2017 ). Also, some scholars have expressed concern about the impact of digital technologies on reading: printed texts have been seen as more engaging for deep reading than digital ones are (e.g. Carr, 2010 ). Nevertheless, digital collections are here to stay, and many historians already see them as essential for conducting research ( Sinn and Soares, 2014 ).

Several scholars have delved into how historians seek and locate primary source materials ( Anderson, 2004 ; Duff and Johnson, 2002 ; Tibbo, 2002 ). They report on the variety of sources used in history research processes, and they point out a need to assess what the users want and need, and how primary sources are searched for.

Sinn and Soares (2014) conducted a survey of authors with articles in American Historical Review to understand how history scholars were using digital archives and what kinds of impacts the digital archival collections have on their research activities. Scholars stated that they found digital collections useful in that they were easy to access and saved time and effort; however, many of them favoured the original format, finding this more authoritative and “special”. No correlation was visible between the scholars' technical skills and their use of digital collections, and the findings indicate that history scholars of all stripes consult digital collections throughout the research process. That said, what was meant by “use of digital collections” was unclear, and uses probably varied over the research process. In a further complication, that process was seen as non-linear, looping back and forth and even described as “haphazard”. In the course of the research process, historians discovered new materials with potential utility in future studies. Interestingly, Sinn and Soares did not address the role of computational methods in searching and analysing digital materials.

Kumpulainen et al. (2020) qualitatively studied historians' desired avenues of access to information and how these manifest themselves in the document collections. Historians focusing on the Second World War have several specific needs that cannot be met via such typical digital-domain methods as entity recognition. Among these are military rank, gender and kinship. The study points to possible ways of speaking to such specific information needs. Moving from the stage of approaching information to that of working with it, Hoekstra and Koolen (2019) examined the interactions in selecting, enriching, connecting between, analysing and evaluating historical data with digital tools. They propose the concept of data scope as an instrument encompassing the interactions and recommend expanding the idea of source criticism toward the digital tools. Finally, in a study of the digital information activities involved in historians' work flows, Koolen et al. (2020) found that, for the ability to design better digital history-research infrastructure – and evaluate it – a palette metaphor would be more useful than a pipeline model, on account of the simultaneity and non-linear flows of the activities.

A few studies have examined the use of digital newspapers. An interview study by Allen and Sieczkiewicz (2010) showed that scholars in the US employed digitised historical newspapers for such purposes as checking facts (names, dates and locations), collecting information about larger issues (such as elections) and ascertaining public opinion. Scholars also reported using newspapers to fill gaps in research and corroborate information from other sources. This study revealed a tendency toward browsing as opposed to searching. When searching, these scholars used mainly keyword search filtered by topic, date or name. Historians were interested also in specific content types, such as advertisements, editorials, obituaries and death notices and images. Scholars often printed out the results/contents to read later. In other work, a log-based study showed that keyword queries over newspaper collections often include named entities such as personal and place names ( Chardonnens et al. , 2018 ) and that some eras are searched more often than others ( Gooding, 2016a ). With regard to search types, a survey among users of historical-newspaper collections revealed a desire for the availability of image search, named-entity recognition, a tool for excluding certain search elements and visualisation tools. In addition to advanced tools, users desire high-quality content and the ability to save, copy and annotate articles ( Oberbichler et al. , 2019 ). Already, some collection providers have started to collaborate with scholars for building virtual laboratories with advanced features and tools ( Hauswedell et al. , 2020 ).

Although scholars find digital collections useful, it has been argued that so-called digital surrogates do not, and cannot, replace original paper documents ( Conway, 2015 ; Sinn and Soares, 2014 ) and that digitised newspapers can even skew historical research ( Milligan, 2013 ). Since digitised contents are not commensurate with the originals Mussell's (2012) calls for historically reflexive media literacy skills and emphasize the need to understand the influence of digitisation on the contents. The poor quality of OCR output is a common problem in digitised newspaper collections. A report from one study cites 50%–70% accuracy of OCR at word level and levels between 71 and 98% on character level for Finnish historical-newspaper data ( Kettunen et al. , 2014 ). Jarlbrink and Snickars (2017) argue that the combination of misinterpreted words (OCR errors) and “random” text created by auto-segmentation tools generates content that was never actually written.

Scholars find it important that technology support their ways of working, irrespective of the choice of tools or whether one is working with print or digital text ( Given and Willson, 2018 ; Hughes, 2012b ). Scholars in the humanities actively participate in the development of tools, so much so that Given and Wilson (2018) posited that tool-development and data-preparation are new research practices in their own right. Other practices they identified are text analysis (e.g. employing computational analysis and text-mining), methods such as empirical data-collection via interviews etc., and traditional scholarly work (e.g. reading, thinking and writing).

Task-based information interaction

Task-planning is a meta-level activity present in every stage of performing a task. It includes the performer's understanding related to the task at hand and required procedural knowledge. The activity evolves during the task's performance, leading to a clearer, more structured understanding of the task at the end of the task-performance process.

Searching information items entails interactions with a search system and retrieval of the information items.

Selecting information items involves making decisions about the relevance or usefulness of the items found. It is very tightly interwoven with the search activity and with the work with information items.

Working with information items is about scanning and browsing items, reading and annotating them and comparing and linking them. Annotations provide one possible basis for querying and exploring the materials.

Synthesis and reporting is associated with the task outputs and outcomes. This is an essential part of the knowledge work of history researchers and other academics. Synthesis requires the writer to integrate information from diverse information sources for creation of new knowledge and new information items and objects.

While the model presents the activities as sequential, separate components of the process, they are analytical constructs representing elements that sometimes cannot be separated in the actual task performance. These individual activities are interrelated, simultaneous and – especially in history research – cyclical or iterative rather than pipelined processes (cf. Koolen et al. , 2020 ).

The research setting

The research question.

What kinds of information interactions feature in the activities related to using the historical newspapers as primary research sources?

Our research design took advantage of the model's articulation of the various activities. This enabled covering a wide range of research activities that involve interactions with the contents of the newspaper collection in question.

The framework formed the theoretical backbone for our interview-guide design and the analysis of our findings. Accordingly, its applicability in research of this nature is discussed in detail further (see “Discussion”). By evaluating the use of a prominent digital collection in the context of research work, we were able to form a detailed picture of the material's use as a primary research source.

Collection of qualitative data

To collect the data, we carried out in-depth qualitative interviews with academic history scholars who were using a large Finnish historical-newspaper collection for research purposes. The National Library of Finland (NLF) holds digitised historical newspapers published in Finland from 1771 to 1929, available to citizens and scholars alike. This collection, containing approximately 7.4 million newspaper pages, in the Finnish, Swedish and Russian languages, is offered openly via a Web-based service (digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi). Contents are available as PDF pictures of the pages and as text format (OCR). The online service provides tools for search, collection and analysis of newspaper data, with some advanced functionality available. For example, users can copy and paste selected data from the collection to a “scrapbook” and download the selected data in MS Excel format. All the contents of the historical newspaper collection contents are available also via the Language Bank of Finland as downloadable text files ( Kettunen and Pääkkönen, 2016 ).

The NLF collects information about the users of the newspaper collection. Via this list, we identified prospective interviewees and contacted them by e-mail. In total, there were 13 unique interviews, conducted by three researchers. These were done in three rounds: the first interviews (PA1–PA4) were in spring 2018, the second set (PB1–PB5) in spring 2020 and the third set (PC1–PC4) in autumn 2020. Triangulation of interviewers enabled us to transcend any possible biases arising from the personality of any single researcher ( Kumpulainen, 2017 ).

While the interviews in 2018 were face-to-face encounters, the pandemic led us to conduct those in 2020 online, using the videoconferencing tool Zoom. All interviewers experienced the online interviews as both an economical solution and a good way of collecting the research data. In the face-to-face setting, the conversation was audio-taped, and video recordings were made from the online interviews. The video and audio files were transcribed in full for analysis. The average interview length was 60.8 min, and the interviews' audio data run, in total, 13 h and 18 min.

In advance of the interviews, we developed their themes and a list of total 45 interview questions on the basis of the TBII model. Thus, we ensured that each stage of information interaction was covered during every interview. However, we did not necessarily follow the order of questions presented in the interview guide; it functioned as a checklist for keeping track of the interview. Example interview questions are presented in Table 1 . Interviewees received a general outline of the interview themes by e-mail before the interview, and informed consent with a permission to publish quotations from the data was obtained.

The interviews began with collection of background information such as current status, fields of research and research experience. After this, interviewees were asked to describe their work at a general level. Conversation then was directed to specific interview themes. We utilised a variation of the critical incident technique (CIT) ( Flanagan, 1954 ) in which interviewees are asked to describe an ongoing or recent research project – a task – in which they used the historical-newspaper collection. The CIT method helps both the interviewee and the interviewer to reflect more profoundly on the subject. It has been widely used in studies of information behaviour ( Marcella et al. , 2013 ).

The interviews included requesting a demonstration of the informant's ways of using the newspaper data. Interviewees showed us their data and demonstrated the analysis tools they had used. In face-to-face interviews, the demonstrations were video-recorded; in the online interviews, interviewees could easily “share their screen” with the interviewer. Interviewees also displayed and shared publications and other outputs from the research project. Thereby, the interviewers could gain a more accurate picture of the information interactions of the interviewee.

The dataset was subjected to content analysis with ATLAS.ti software. While one researcher handled the analyses, all coding was discussed in detail with another researcher in several rounds over the course of the analysis process, after all researchers read the transcripts several times.

Analysis comprised three steps: iterative readings of the interview transcripts, open coding and selective coding ( Strauss and Corbin, 1997 ). In the first round of coding, we identified the task-specific goals for the newspaper collection's use from the data. During the interviews, the scholars interviewed described ongoing or recent research tasks (such as writing a scholarly article) for which they utilised the digital historical-newspaper collection. In practice, many scholars reported on more than one task as the interview progressed. For example, one described the research processes connected with writing two articles that formed portions of her PhD thesis. In all, participants articulated 19 tasks for which the newspaper content was used for primary research sources. Our dataset encompasses descriptions of other types of task also, such as creating applications, checking facts, teaching and orienting oneself; however, these tasks were excluded from the analyses since they were not explained in detail.

