Never before has our world been so connected. Where it used to take days, weeks, or even months for news of noteworthy events to reach interested ears, now the same information can be conveyed almost instantly via radio, television, and even the Internet. Access to news is now, quite literally, only a click away.

This proliferation of news and information can be both good and bad. Increased awareness of events-both locally and globally-helps us to become better informed and more vigilant citizens. And the important role of a free press in a democratic society is undeniable. 

However, the very wealth of information now available to us can seem a bit overwhelming. One weekday edition of The New York Times, for example, contains more information than the average person was likely to come across in a lifetime in seventeenth-century England. According to John Naisbitt, author of Megatrends, "We now mass-produce information the way we used to mass-produce cars." This increased proliferation of information is also accompanied, at times, with a decrease in quality and accuracy. Consequently, it's important that we take the time to learn about events in depth and from a variety of credible sources.

Places To Go

Yahooligans! News
News stories geared toward younger folks can be found at this website. Students can view pictures and read about the top stories of the day or learn about news in a variety of different categories such as science, technology, or the weather.

Scholastic News Zone
This site, geared to upper elementary and middle-schoolers, combines original reporting with a news quiz, an opinion poll, a geography game, a research helper, and links to additional news sources. Students can find their own grade-appropriate versions by simply clicking on the appropriate grade level. 

Kidsnewsroom.Com
Kidsnewsroom.com provides children with a safe, kid-friendly Internet site loaded with stories, pictures, contests and opportunities for learning. Each week, a new issue is added to the site with the latest news in sports, music & entertainment, health, history, local events and happenings around the world--all designed with kids in mind! 

Time for Kids
Check out the kids' version of the popular news weekly.

News Link
This site contains links to over 3,400 U.S. papers and over 2,000 non-U.S. papers that are currently available online.

CNN.com
Get the latest news from Cable News Network (CNN). Site includes story headlines and briefs.

FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting)
FAIR works with activists and journalists to advocate for greater diversity in the press and to scrutinize media practices that marginalize public interest, minority and dissenting viewpoints.

Online Journalism Review
The Online Journalism Review is a Web-based journal produced at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. This site covers a full range of journalistic issues in all media, but with a particular emphasis on the Internet. The site is a great resource for journalism students at high schools or colleges. OJR's Guide to Online Reporter Resources is a great place to start students that want to do journalism research online.

Ask a Reporter
Read answers to questions posed to New York Times reporters. As an alternative, you could fire off a question of your own.

Ask CNN
Pose a question to CNN about anything from the day's news to science or sports--or just something you've always wanted to know.

Webcrawler: Journalists
This site features a hotlist of links to information about over fifty different notable journalists.

Broadcast Journalists
This site features information about numerous famous broadcast journalists.

Joseph Pulitzer and The Pulitzer Prizes
Learn more about the man for whom the Pulitzer Prize is named.

CNN's Video Almanac
Relive the news as it happened at CNN's Video Almanac. CNN has collected and presented their best video since the birth of CNN in 1980 on this website. You can cheer for the rescue of "Baby Jessica," join candlelight vigils marking the death of Jerry Garcia or jiggle along with CNN reporter Anne McDermott as she braces for an aftershock from the quakes that rocked southern California in 1992. Simply choose a year or topic to begin a multimedia tour through history.

Crayola's Create your Own Newspaper
Despite its title, this resource is not just for kids, but for anyone who wants to "CreAte Your Own Newspaper." Start by entering a name and slogan for your paper, then choose your news sources, add comic strips, and any additional features you might want. Your paper can be formatted as a single page, a framed page, or in two windows. Simply "click" to save and view. 

The Write Site
The Write Site is a multimedia language arts curriculum that makes the process of telling a story fun. Students take on the role of journalists-generating leads, gathering facts, and writing stories-using the tools and techniques of real-life journalists.

National Public Radio
Although you'll need to download the RealMedia Player to do so, at this site you can listen to National Public Radio.

High School Journalism
This site is geared toward teen journalists, their teachers and guidance counselors as well as the editors and staffs of professional daily newspapers. Its goal is to encourage a diverse generation of young people to make newspaper journalism their career. 

For Journalism Teachers Only
This site has extensive resources for journalism teachers and student editors. 

New York Times Learning Network
Lots of lesson plans and ideas for integrating news stories into classroom activities.

CNN FYI
This site features lesson plans for teachers based on current news events. It also provides links to articles about news stories of particular interest to educators.

C-SPAN in the Classroom
C-SPAN in the Classroom is a free membership service that provides support and materials to educators.

Journalism Ethics Cases Online
This database has been created for teachers, researchers, professional journalists, and consumers to explore ethical issues in journalism. The cases raise a variety of ethical problems faced by journalists, including such issues as privacy, conflict of interest, reporter- source relationships, and the role of journalists in their communities.

• Bradlee, Benjamin C. A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures. Simon & Schuster, 1996.
• Bragg, Rick. Somebody Told Me: The Newspaper Stories of Rick Bragg. University of Alabama Press, 2000.
• Conkite, Walter. A Reporter's Life. Random House, 1996.
• Frankel, Max. The Times of My Life and My Life with the Times. Random House, 1999.
• Garner, Joe. We Interrupt this Broadcast: The Events that Stopped Our Lives.from the Hindenburg to the Death of John F. Keneedy, Jr. Sourcebooks, 2000.
• Hane, Paula J. and Reva Basch. Super Searchers in the News: The Online Secrets of Journalists & News Researchers. Information Today, Incorporated, 2000.
• Klement, Alice M. and Carolyn Matalene. Telling Stories/Taking Risks: Journalism Writing at the Century's Edge. Wadsworth Publishing, 1997.
• Mitchell, Margaret. Reporter. Hill Street Press, 2000. 
• Scanlan, Christopher and Jim Naughton. Best Newspaper Writing: Winners: The American Society of NewspaperEditors Competition. Bonus Books Inc, 2000.
• Stahl, Lesley. Reporting Live. Simon & Schuster, 1998.
• Weinberg, Steve. The Reporter's Handbook: An Investigator's Guide to Documents and Techniques. St. Martin's Press, 1995.