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The Big
Picture
As an event develops, information about
is generated and disseminated. The first reports will show up on the
Web, on TV, and on the radio. Those first reports focus on getting the
quick facts of who, what and where. As time passes, information filters
through different types of resources. The level of coverage increases
and becomes much more detailed and analytical. The timetable below
outlines this process:
|
Time Period |
Source of Information |
Type of Information |
Author(s) |
Intended Audience |
Finding the Information |
|
Day of the Event |
News Reports
(i.e. non-print news
reports, radio,
television,
Internet news
services)
|
General (who, what, and where; not necessarily why yet) |
Reporters, Journalists |
General Public |
Internet |
|
1-3 Days |
News Reports
(i.e. newspapers,
radio, television,
web pages)
Reporters
General Public
Newspaper Indexes;
Web |
Varies: some articles include analysis, statistics, photographs,
editorial opinions No bibliography yet |
Reporters, Journalists |
General Public |
Newspaper Indexes;
Internet |
|
1 Week |
Popular and Mass Market Magazines: Time, Newsweek, Science, etc. |
Still in reporting stage (who, what, where, when, why, how);
general; editorial & opinions; statistics; photographs; Usually
no bibliography at this stage |
Professional Journalists; not necessarily specialists in the
field |
General Public to Educated Layperson |
Periodical Indexes |
|
Months |
Scholarly Journals |
Research results, detailed and theoretical discussion.
Bibliographies. |
Specialists, Scholars, Scientists |
Specialists, Scholars, Scientists and Students |
Periodical Indexes;
Bibliographies |
|
2+ Years |
Books and Conference Proceedings
|
In-depth coverage of topic. Edited compilations of scholarly
articles. Bibliographies.
|
Specialists, Scholars |
General Public to Specialists |
Online Catalogs
Bibliographies |
|
2-10 years |
Reference Sources: specialized encyclopedias, handbooks, annual
reviews, etc. |
General overviews of factual and widely accepted information.
Good source of bibliographies. |
Specialists, Scholars |
General Public to Specialists |
Online Catalogs
Bibliographies |
Not all information begins as a news
event, however. The largest producer of information in this country is
the federal government. Academia (colleges and universities) and
private sector businesses also generate a great deal of information
through research and creative endeavors. Often, research from these
sources is first published in scholarly journals, government documents,
company documents on the Internet. Some of this information never
reaches the general public.
Updated 4 January 2008 by lmw
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