Next, we coded for the activities (task-planning, searching, selecting, working with items and reporting and synthesis) and for the information interactions within them. Sometimes, it proved difficult to distinguish between activities (e.g. searching vs. selection), and the entire research team discussed these problematic situations. After this, the codes were cross-checked and, as necessary, revised. The coding was followed by compilation of the characteristics of tasks and coded activities in an Excel spreadsheet. This afforded examination of the interactions within each task and each activity. We chose illustrative extracts for the various activities and information interactions, loosely translating them from Finnish to English. Quotations were selected the anonymity of individual interviewees in mind.

Descriptive findings

Our data include 19 articulations of research tasks wherein the digital newspaper collection was used for primary source materials. These tasks all were research projects such as descriptions of writing a scholarly article. Characteristics of the tasks are presented in Table 2 .

After it was digitised, it changed the field of history research in Finland a lot. […] The question is not what materials have been used but how they are used. (PA2)

Collecting and analysing data via computational methods is a typical feature of the tasks we analysed. The digital newspaper collection has opened new possibilities for researchers and probably encouraged exploiting new research methods. Accordingly, this type of research has gained increasing funding in Finland in recent years. However, our sample is not representative of all uses the collection serves and is likely to be biased toward computational history.

Integrating several types of primary source materials was not very common in our data. In fact, more than half of the tasks relied on digital newspapers alone as primary sources. The newspaper collection is a rich data source, so it is not always necessary to collect data elsewhere. Projects using computational methods relied especially often on a single data source. Another commonality among the tasks we studied is the research's multidisciplinary nature. This is unsurprising: applying computational methods often requires expertise in multiple disciplines, including technical sciences.

Next, we consider the interactions within each class of activities in the TBII model in the participants' use of the newspaper collection for primary sources.

Task-planning

First you need to have an idea, then the data collection, then the analysis and writing. I guess that is it. But, at least for me, they are happily overlapping and muddled. (PB2)

Most scholars described the research process as data-driven. Research topics emerged from the data, and the data available determined what could be studied. Usually, the work started with browsing the contents of the newspaper collection via the NLF Web interface. The historians found it vital to understand how the collection was built and what it contained and did not contain. It was important for the scholars to develop a general sense of the data. Sometimes, they browsed the contents with an open mind, seeking something new to study. The goal was to identify a set of data or an as-yet-unexplored phenomenon. In the same phase, the scholars read the secondary sources. When the interviewees already had a research question in mind, they would try to find out whether and how the newspaper collection could function as a data source. Typically, they already had a research topic in mind, found during some other research project; however, it took a long time to formulate the problem precisely, and problem statements evolved throughout the research project.

Acquiring the materials is one part of the task-planning. For this, all scholars used the NLF interface for searches of the contents, with some also downloading OCR text files of newspaper content from the Language Bank of Finland. Most scholars worked with their own computer, but some used external services for server space. Setting up the permissions for use of the servers took time.

In the analyses phase, it is very important that everyone is able to participate. Scholars need to have programming skills so that they can handle the data and perform analyses independently. (PC2)

I think it was necessary to browse them thoroughly, page by page, because you cannot find opinion pieces by querying. Of course, I can do searches when I know the titles, but I cannot trust that the OCR search will find them all. (PC3)

Queries employed keywords of various sorts, such as names of authors, place names, terms found in the body text and the titles of relevant articles or columns. Search was often limited to a certain time period. In the simplest case, scholars studied the use of specific words and could use those words as search terms. In most cases, however, the situation was more complex and necessitated using various search techniques offered by the NLF interface. For example, “proximity search” was often mentioned. Scholars needed to experiment with multiple forms of their keywords, to take into account spelling variants and typos in the newspaper data. Because the collection is multilingual, the scholars needed to formulate their searches with several languages in mind.

I do a lot of testing, in different ways. Firstly, I go through a small set of search results with broad keywords […]. This manual reading makes it slow, but the good side is that I keep track of what works. If the search is too broad, I can specify it. It also helps me to specify the research setting. (PB4)

I use these auxiliary files. I take notes in Word or Notepad such as “make this query” or “try with this keyword” if I don't have time to make the query at the moment. (PC3)

Selecting material is a process of assessing the relevance or usefulness of the information items found. Search and selection of data were often done in parallel. Scholars explained about concentrating on, for example, a specific theme to give focus to the search and thereby create their own corpora. Data search and selection was laborious, taking weeks or months of work.

The scholars collected the selected research data on their own computers or other tools external to the NLF interface (e.g. in MS Excel or Google spreadsheets). The NLF interface allows users to paste from the articles and create their own scrapbook from the newspapers' contents. Scholars who utilised the scrapbook approach could download the search results in an Excel spreadsheet providing selected metadata for the articles and add their own notes in Excel.

It is hard to make sense of the machine-read texts, so it is easier to read it from the newspapers with the Gothic font. So the work is done back and forth. We read and work with both, the OCR materials and the digital newspapers from the National Library's portal. (PB3)

At the moment, I have six or seven hundred articles and my aim is to reach over a thousand. […] I am selecting them by hand because I think that, although you would be able to save them automatically, from the point of view of a historian we still don't know well enough what the 19th-century newspapers contain. Because of that, this manual work is very useful. (PB4)

As they were selecting the data, the scholars often performed analyses at the same time and took notes about the data. Also, they collected statistical details related to the contents, such as the number of certain types of articles found. Interviewees sometimes organised the data in Excel spreadsheets by category and calculated frequencies for certain categories. In addition, they were interested in the metadata available for the newspapers.

Working with items

The fourth activity in the TBII model, working with items, encompasses such actions as scanning and browsing the documents, reading and annotating them and comparing and linking materials. Scholars analysed the newspaper data by various qualitative and quantitative means. The most common tactic was to read the content and compare the information obtained with that from prior literature, in what is known as close reading. One type of this involved using certain synonyms and antonyms to study concepts' life cycle. Scholars utilised further sources – for example, from other archives – to enrich the view produced from the newspaper data. In most cases, the interviewees read the material online, but sometimes they printed articles out for reading. Scholars used colour coding and wrote marginal notes on the printouts.

I often search for relevant materials from the newspapers, and then I read and analyse them by close reading. Lately, I have started to do more computer-assisted research, with a quantitative approach. I have calculated word frequencies, for example – relative and absolute word frequencies – and that way I've tried to understand single news items. (PA2)

For us, it has been important that we have taken the whole newspaper collection as metadata ALTO files. We have indexed the data, and we have our own interface. We have our own API that we can use for exploiting the data. (PC2)

Because of the historical language and the poor-quality OCR output, considerable data-cleaning work preceded the actual analyses. Some errors in the data were systematic, so processing to rectify them was straightforward. For example, scholars harmonised the orthography by changing certain letters (for example, the historical “ w ” was replaced with the modern Finnish “ v ”). Also, scholars used stemming applications to convert words into their base form. This helped address the challenges posed by automatic processing of Finnish, which is a highly inflected language (e.g. Kumpulainen et al. , 2020 ).

I have 500 cases categorised manually, and the computer provides the same categorisation for the next 500. (PB4)

There are different variables for what can be studied and analysed. For example, the temporal continuum […]. It would have been impossible to find the copied text manually, but it can be done with a computer-assisted method. (PB3)

Many scholars utilised methods from corpus linguistics to study the language used by counting the number of words in the text. Scholars compared, for example, the number of words or the context of the words between types of articles or between corpora (e.g. newspapers produced by different political parties). Other work involved studying how the use of a particular concept has developed over time in the newspapers. No matter the type or purpose of the analysis, reading was always present in the analysis of the texts.

Visualisation of the data and results was important. Most commonly, data were presented via a map for depicting the movement of news between cities and countries. A tool called Palladio, developed at Stanford University, was cited especially often. Data could be shown on a map with recognised place names and their co-ordinates. One scholar stated that, via the graphical presentation, scholars learn about new features of the collection. For example, it came as a surprise that the Finnish newspaper collection contained papers published outside Finland. This was detected when metadata were used for creating a map showing the newspapers' place of publication.

The research in digital humanities has been biased so far. There are these multidisciplinary teams and these individuals who have programming skills. In reality, most of the history scholars are left outside, and I think the National Library could develop it in a direction that would serve the scholars. You don't need to know what is under the bonnet but get tools that you can exploit and increase the quality of your own research. (PC1)

Synthesis and reporting

Let's say that methods are published in IT forums but the results we publish [are] mainly in history-research forums. The writing style is different, the length of the text varies, so there is a massive difference. (PC1)

Our data did not feature many descriptions of the actual writing process. However, one scholar described formulating the main argument for the publication first and building an outline for the article by, for example, selecting citations from the data; the body text was written around the citations to build a solid story. Especially with regard to computational methods, the scholars found that they need to describe their collection and analysis of data carefully, to convince the referees and final readers. One scholar said that she even reported the keywords used for collecting the data.

They were written mainly by large teams, because we have to acknowledge that in digital humanities the data preparation and processing is an essential part of the authorship, and writing algorithms is part of it. (PC1)

I have mostly used Google Docs, and it works well enough. We have our shared Slack channel, where we discuss [things] before the writing, timetables and such. (PA1)

I guess that isn't so common yet, but in digital humanities projects it is becoming so […]. You already see in international journals citations to open data. (PC4)

Our research focused on what kinds of information interactions are involved in the activities related to using historical newspapers for primary research sources in research tasks. The task-based information interaction framework, designed for evaluating the entire cycle of task-relevant information interactions ( Järvelin et al. , 2015 ), helped us evaluate the interactions with the historical-newspaper collection. Our examination of research tasks in which the digital newspaper collection was used for acquiring primary research sources revealed that interactions with the collection varied across the activities. Table 3 summarises the findings by showing the various activities and the information interactions that occurred during them.

Task-planning is a meta-activity that occurs throughout the research process and intertwines with other activities. New research topics and ideas emerge during the search, selection and working with items as the historians are exposed to the digital materials. The research topic's creation and formulation of focus, which represent understanding and narrowing of the research topic ( Vakkari, 2001 ), were particularly evident during searching in the early stages of the research process. During all the activities, interactions with the collection contributed to learning about the topic and the task at hand, as Vakkari (2016) has noted. The task planning activity was particularly intertwined with the searching activity, in which the historians discovered new content, to be used in future studies. This corroborates the findings of Sinn and Soares (2014) . Furthermore, task-planning actions were visible in the selection activity when scholars sought an understanding of which research topics are suited to examination via the selected research data. The new digital information environment affords large-scale data-driven discovery of a kind that was not previously possible.

Researchers have characterised historians who use historical newspapers as “browsers” ( Allen and Sieczkiewicz, 2010 ). However, the scale of browsing has been assumed to be due to the newspaper collections' print nature. Some have speculated as to whether historians would search more if this were more feasible. In our case, during their searching activity, the historians were retrieving newspaper articles/issues (“items”), and they also were searching for information content from their personal collections, in the activity related to working with information items . The two are distinct: the first is aimed at locating an item that contains the information needed, and the second entails searching from the information contents directly. The former, locating items, may precede the latter, but the boundaries of individual documents as conceptual entities are stretched in today's digital information environments. The whole collection – with all of its information content – is directly searchable. The digital newspaper collection that our study focused on accelerates progress with this by the way it arranges the documents. At the same time, most of the historians in our study needed to “cut out” newspaper text on article level, whereas the newspapers are digitised as pages of the original newspapers, not as articles. Hence, this stage included large amounts of manual processing of the materials, although finding the relevant articles already was handled partly through searching the contents directly. Still, the varying quality of the OCRed text made searching difficult because the matching of strings was not straightforward.

Selecting information items required skimming and assessing the relevance of the articles found. The process of selection is closely connected with the search activity, and they were described as occurring simultaneously. The selection made the search goals visible: in most cases; the aim was to create a sub-collection for a particular topic to analyse further. This is akin to the activities described by Huistra and Mellink (2016) . It entails recall-oriented searching and only rarely (e.g. in fact-finding-type tasks) precision-oriented searching. This activity includes content-based filtering that utilises both the content's OCR-rendered text and metadata.

We found data preparation to be an inherent part of the activity of working with items . This is consistent with the findings of Given and Wilson (2018) . Hoekstra and Koolen (2019) , who found “data preparation” too broad a term, deemed this to include several decisions that can be called “data scopes”. There were few mentions of data preparation in our data. The methods selected by the scholars may have influenced this activity. Also, we collected ex post accounts of the behaviours, and the activities recalled in the interviews may have been characterised as more straightforward than they were during the work. Working with items was among the activities detected as involving collaboration. This activity could be augmented with digital collaboration-oriented workspaces, which were not available to the scholars. The services provided were designed for individual users and were more suitable for researchers working alone.

As for the synthesis and reporting activity, the historians described their research outputs in light of the findings and how the digital newspapers were used in creating these. For the most part, this activity did not require direct interactions with the original newspaper collection, but indirect use was evident in the derivative collections and analysis. Visualisation served as a means of analysis and sense-making but also as an excellent method for showing the findings in oral presentations at conferences. The presentations and sharing of research findings are preceded in the process by analysis and processing of the research data. For large collections, computational and quantitative methods are used alongside more interpretive qualitative analysis. It is noteworthy that articles on history research seldom report or discuss the research processes and the decisions made during the data analysis in depth ( Hoekstra and Koolen, 2019 ). Nevertheless, insightful interpretations do not arise solely from the newspaper content; these decisions contribute to them. Therefore, it is important to describe both the methods and the modelling processes affecting the outcomes of the research's processes. Finally, the historians interviewed actively made their research data available, but the research infrastructure in place does not seem to support doing so in a sustainable way.

A change in research culture, leading toward multidisciplinary ways of working, was obvious. The history scholars referred several times to a change in the work culture and to an increasing resemblance to the natural sciences. As in digital humanities (see Wang, 2018 ) publishing practices in the history field have grown more collaboration-based. In addition, authorship practices show a shift toward including people with other roles, such as programmers with their contributions (see also Bradley, 2012 ). However, increasing collaboration is not just due to the digitisation but other drivers such as research assessment may foster collaboration ( Hockey, 2012 ). Changes in the field's research methods were discussed, with a mix of quantitative statistical and qualitative interpretive methods being typical.

The literature features much discussion surrounding digitisation and its effects on history research. Digitisation is making access easier and less expensive, eliminating much of the need for travel to archives, but at the same time there have been fears that this digital progress is going to compromise research quality by making the researchers “lazy” through encouraging the use of low-quality sources ( Holm et al. , 2015 ). Developments may necessitate cross-checking and validation of findings against the original sources, but none of the interviewees spoke of reading print newspapers. This is in sharp contrast to the finding of Sinn and Soares (2014) that researchers rely heavily on these.

Our work attests that the improved access to newspaper materials is considered more important that the downsides. Digitisation is meant not purely for preservation but also for increased accessibility (cf. Jarlbrink and Snickers, 2017 ). Both preservation (to ensure quality) and access (to ensure use) are important, but they are two sides of the same coin. All materials that are preserved are preserved to be used later. Therefore, access is important and both sides should be considered if one wishes to guarantee reliable and useable digital heritage collections. Thus, when developing the collections, the needs of different types of users should be taken into account ( Hughes, 2012a ). Users desire information about the selection criteria that shape the collection (see also Hauswedell et al. , 2020 ). Opening the policies of the archives may help users to develop historically reflexive media literacy skills ( Mussell, 2012 ).

The theoretical model we selected seems highly suitable for examining data such as ours and assists in organising the data, but at the same time it does limit analysis somewhat. In some cases, the scholars' various analysis activities were hard to distinguish from each other, on account of their intertwined and simultaneous nature, a characteristic more prominent in the humanities' history domain than in the sciences ( Koolen et al. , 2020 ). Search in particular, while a separate activity in the model, was present in several of the other activities. Furthermore, we could distinguish between two ways of searching: locating information items (by means of both metadata and content elements) and going through the content (primarily the text itself, from OCR output). One way of integrating the two was content-browsing that encompassed items located prior to the browsing. This embedded activity that occurred in several activities calls for revising the overall model – when search is a separate activity at the same level as all the other activities in the model, analysis is complicated by the activities' simultaneous and embedded nature. The model could be refined by including the embedded sub-activities (“activity in another activity”) and some way to delineate the simultaneity.

Further, the model itself was developed to analyse uses of multiple secondary sources while we applied it to use situations with a historical newspaper collection that was used as a primary source. The model allowed us to design and cover the whole research cycle, but it focuses heavily on interaction and is emphasising the searching and selecting information items. The intertwined and multi-layered nature of the activities made the analysis difficult and the model lacked power in analysis of contextual aspects. Therefore, adding various contextual layers as explicit structures in the model would be useful.

Conclusions

Our investigation of academic historians' use of a digital historical-newspaper collection and of the information interactions involved in their research-process activities filled an important research gap by both analysing in-depth interviews with history scholars who used digitised historical newspapers as primary research sources and exploiting the TBII model as a tool for the data's collection and analysis. Among the key findings are that the purposes behind using digitised historical newspapers vary and that there are numerous information interactions within activities related to task-planning, search, selection, working with items and synthesis and reporting. There are important implications of the finding that information search occurs during various activities (where these overlap, since the history-research process is not linear). Our work highlights its centrality to collection and analysis of material in such use of digital collections.

The study points to several new research topics. One of the most striking phenomena for examination is related to how the use of digital collections has shaped the way scholars work, with sole-authorship-based work becoming transformed, in a shift toward more collaborative efforts. With work often being conducted in multidisciplinary research teams, there is a clear need for greater knowledge of how the multidisciplinary collaboration unfolds in digital history work and how information technologies might best support this collaboration. Likewise, little is known about the barriers scholars face and how they overcome these when using digital collections. Most of the studies on the research use of digitised newspapers have been dominated by studies of English language resources. This article contributes offering results of the Finnish newspaper collection and in the future more research on other language areas is needed.

In the course of our study of the newspaper collection's use in relation to primary sources, it emerged that the collection often gets used for many other purposes, such as teaching and fact checks. While we call for in-depth study of these, for richer understanding of the various uses of the numerous digital collections at scholars' disposal, we have already found evidence that information interactions vary across the activities involved. The finding implies that awareness of this would improve endeavours to design better information tools for history scholars.

The Task-Based Information Interaction (TBII) Evaluation framework (adapted from Järvelin et al. , 2015 )

Examples of initial interview questions related to the various activities in the TBII model

Characteristics of tasks connected with using digital newspaper materials as primary research sources (number of cases)

Information interactions during the TBII activities

https://zenodo.org/

https://www.fsd.tuni.fi/en/

https://www.kielipankki.fi/language-bank/

https://github.com/

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Kettunen , K. and Pääkkönen , T. ( 2016 ), “ Measuring lexical quality of a historical Finnish newspaper collection―analysis of garbled OCR data with basic language technology tools and means ”, Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC'16) , pp. 956 - 961 , available at: https://www.aclweb.org/anthology/L16-1152.pdf .

Kettunen , K. , Honkela , T. , Lindén , K. , Kauppinen , P. , Pääkkönen , T. and Kervinen , J. ( 2014 ), “ Analyzing and improving the quality of a historical news collection using language technology and statistical machine learning methods ”, IFLA World Library and Information Congress Proceedings 80th IFLA General Conference and Assembly , IFLA, available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10138/136269 .

Koolen , M. , Kumpulainen , S. and Melgar-Estrada , L. ( 2020 ), “ A workflow analysis perspective to scholarly research tasks ”, Proceedings of the 2020 Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval , pp. 183 - 192 , doi: 10.1145/3343413.3377969 .

Kumpulainen , S. ( 2017 ), “ Task-based information searching: research methods ”, Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences , CRC Press , Boca Raton , pp. 4526 - 4536 .

Kumpulainen , S. , Keskustalo , H. , Zhang , B. and Stefanidis , K. ( 2020 ), “ Historical reasoning in authentic research tasks: mapping cognitive and document spaces ”, Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology , Vol. 71 No. 2 , pp. 230 - 241 , doi: 10.1002/asi.24216 .

Late , E. , Tenopir , C. , Talja , S. and Christian , L. ( 2019 ), “ Reading practices in scholarly work: from articles and books to blogs ”, Journal of Documentation , Vol. 75 No. 3 , pp. 478 - 499 , doi: 10.1108/JD-11-2018-0178 .

Marcella , R. , Rowlands , H. and Baxter , G. ( 2013 ), “ The critical incident technique as a tool for gathering data as part of a qualitative study of information seeking behaviour ”, in Mendy and Geringer (Eds), Leading Issues in Business Research Methods , Academic Conferences and Publishing , Vol. 2 .

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by Academy of Finland grant #326612. The authors thank Laura Korkeamäki for providing research data for the purposes of this study.

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APA 6th Edition Citation Style

Newspaper article (website).

• APA 6th Edition Guide
• Annual Report
• Article, Journal
• Article, Journal (with DOI)
• Article, Journal (without DOI)
• Book, Chapter in edited work
• Book, Electronic
• Dissertation / Thesis
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• Website Document
• Video, Online
• No Author / No Date

Document Example:

Proper Bibliographic Reference Format:

• Bibliographic references are double-spaced and indented half an inch after the first line.
• If there is no author, the article title comes first.
• Use italics and "headline-style" capitalization for titles of newspapers .
• Use the URL of the homepage of the newspaper to avoid non-working URLs.
• It is no longer necessary to include the date of retrieval.

Barcelona to ban burqa in municipal buildings (2010, June 14), Gulf News . Retrieved from http://gulfnews.com

In-Text Citations:

• Citations are placed in the context of discussion using the author’s last name and date of publication.
• When a work has no identified author, cite in text the first few words of the article title using double quotation marks, “headline-style" capitalization, and the year.

(“Barcelona to Ban Burqa,” 2010)

• Alternatively, you can integrate the citation into the sentence by means of narrative.
• There must be a total match between the reference list and the parenthetical citation, so the article title must stand in place of an author’s name in the essay.

“Barcelona to Ban Burqa” (2010) contends that the move is aimed at all dress that impedes identification.

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Newspapers as a Source: Types, Sections, and Objectivity

Alys Avalos-Rivera

A newspaper is a publication that is periodically published (daily or weekly) that presents news and informative articles. In the past, newspapers were only published on paper, usually of the cheapest quality possible to make them affordable to the public and profitable for the publisher as well. Nowadays you can still find newspapers in their traditional form (paper based) or online.

Types of newspapers

Newspapers can be classified in different ways depending on their format, the type of news they cover, and their periodicity. One classification scheme divides this type of publications into two large groups: broadsheets and tabloids. Initially this classification was only based on the size of the pages. A tabloid is usually half the size of a broadsheet. However, with time, tabloids became associated with sensationalist news that present biased (or sometimes even false) information written in a style meant to scandalize happenings so as to catch readers’ attention. In contrast, broadsheets are usually considered as serious publications that strive to present news in an objective manner.

A second classification scheme is based on the coverage of the news published in the newspaper. Although most newspapers would usually contain news of the most relevant international and national events, some newspapers have a special focus on either regional or local news. For this reason, these types of newspaper are only sold in a specific town or region. On the other hand, national newspapers cover news of national and international interest and are sold all over a country. The last classification deals with how often the newspaper is published, which could be daily, three times or twice a week (biweekly or triweekly), once a week (weekly), or even once a month (monthly). Those newspapers that are published on a monthly or weekly basis sometimes focus on specialized news such as sports, arts, business, or news of local interest [click here to go back to reliability ].

Newspaper sections

The article “ Golden handcuffs for teachers won’t solve the staffing crisis in our schools ” was published in The Guardian, a well-respected British newspaper. Follow the hotlink provided in the reference entry to visit the article’s webpage. Once you are there, pay attention to the following details:

• On the left of the article’s title, you will notice a couple of subtitles. One of them says “Teachers Shortage” (orange fonts). The second title simply says “Opinion” (gray fonts).
• If you follow these links, you will notice that the first subtitle gives you access to other articles on the same topic which were published in the previous months.
• The “Opinion” link takes you to the section of the same name. What does the word “opinion” mean in this context?
• How does the information in the “Opinion” section (also called “Editorial” section in other newspapers) differ from the information provided in other sections?

In the past, when newspapers were actually just made out of paper, they all had different sections that readers could actually differentiate because they were placed on different pages. These sections were used to present the information classified in categories so that busy readers could only focus on those news they really cared about. For instance, if a reader only wanted to read the sports news, s/he could simply search for the sport page and ignore other sections such as entertainment or classified advertisements. Nowadays, if you want to search for a particular section on an online newspaper you have to look at the hotlinks. These links are usually on a ribbon or link menu placed on one of the margins of the webpage (usually the top or the left margin on Western newspapers).

Knowing the nature of the information that each newspaper section affords is of great importance to evaluate a source taken from a newspaper. The section of “Opinion” on The Guardian’s webpage, for example, is devoted to articles that express the writers’ opinions on a given subject, usually a controversial issue. This means that the journalists do not claim being objective or impartial when they write these pieces. On the contrary, the authors freely present their political views or make value judgement of the situations/events being discussed, which is not usually done in other types of journalism. This does not mean that in the “Opinion” section writers do not present evidence to support their claims. They sometimes but not always do! In most of them, the author(s) voice their point of view and weakly support that without providing adequate evidence.

Furthermore, some of these pieces are not confident enough to bring up alternative viewpoints for the audience to have a complete picture and then decide which side to believe. These types of articles are trying to persuade the audience to adopt a particular point of view. By contrast, other sections may have a very different focus. For instance, the “World news” section may only focus on presenting facts while the “Fashion” section may afford more visual material to describe or promote a new trend. To sum up, be cautious before you decide to cite the content in the “Opinion” section of the source.

As an exercise, you can visit a different online newspaper and browse the news provided on each section. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What is the purpose of this piece? To inform? To persuade? To narrate a real story? To sell a product/service? To give advice?
• Does/do the author(s) claim something about a specific topic? If yes, how do they support their claims? With logic/facts/statistics/emotional appeals/visual evidence/experts’ opinions? [Click here to go back to Evaluating an Internet Source ]

Objectivity

It was mentioned before that broadsheets usually publish news that are written in an objective manner. This means that the writers do their best to represent the facts as close to the reality as possible, without involving their feelings or opinions in the report. If you consider that writers are human beings with feelings and opinions, and that newspapers are a business whose first objective is to make profits, being objective becomes a complex matter. For this reason, we cannot talk about a piece of news that is absolutely objective and a newspaper that is 100% free from bias. In fact, newspapers usually take a particular political stance (position) that somehow determines how the news, especially the editorial or opinion sections, are presented. Some newspapers are said to have a left, center, or right tendency, depending on the type of political views they hold or political parties they favor. A newspaper’s political stance also determines its audience. This means that, for example, a conservative audience would usually favor a conservative type of newspaper.

As a reader, it is important to be aware of the newspaper’s stance and consider it whenever you read your news. A good principle is not to get your news from a single source. This practice will allow you to see the different points of views about a particular event and decide for yourself, instead of simply following other’s opinions. This is especially important if you are considering using newspaper articles as part of your sources for an assignment. Moreover, you should keep this principle in mind when browsing news on other sources different from newspapers, such as TV, radio broadcasts, or online sources such as Google News, or Yahoo News. They all follow a stance and address an audience with a political point of view [Click here to go back to reliability]

As an exercise, you can observe the following statements about the problem of global warming taken from the websites of two famous TV Networks (You can also click on the hotlinks to read the whole articles). Consider the following questions:

• If you only read the headlines on the Fox News article, what is the idea that you get about the causes of global warming?
• Is that the same idea that you get once you read the content of the article (pay attention to the words that were bolded for your reading convenience)?
•  According to the CNN News website, what is causing global warning?
• Do these two articles agree on the causes of global warming? Why is that?

To find out more about the editorial line (political stance) of these two sources (Fox News and CNN News) and the political views of their audiences you may check the following article from Business Insider . However, remember that this is again a source may also have a political stance and may be not absolutely reliable.

Newspapers as a Source: Types, Sections, and Objectivity Copyright © 2020 by Alys Avalos-Rivera is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How to Write a News Article

Last Updated: April 17, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Gerald Posner . Gerald Posner is an Author & Journalist based in Miami, Florida. With over 35 years of experience, he specializes in investigative journalism, nonfiction books, and editorials. He holds a law degree from UC College of the Law, San Francisco, and a BA in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley. He’s the author of thirteen books, including several New York Times bestsellers, the winner of the Florida Book Award for General Nonfiction, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History. He was also shortlisted for the Best Business Book of 2020 by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 2,388,573 times.

Writing a news article is different from writing other articles or informative pieces because news articles present information in a specific way. It's important to be able to convey all the relevant information in a limited word count and give the facts to your target audience concisely. Knowing how to write a news article can help a career in journalism , develop your writing skills and help you convey information clearly and concisely.

Things You Should Know

• Outline your article with all the facts and interview quotes you’ve gathered. Decide what your point of view on the topic is before you start writing.
• Your first sentence is the most important one—craft an attention-getter that clearly states the most important information.
• Proofread for accurate information, consistent style and tone, and proper formatting.

Sample Articles

Planning Your Article

• If you’ve ever written a research paper you understand the work that goes into learning about your topic. The first phase of writing a news article or editorial is pretty similar.
• Who - who was involved?
• What - what happened?
• Where - where did it happen?
• Why - why did it happen?
• When - when did it happen?
• How - how did it happen?

• 1) those that need to be included in the article.
• 2) those that are interesting but not vital.
• 3) those that are related but not important to the purpose of the article.
• This fact list will help prevent you from leaving out any relevant information about the topic or story, and will also help you write a clean, succinct article.
• Be as specific as possible when writing down all of these facts. You can always trim down unnecessary information later, but it’s easier to cut down than it is to have to beef up an article.
• It’s okay at this point to have holes in your information – if you don’t have a pertinent fact, write down the question and highlight it so you won’t forget to find it out
• Now that you have your facts, if your editor has not already assigned the type of article, decide what kind of article you’re writing. Ask yourself whether this is an opinion article, an unbiased and straightforward relaying of information, or something in between. [2] X Research source

• If you’ve ever heard the term “burying the lead”, that is in reference to the structure of your article. [4] X Research source The “lead” is the first sentence of the article – the one you “lead” with. Not "burying the lead" simply means that you should not make your readers read several paragraphs before they get to the point of your article.
• Whatever forum you’re writing for, be it print or for the web, a lot of readers don’t make it to the end of the article. When writing a news article, you should focus on giving your readers what they want as soon as possible.
• Write above the fold. The fold comes from newspapers where there’s a crease because the page gets folded in half. If you look at a newspaper all the top stories are placed above the fold. The same goes for writing online. The virtual fold is the bottom of your screen before you have to scroll down. Put the best information at the top to engage your readers and encourage them to keep reading.

• Ask yourself the “5 W's” again, but this time in relation to your audience.
• Questions like what is the average age you are writing for, where is this audience, local or national, why is this audience reading your article, and what does your audience want out of your article will inform you on how to write.
• Once you know who you are writing for you can format an outline that will get the best information to the right audience as quickly as possible.

• Even if you are covering a popular story or topic that others are writing about, look for an angle that will make this one yours.
• Do you have a personal experience that relates to your topic? Maybe you know someone who is an expert that you can interview .

• People usually like to talk about personal experiences, especially if it will be featured somewhere, like your news article. Reach out through a phone call, email, or even social media and ask someone if you can interview them.
• When you do interview people you need to follow a few rules: identify yourself as a reporter. Keep an open mind . Stay objective. While you are encouraged to ask questions and listen to anecdotes, you are not there to judge.
• Record and write down important information from the interview, and be transparent with what you are doing and why you are doing this interview.

Writing Your News Article

• Your lead should be one sentence and should simply, but completely, state the topic of the article.
• Remember when you had to write essays for school? Your lead is like your thesis statement.
• Let your readers know what your news article is about, why it’s important, and what the rest of the article will contain.

• These details are important, because they are the focal point of the article that fully informs the reader.
• If you are writing an opinion piece , this is where you will state what your opinion is as well.

• This additional information helps round out the article and can help you transition to new points as you move along.
• If you have an opinion, this is where you will identify the opposing views and the people who hold them.
• A good news article will outline facts and information. A great news article will allow readers to engage on an emotional level.
• To engage your readers, you should provide enough information that anyone reading your news article can make an informed opinion, even if it contrasts with yours.
• This also applies to a news article where you the author don’t state your opinion but present it as an unbiased piece of information. Your readers should still be able to learn enough about your topic to form an opinion.

• Make sure your news article is complete and finished by giving it a good concluding sentence. This is often a restatement of the leading statement (thesis) or a statement indicating potential future developments relating to the article topic.
• Read other news articles for ideas on how to best accomplish this. Or, watch news stations or shows. See how a news anchor will wrap up a story and sign off, then try to emulate that.

Proofing Your Article

• Be sure to double check all the facts in your news article before you submit it, including names, dates, and contact information or addresses. Writing accurately is one of the best ways to establish yourself as a competent news article writer.

• If your news article is meant to convey direct facts, not the opinions of its writer, ensure you’ve kept your writing unbiased and objective. Avoid any language that is overly positive or negative or statements that could be construed as support or criticism.
• If your article is meant to be more in the style of interpretive journalism then check to make sure that you have given deep enough explanations of the larger story and offered multiple viewpoints throughout.

• When quoting someone, write down exactly what was said inside quotations and immediately cite the reference with the person’s proper title. Formal titles should be capitalized and appear before a person’s name. Ex: “Mayor John Smith”.
• Always write out numbers one through nine, but use numerals for numbers 10 and up.
• When writing a news article, be sure to only include one space after a period, not two. [12] X Research source

• You shouldn’t submit any news article for publication without first letting someone take a look at it. An extra pair of eyes can double check your facts and the information to ensure that what you have written is accurate.
• If you are writing a news article for school or your own personal website, then have a friend take a look at it and give you notes. Sometimes you may get notes that you want to defend or don’t agree with it. But these should be listened to. Remember, with so many news articles getting published every minute you need to ensure that your widest possible audience can easily digest the information you have provided.

Expert Q&A

• Start with research and ask the “5. Asking these questions will help you create an outline and a narrative to your article. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Interview people, and remember to be polite and honest about what you are writing. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Put the most important information at the beginning of your article. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

Expert Interview

Thanks for reading our article! If you'd like to learn more about writing an article, check out our in-depth interview with Gerald Posner .

• ↑ https://libguides.mit.edu/select-topic
• ↑ https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources/different-genres/news-writing-fundamentals
• ↑ https://libguides.southernct.edu/journalism/howtowrite
• ↑ https://spcollege.libguides.com/c.php?g=254319&p=1695313
• ↑ https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/cm360
• ↑ https://mediahelpingmedia.org/basics/how-to-find-and-develop-important-news-angles/
• ↑ https://www.northwestern.edu/brand/editorial-guidelines/newswriting-guidelines/
• ↑ https://tacomacc.libguides.com/c.php?g=599051&p=4147190
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/journalism_and_journalistic_writing/ap_style.html
• ↑ https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/punctuation/space-after-period
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/

About This Article

To write a news article, open with a strong leading sentence that states what the article is about and why it’s important. Try to answer the questions who, what, where, when, and why as early in the article as possible. Once you’ve given the reader the most important facts, you can include any additional information to help round out the article, such as opposing views or contact information. Finish with a strong concluding sentence, such as an invitation to learn more or a statement indicating future developments. For tips on researching your article, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Newspaper news'

Create a spot-on reference in apa, mla, chicago, harvard, and other styles.

Consult the top 50 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'Newspaper news.'

Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.

You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.

Browse dissertations / theses on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.

Miller, Karen L. "The stocks paradox what is the impact on business-news sections and business-news staff when newspapers cut stock listings? /." Diss., Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10355/5985.

Harmes, David. "Corporate news, the issue of newspaper ownership revisited." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/MQ47773.pdf.

Manning, Paul. "Trade unions, news media strategies and newspaper journalists." Thesis, Loughborough University, 1995. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/14543.

Wallace, Aurora. "The architecture of news : nineteenth century newspaper buildings in New York." Thesis, McGill University, 2000. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=37723.

McLarty, Amy Everbach Tracy Ellen. "Endangered newspaper an analysis of 10 years of corporate messages from the Dallas Morning News /." [Denton, Tex.] : University of North Texas, 2009. http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc12162.

Appelgren, Ester. "Media Convergence and Digital News Services." Doctoral thesis, KTH, Medieteknik och grafisk produktion, Media (stängd 20111231), 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-4543.

Banda, Zeria N. "News selection and news situations : a Q-study of news editors in Malawi." Virtual Press, 1998. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1115759.

Cohen, F. "TASS - Text Analysis System for Understanding News Stories." Thesis, University of Reading, 1988. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.383567.

Serge, Evan John. "O Captain, My Captain! U.S Newspaper Framing of the Death of Captain America." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32593.

Benckert, van de Boel Anna. "Designing the future of the newspaper." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-23478.

Lovejoy, Jennette P. "A Content Analysis of Cancer News Coverage in Appalachian Ohio Community Newspapers." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1194969070.

Clark, Karla Christine Marie. "Newspaper Ownership Structure and the Quality of Local Political News Coverage." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2012. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc115055/.

Vigue, Chanelle Renee. "Entertainment News: Agitprop to Colbertisms." VCU Scholars Compass, 2008. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/670.

Ndangam, Lilian N. "British newspaper coverage of child sexual abuse : relating news to policy and social discourses." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2003. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/14446/.

McLarty, Amy. "Endangered newspaper: An analysis of 10 years of corporate messages from the Dallas Morning News." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2009. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc12162/.

Atkins, Daniel Aaron. "Sense of community, political participation, and civic engagement: An examination of the relationships between local daily newspapers, news websites, and their communities." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/71893.

Kisuke, Connie Syomiti. "An investigation of the role of news values in the selection of news sources in a contemporary third world newspaper: a case study of the Daily Nation newspaper." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002900.

John, Sue Lockett. "The effects of newspaper competition on local news reporting and content diversity /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/6164.

Thompson, Shelley. "News about nanotechnology : a longitudinal framing analysis of newspaper reporting on nanotechnology." Thesis, Bournemouth University, 2011. http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/20991/.

Chong, Yuk-sik Jone. "Legend at street corner on-street news stalls as a character-defining element of Hong Kong street life /." Click to view the E-thesis via HKUTO, 2008. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B42188775.

Robertson, Elizabeth (Elizabeth Jane) Scott Byron T. "Gatekeeping and international datelines in the American newspaper the decision process /." Diss., Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri--Columbia, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10355/5786.

Brown, Christina A. "Latent newspaper functions during the impact phase of Hurricane Katrina." [Tampa, Fla] : University of South Florida, 2009. http://purl.fcla.edu/usf/dc/et/SFE0003277.

Meeker, Jonathon. "Media Coverage of Music Education: How One Local Newspaper Reports on Music in the Public Schools." The Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1330275931.

Röpke, Luise. "The PISA-study in the German newspaper ‘Handelsblatt’ : A study of the news coverage of the study in a financial newspape." Thesis, Örebro universitet, Institutionen för humaniora, utbildnings- och samhällsvetenskap, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-35971.

Ringhagen, Sara, and Josefine Antonsson. ""They lie, slant and make bias" - or? : A qualitative study of sources in the local newspaper Jönköpings-Posten." Thesis, University of Kalmar, University of Kalmar, University of Kalmar, University of Kalmar, School of Communication and Design, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hik:diva-1052.

The purpose of this thesis was to examine what people who had been interviewed and quoted in a local newspaper feel about being interviewed and what they think of the published article. Our aim was also to make a comparison of “known” sources and “unknown” sources.

The main issues were: How do the sources of a local newspaper perceive that they are being treated in the actual interview? What do the sources think of the published article in which they are quoted? Do they trust media and journalists in general? Do the opinions differ between those who are used to being interviewed and those who are unfamiliar with the situation?

This study was carried out through qualitative interviews with respondents who have been quoted in a local newspaper in Jönköping, Jönköpings-Posten. Articles were selected from three days in November. The articles should be based on one or more interviews and had to be large. At least one person should be quoted more than once in the selected article. In total 30 interviews were made.

The study showed that the sources overall were pleased with the article and the way they were being presented. Nor was there anything to complain about when it came to the journalist’s behaviour. But almost everyone expressed certain scepticism when it came to confidence in media in general. However, most of the persons interviewed had an understanding of the ways that journalists work. We were surprised that the result was so positive and also that the people that were not used to being interviewed were more positive than those who often appear in the local press.

Li, Ming-kit Mandy. "A study of newspaper editorials as read out in TV news programmes in Hong Kong /." View the Table of Contents & Abstract, 2006. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B36845577.

Lau, Wai-ming, and 劉慧鳴. "Southern metropolis news (Nanfang Doushi Bao): a market-oriented newspaper in Mainland China." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2001. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31972482.

Lau, Wai-ming. "Southern metropolis news (Nanfang Doushi Bao) : a market-oriented newspaper in Mainland China /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 2001. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B24533750.

Stockwell, Esther Seong Hee, and estock@hosei ac jp. "The relationship between newspaper credibility and reader attitude toward Korea and Koreans." RMIT University. Applied Communication, 2006. http://adt.lib.rmit.edu.au/adt/public/adt-VIT20070125.160936.

Wilson, Stephen Michael. "Preserving the American Community Newspaper in an Age of New Media Convergence and Competition." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2005. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/communication_theses/2.

Stamper, Randall Lawrence. "Gonna Spread the News all Around: Early, African-American Popular Song as Spoken Newspaper." VCU Scholars Compass, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10156/2136.

Tawe, Ngamale Emmanuel. "The making of business news in Africa: a case study of Cameroon Tribune newspaper." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002942.

Christensen, Andrea Ludlow. "The Rhetoric of Newspaper Rivalry in the Face of Image Restoration and Transformation." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2005. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd886.pdf.

Brandt, Jane E. Sutter Kennedy George. "Searching for satisfaction how 20something women use media to get news and advertising information /." Diss., Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri--Columbia, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10355/6580.

Hudock, Lindsay. "NEWS OR SPECULATION? A COMPARATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS OF HEADLINES AND THE PREVALENCE OF SPECULATIVE LANGUAGE IN CORPORATE AND IND." Master's thesis, University of Central Florida, 2005. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/4073.

Bråmer, Pontus. "Vetenskapliga tidningsartiklar i klassrummet : En undersökning om lärares användning av tidningsartiklar." Thesis, Karlstad University, Division for Social Sciences, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-1678.

This paper presents why and how teachers use newspaper articles in the classroom when they educate their pupils in chemistry, biology and nature science. All the teachers have worked over 20 years and are, when interviewed, at a Swedish gymnasium in Dalarna. I also have, in a small study, interviewed some of their pupils to get their view about teachers using news paper articles during lessons.

The teacher’s use of newspaper articles in the classroom can be divided in different ways. They can use the articles to illustrate up to date links to everyday life. Some teachers’ uses articles by letting the pupils read the articles and answer questions about them. Or the newspaper articles can function as background material when the pupils do a project work covering a number of lessons. The major part of the teachers thinks that the main reason why they use articles from newspapers is to get up to date information concerning the course that are covered.

The results show that the teachers in Dalarna use their newspaper articles in the same way as shown in international studies. For example they used the newspaper articles to start a lesson or a new topic. Or they used the article to have an example on the subject they teach. But a number of differences can also be observed between this study and other international ones, for example the main reason why the articles are presented to the pupils and how the articles are used over time.

Simar, Joséphine, and Josefine Sveningsson. "Varför var det så svårt? : En flermetodsanalys av läsbarhet av nyhetsartiklar i Dagens Nyheter under 15 år." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för medier och journalistik (MJ), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-32200.

Hiller, Monique. "Reader Comments on News Articles: Critical or Complementary." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-22451.

Li, Ming-kit Mandy, and 李明潔. "A study of newspaper editorials as read out in TV news programmes in Hong Kong." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2006. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B45007603.

Lundberg, Jonas. "Shaping electronic news : A case study of genre perspectives on interaction design." Doctoral thesis, Linköpings universitet, MDI - Interaction and Service Design Research Group, 2005. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-5020.

Chong, Yuk-sik Jone, and 莊玉惜. "Legend at street corner: on-street news stalls as a character-defining element of Hong Kong street life." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2008. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B42188775.

Scott, Glenn Ward Stevenson Robert L. "Mapping mediamorphosis how print newspaper circulation influences features of audience participation at online news sites /." Chapel Hill, N.C. : University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2006. http://dc.lib.unc.edu/u?/etd,590.

Mosborg, Susan. "Bridging past and present : how young people use history in reading the daily news /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/7748.

Sternadori, Miglena Wise Kevin Robert. "Cognitive processing of news as a function of structure a comparison between inverted pyramid and chronology /." Diss., Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri--Columbia, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10355/6643.

Weir, Gordon T. "Determinants of diffusion of electronic news media : an in-dept case study of the diffusion of a digital newspaper /." free to MU campus, to others for purchase, 1998. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/mo/fullcit?p9904871.

Lewis, Kieran Joseph. "Pluralism, Australian newspaper diversity and the promise of the Internet." Queensland University of Technology, 2004. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/15933/.

Taylor, Janet Elizabeth. "A comparison and analysis of European Union news coverage in the UK and Danish newspaper press." Thesis, City University London, 1999. http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/7875/.

Cartmell, David Dwayne. "Arkansas daily newspaper editors attitudes toward agriculture and the gatekeeping criteria used when publishing agricultural news /." free to MU campus, to others for purchase, 2001. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/mo/fullcit?p3012956.

Sarah and Saruultuya. "Online News Impact on Newspaper Publishing." Thesis, 2014. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/94qa5z.

Hsieh, Hsiao-Yu, and 謝曉玉. "Text Structure of Newspaper Sport News." Thesis, 2008. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/75975927925528938984.

Opening statements in Trump's historic trial set to begin Monday after tense day of jury selection

Opening statements are set to begin next week in Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial after the final members of the jury were seated Friday, following a dramatic day in which two prospective jurors broke down in tears, an appeals court judge rejected Trump's request for a stay, and a man set himself on fire in front of the courthouse.

“We’re going to have opening statements on Monday morning. This trial is starting,” Judge Juan Merchan said towards the end of the day, after successfully seating the remaining five alternate jurors that were needed.

The case — the first-ever criminal trial of a former president —will be heard by a panel of 12 jurors and a total of six alternates. It's expected to last roughly six weeks.

The five alternates ultimately selected Friday include an unemployed married woman who’s into art and described herself as not political, an audio professional, a contract specialist, a clothing company executive and a construction company project manager. It took four days of jury selection to find the 18 jurors.

Around the same time the judge declared, "we have our full panel" inside the courtroom in the early afternoon, a man set himself on fire outside the courthouse. The NYPD said the man, identified as Max Azzarello of Florida, later died. He appeared to have had pamphlets describing a conspiracy involving cryptocurrency that he threw around before setting himself ablaze, police said.

Later in the afternoon, Trump's attorneys were in a state appeals court trying again to get an emergency stay of the trial. Trump attorney Cliff Robert argued his client could not get a fair trial in Manhattan, which had been Trump's longtime home before moving to Florida after he was elected president in 2016.

Steven Wu of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office countered that "what the last week has shown is that the jury selection has worked."

"We have 18 ordinary New Yorkers who are ready to serve. It would be unfair to them and the public for this to be delayed further," he argued. The judge rejected Trump's stay request a short time later.  

The jury selection process Friday was especially intense, some potential jurors breaking down in tears and others saying they were too anxious to serve.

The day began with the judge calling up the 22 remaining potential jurors from the previous pool of 96 to answer questions designed to indicate whether they could be fair and impartial about the divisive real estate mogul and presumptive Republican nominee for president.

The first of those potential jurors was dismissed after she said she didn’t think she could be fair. “I have really, really bad anxiety and people have found out where I am,” she told the judge. A short time later, two other potential jurors were dismissed after each told the judge that upon further reflection, “I don’t think I can be impartial.”

Other potential jurors included a married father who said he listens to a podcast called “Order of Man,” which is described on Apple’s website as discussions about “reclaiming what it means to be a man.” Some past guests of the podcast include people who’ve been outspoken in their support of Trump and were highly critical of the civil fraud case New York Attorney General Letitia James brought against the former president. The man, an audio specialist, was chosen as one of the alternates.

Another potential juror was a married fund manager who said he’d done “get-out-the-vote” work for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump’s 2016 presidential opponent. Trump and his attorney Todd Blanche passed notes back and forth while that juror was speaking. He was later dismissed after being asked about a 2020 Facebook post where he apparently called Trump “the devil and a sociopath.”

Trump appeared most interested in jurors whose answers offer ambiguity around their personal political views. When one prospective juror said they were a Fox News viewer, Trump cocked his head, then quickly conferred with his lawyer, Todd Blanche.

Another potential juror was a woman who became emotional as she disclosed she'd served two years in prison on drug-related charges, but said she could be "fair and impartial."

During a morning break, Merchan — who'd chided reporters on Thursday for disclosing too much information about potential jurors — said the woman had shared "very personal things about her life" and was "very brave." “I just wanted to encourage the press to please be kind. Please be kind to this person,” the judge said. He later dismissed her, saying she needed a certificate of release to be qualified for service going forward. On her way out, she cheerfully called out, "Good luck!"

Following that juror's departure, the DA's office began its individual questioning of the jurors. One woman, who'd disclosed that her father is lifelong friends with Trump ally turned critic Chris Christie, broke down in tears when prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked her an innocuous question about the burden of proof in the case. "I feel so nervous and anxious right now. I’m sorry," she responded, bursting out into tears. "I thought I could do this," she said, adding "I wouldn’t want someone who feels this way to judge my case." She was dismissed.

Hoffinger's questioning was followed by Trump attorney Susan Necheles, who asked a potential juror who'd started their own business how she would assess a witness's credibility. The woman then asked to speak to the judge, saying she was "getting anxiety and self-doubt” from Necheles's line of questioning. She was dismissed. 

Necheles later asked another woman — who previously said she was a victim of sexual assault — whether she would hold it against Trump that women outside this case have accused Trump of sexual assault. She said she would not have a problem setting those accusations aside but the judge ultimately excused her, saying, "It’s best to err on the side of caution."

Another man said he has some differences from Trump on his policies but thinks he's “usually awesome.” He was not chosen for the jury.

On his way into court in the morning, Trump again complained the case against him is "unfair," and that the partial gag order preventing him from lashing out at witnesses, prosecutors, court staffers and jurors is not "constitutional." "Everyone else can say whatever they want about me. They can say anything they want. They can continue to make up lies and everything else. They lie. They’re real scum. But you know what? I’m not allowed to speak," he told reporters.

Prosecutors this week asked the judge to fine Trump and hold him in contempt for social media posts that they said violate the gag order. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Tuesday.

The m a in pa nel of 12 is made up of seven men and five women, including two lawyers, a teacher, a retired wealth manager, a product development manager, a security engineer, a software engineer, a speech therapist and a physical therapist. The foreman — the juror who essentially acts as the leader and spokesperson for the panel — is a married man who works in sales and gets his news from The New York Times, MSNBC and Fox News.

The lone alternate selected Thursday is a woman who works as an asset manager.

Trump vented about the speed of the process in a post on social media shortly after the final jurors were selected, claiming the judge is “‘railroading’ me, at breakneck speed, in order to completely satisfy his ‘friends’.”

Later in the day, Merchan held what's known as a Sandoval hearing . That's a type of hearing designed to let defendants know the scope of questions they could face from prosecutors on cross-examination so they can make informed decisions about whether to take the witness stand in their own defense.

Leaving court on Friday, Trump was asked whether he was still planning to testify and he said he was.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office disclosed in a court filing that it would like to ask Trump about several items, among them the $464 million civil judgment against him and his company for fraud , the total $88 million verdicts and liability findings for sexual abuse  and  defamation in lawsuits brought by writer E. Jean Carroll and a number of other adverse court rulings over the past few years.

Trump has denied wrongdoing in all the cases and is appealing  the fraud judgment and the Carroll verdicts.

Prosecutors said they want to be able to bring those findings up “to impeach the credibility of the defendant” if he takes the witness stand.

Discussing the findings in the fraud case, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told the judge it was "hard to think of something that is more squarely in the wheelhouse” for the DA to ask Trump about "than a finding by a judge of persistent and repeated fraud and illegality."

Trump's attorney Emil Bove countered that prosecutors shouldn't be able to breach the topic at all because Trump's appeal is still pending. He made similar arguments over the DA's contention that they should be allowed to ask about a judge's finding that he was untruthful on the witness stand during the fraud trial and had violated a gag order in the case.

“Is it your position that because a case is being appealed or might be appealed, that therefore it can not be used?" Merchan asked the lawyer. "Not necessarily," Bove replied.

The judge said he'd issue his ruling on the dispute on Monday morning.

Trump said last week he  “absolutely” plans to testify , but he is under no obligation to do so.

Asked by Necheles at the end of the day who the DA's first witness would be, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said they wouldn't inform Trump's team of the person's identity until Sunday, given that Trump has been criticizing some witnesses on social media despite the partial gag order in the case. “And if that should be tweeted, that’ll be the last time we provide that courtesy,” Steinglass said.

Merchan called the DA's position "understandable" and told Necheles "I will not compel them to do anything."

Trump has pleaded  not guilty  to 34 counts of falsifying business records and faces up to four years in prison if he is convicted.

Bragg alleges that Trump falsified records to hide money he was paying his former lawyer Michael Cohen to reimburse him for $130,000 he paid adult film actor Stormy Daniels  near the end of the 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels has claimed she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Trump has denied that he slept with Daniels, but he has acknowledged repaying Cohen.

The DA’s office also alleges that as part of a scheme to boost Trump, National Enquirer publisher American Media Inc. paid $150,000 to model and actor Karen McDougal , who appeared in Playboy magazine and claimed that she had a nine-month affair with Trump before he was elected president “in exchange for her agreement not to speak out about the alleged sexual relationship,” according to a statement of facts filed by Bragg.

Trump has also denied having a sexual relationship with McDougal.

Adam Reiss is a reporter and producer for NBC and MSNBC.

Lisa Rubin is an MSNBC legal correspondent and a former litigator.

Dareh Gregorian is a politics reporter for NBC News.

FBI says Chinese hackers preparing to attack US infrastructure

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Pope will attend G7 summit to discuss AI, Italy says

Pope Francis will attend this year's Group of Seven (G7) leaders' summit to discuss the challenges posed by Artificial Intelligence (AI), Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Friday.

Old Republic International Stock: My Thesis Materializes, I Say 'Hold'

• Old Republic International Corporation reported soft quarterly results, making investing in the company unappealing at this time.
• Old Republic is a conservative and well-run insurance company with stability and a well-covered dividend, but its valuation and potential are not impressive.
• The company's move from title insurance to general insurance is ongoing, with general insurance being more capital-heavy but offering better trends.
• Looking for a helping hand in the market? Members of iREIT® on Alpha get exclusive ideas and guidance to navigate any climate. Learn More »

FangXiaNuo/E+ via Getty Images

Dear readers/followers,

In this article, I'm going to update my thesis for Old Republic International Corporation ( NYSE: ORI ). This is an insurance player that I have covered before - and where I went " hold " about two articles ago . The last article for the company is one you can find here.

In this piece, it's time for an update for ORI. The company reported its quarterly results yesterday, and those results weren't fantastic. In fact, ORI as a whole isn't in a fantastic position at this particular time, which makes investing in the business not that appealing a possibility or a potential here.

It has upside and positives - Old Republic International is a conservative and well-run insurance company with strong fundamentals and a well-covered dividend. Like many legacy insurance players, it has stability to offer, and even the latest results don't really take anything away from that.

However, any company needs to be put into context for its valuation and near-term and long-term potential. And the near-term and long-term potential for Old Republic is not something I currently consider impressive.

It's telling that in the last 5 months, we've seen only a 2.6% move excluding dividends, while the S&P 500 ( SP500 ) has done 4x that - and many of my investments even more than that.

Let's look at what the company offers us after 1Q.

Old Republic International - The 1Q results tell the near-term story of this business

The company gave investors a slight dip following the 1Q results - and that dip has averaged down some after the market open as well. Numbers were, for lack of a better term, soft for ORI. The company's premiums (net) and fees both dipped, leading to an increase in the combined ratio. For those of you following the insurance business, you'll know instinctively that while most ratios are good when they go up, the combined ratio is something we actually want to be low, not high.

How bad were the declines for the company?

Well, 1Q EPS fell 2 cents to consensus, but up for the year. Operating revenue was perhaps the most serious miss, almost $100M on a <$2B total revenue, but still a rise from the YoY period - and net investment income was up due to higher rates and better income. (Source: ORI IR)

Combined ratios for insurers over 93% are what I would usually consider somewhat sub-par. I say this because it's relatively easy to find European insurers that have far better than this, even below the 88% level. ORI saw an increase to an already poor combined ratio of 93.3% to 94.3%, which is a full 100 bps slide - not that great. (Source: ORI IR)

Still, BV on a per-share basis remained solid, and growing towards the $24 level. (Source: ORI IR)

Overall, I would not say that this was any sort of major miss. It merely confirms the overall thesis I have on ORI. It's not, at this valuation nor at this situation, any sort of outperforming business, and should be treated as such - as not an outperforming business.

The company's holding structure is one of its advantages, and it's similar to other insurers in this respect. The main company does qualitative underwriting, while the insurance is done through subsidiaries, those in turn split into 3 different segments.

Much of the company's appeal, and why investors like me are, in fact, arguing in favor of it, lies in its historical trends. The company has a very long time of uninterrupted dividend trends and payments. It has an S&P Global rating of A+, but the yield, as of this time, is low enough to where even savings accounts are actually considerably potentially more attractive here.

In my last article, the company already saw quite a muted but favorable result - that was the reason I went neutral or neutral on the company at that particular time.

The same could be said for this quarter - the results were again favorable but muted and seen in the context of the broader insurance market or what is available for you to invest in, is not all that attractive here.

The company's move from one segment to another is ongoing. In my last article, I highlighted this as a positive.

The company is moving, which by the way is a positive, more into general insurance as the specifics here are better. However, General insurance is also far more capital-heavy than Title insurance. The two are essentially almost opposites of one another in terms of trends. While General insurance is high loss - low expense, Title insurance is low loss-high expense, and in the latter, ORI also happens to be the 3rd-largest in the market. ORI is not leaving title insurance, nor should it - but improving trends here would be welcome.

(Source: ORI Article )

The company did, in fact, perform okay. Even at just single-digit and small increases, it's more of a step in a long process - which is how ORI operates. Management even says so in the commentary. Key objectives for the company are highly profitable results over the long term, coupled with balance sheet strength. Given the current trends, the company seems to be managing exactly that.

Going forward, I generally expect the company to do well, albeit far slower than some smaller and more agile players in the industry. The company's investment argument remains stable - the combination of capital-heavy general insurance with high revenue, and low expenses, combined with the capital-light title insurance segment - with a low loss advantage. (Source: ORI IR)

ORI, like most other insurers at this time, is managing high insurance premium growth, with a combination of agent/broker distribution. All of their dangerous exposures - such as home/property, are backed by reinsurance. Most of their general insurance premiums come from a combination of commercial auto (41% of net premiums), a very attractive segment overall, and workers comp. Together, this is 60% of the company's net premium mix in the general insurance segment.

Things like Home and Auto warranties are only 8%, which gives the company what I would characterize as an overall attractive profile when it comes to the loss-heavy segment.

Meanwhile, the title segment is the 3rd-largest in the entire industry with a double-digit, 15% market share and a nice combination with its very low capital requirement. Still, the company has seen a significant decline in its title revenues - and those haven't been showing any implication of being at the beginning of rising again at this particular time.

One of the main arguments for ORI is the quality of its balance sheet and its business. The company only invests in bonds and stocks - all of them of high quality with near-zero exposure to risk. It has a high-quality, very liquid portfolio with low exposure to high risk, such as property cat and the like. There's a very limited goodwill position - only 3%, which is one of the best I have seen in a very long time, and the company has a very high ongoing dividend capacity. (Source: ORI IR)

Overall, the only argument that works against ORI when it comes to investing is the valuation - and we'll see how that looks here.

ORI stock - The valuation is decent, but still too expensive

In my last article, I went with a $24.5/share price that I view as conservative enough to invest in. At a 3.5% dividend yield, there is no argument or no case for me to invest here - a savings account yields more. The only argument would be if there was a non-premiumized capital appreciation upside to the valuation, or an argument for premiumization. I don't view the quality of the argument as being enough at this time to go higher.

Not at this time, at any rate.

Is Old Republic expected to grow its income and earnings?

Yes, it is.

Is the company expected to continue to perform well in the P&C sector?

Also, yes - the company is a good business.

However, it's currently trading at a double-digit 11x+ P/E, which for an insurer, even a highly rated one, is a valuation that I view with a bit of concern.

Let's put it this way.

Over the past 10 years, the average valuation has been around 11.7x. That's more or less where we are today. But the discount has been increasing over time - over a 5-year period, it's only at 9.8x. (Source: FactSet)

If we average this out at about 10x - or forget that, and even take 11.7x as forward P/E, you do not get 15% annualized , not even with the company's 3.5% dividend yield.

F.A.S.T. Graphs Old Republic Upside

I'm in the business of analyzing companies and trying to estimate a fair value for them, relative to their fundamentals, their forward expectations, and also to consider risks that might happen to the company. When it comes to Old Republic International, I don't see many fundamental risks or downsides that could cause this company to materially lose attraction. Instead, what I see is a problem in the potential returns - in that those, if we maintain a historically confirmed, or even close to confirmed level, would see results below 15% per year.

Because the returns would be at this level, I do not view the company as enough for me to invest in at this time. For the company to have the conservative upside I'd want, I'm willing to go to $25.5/share - so I am increasing my share price for the company - but I am not increasing my stance for the company, which is still a " hold " here.

ORI may be right for you, even now. If you want just safety and double digits and don't mind sub-par returns, then this is a possibility for you. The company could also outperform significantly, at which point a good return would become possible.

For now, I don't view this as buyable, and therefore a " hold ."

• Old Republic International is an overvalued business with excellent fundamentals. It has a well-covered yield and low debt, and the results are promising.
• The company's 20-year history shows a bit of volatility for extended periods of time - but the company has righted and adjusted since, and overall, I view the company as "safe."
• In my last article, I made it clear that I rotated my position in the Old Republic into what I viewed as better investments, and this has paid off for me. I therefore stick to the target and the point in my article in December 2023 and now during April 2024 as well.
• The company is, thanks to recent trends in trading, still overvalued. I stick to my PT of $24.5/share, which makes it a " hold " here. I have rotated my position in the stock.

Remember, I'm all about:

• Buying undervalued - even if that undervaluation is slight and not mind-numbingly massive - companies discounted, allowing them to normalize over time and harvesting capital gains and dividends meanwhile.
• If the company goes well beyond normalization and goes into overvaluation, I harvest gains and rotate my position into other undervalued stocks, repeating #1.
• If the company doesn't go into overvaluation but hovers within a fair value, or goes back down to undervaluation, I buy more as time allows.
• I reinvest proceeds from dividends, savings from work, or other cash inflows as specified in #1.

Here are my criteria and how the company fulfills them:

• This company is overall qualitative.
• This company is fundamentally safe/conservative & well-run.
• This company pays a well-covered dividend.
• This company is currently cheap.
• This company has a realistic conservative upside based on earnings growth or multiple expansion/reversion.

Old Republic International Corporation stock is no longer cheap, and it's no longer at a high enough conservative upside. I say "No" here.

The company discussed in this article is only one potential investment in the sector. Members of iREIT on Alpha get access to investment ideas with upsides that I view as significantly higher/better than this one. Consider subscribing and learning more here.

This article was written by

Wolf Report is a senior analyst and private portfolio manager with over 10 years generating value ideas in European and North American markets.

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of ORI either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. While this article may sound like financial advice, please observe that the author is not a CFA or in any way licensed to give financial advice. It may be structured as such, but it is not financial advice. Investors are required and expected to do their own due diligence and research prior to any investment. Short-term trading, options trading/investment, and futures trading are potentially extremely risky investment styles. They generally are not appropriate for someone with limited capital, limited investment experience, or a lack of understanding for the necessary risk tolerance involved. The author's intent is never to give personalized financial advice, and publications are to be viewed as research and company interest pieces. The author owns the European/Scandinavian tickers (not the ADRs) of all European/Scandinavian companies listed in the articles. The author owns the Canadian tickers of all Canadian stocks written about.

Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

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Wall Street is souring on Tesla's pivot away from low-cost vehicles towards autonomous driving

• Tesla is losing the confidence of Wall Street amid reports it's pivoting from a low-cost Model 2 to robotaxis.
• Deutsche Bank just downgraded Tesla's stock and Barclays cut its price target. Both see double-digit declines over the next year.
• "We view Tesla's shift as thesis-changing, and worry the stock will need to undergo a potentially painful transition in ownership base," Deutsche Bank said.

Another day, another negative Tesla note from Wall Street.

Tesla has come under intense scrutiny from sell-side analysts after a Reuters report from earlier this month said that the EV maker was shifting away from its low-cost Model 2 vehicle to instead focus on building a fully-autonomous robotaxi.

Deutsche Bank downgrades Tesla

Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner is not impressed with the potential pivot, calling it "thesis-changing" for investors in a note on Thursday.

Rosner downgraded Tesla stock to "Hold" from "Buy" and cut its price target to $123 from $189, suggesting potential downside of about 19% from current levels. 

"Pushing out Model 2 will create significant earnings and FCF pressure on 2026+ estimates, and make the future of the company tied to Tesla cracking the code on full driverless autonomy, which represents a significant technological, regulatory and operational challenge," Rosner said. 

Rosner slashed his 2027 earnings per share estimate for Tesla to $2.40 from a prior estimate of $4.25, and added that there could be further downside to the company's earnings power if they completely abandon the development of a low-cost vehicle. 

"The delay of Model 2 efforts creates the risk of no new vehicle in Tesla's consumer lineup for the foreseeable future, which would put continued downward pressure on its volume and pricing for many more years, requiring downward earnings estimate revisions for 2026+," Rosner said.

Tesla stock fell 2% in early Thursday trading, and is down nearly 40% year-to-date. 

Perhaps the biggest risk to Tesla, aside from lower earnings, is the idea that a pivot to robotaxis could cause a complete recalibration of its underlying shareholder base.

"We view Tesla's shift as thesis-changing, and worry the stock will need to undergo a potentially painful transition in ownership base, with investors previously focused on Tesla's EV volume and cost advantage potentially throwing in the towel, and eventually replaced by AI/tech investors with considerably longer time horizons," Rosen said.

Barclays cuts Tesla price target

It's not just Deutsche Bank that has soured on Tesla.

Barclays slashed its Tesla price target on Wednesday by 20%, and said it expects the company's first-quarter earnings call next week to be a negative catalyst.

Calling it "one of the most widely anticipated calls ever," Barclays analyst Dan Levy said the company is facing challenging near-term fundamentals in combination with a longer-term "investment thesis pivot" as it considers moving away from the Model 2.

According to Levy, if Tesla is indeed moving away from the Model 2, that would be bad news for the stock valuation going forward, calling it a "clear net negative for the Tesla investment thesis."

"It casts significant uncertainty on the path ahead for Tesla, making success of the stock dependent on bets with seemingly binary outcomes," Levy said. "Indeed, we are hard pressed to think of any other precedent of a company of Tesla's size basing its path of success on such binary bets."

Wedbush also concerned about Model 2 pivot

Even long-time Tesla bull Dan Ives is worried about Tesla's potential pivot away from a low-cost Model 2.

In a note from last week, Ives said Tesla needs to commit to its Model 2 development plans if it wants to have any chance in reversing this year's painful stock price decline. 

"If robotaxis is viewed as the 'magic model' to replace Model 2 we would view this as a debacle negative for the Tesla story. It would be a risky gamble if Tesla moved away from the Model 2 and went straight to robotaxis," Ives said.

Ives said Wall Street's criticism of Tesla is warranted, especially given the fact that the EV maker has seen declining profit margins and its first year-over-year sales decline since 2020.

"For Musk, this is a fork in the road time to get Tesla through this turbulent period otherwise dark days could be ahead," Ives said. 

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