WEB SITES FOR JOURNALISTS
By Jonathan Oatis
A
"one-size-fits-all" list of Web sites does not exist. A list of
killer sites for a reporter covering the bond market will not be a very good fit
for a technology writer. That said, here is a smorgasbord of sites. Bookmark
the ones you find useful and add your own favorites as you find them. (Hint: If
you're looking for a specific site on this list, hit "ctrl-f", type
in the name and hit "Enter" to search for it.)
I've
included the addresses as well as hot links so you can print this out and type
them in, should you so desire. Also, check out my own Web site at www.oatis.com for updates and other useful
information.
Top Sites ç Search Engines ç Specialized Search Engines or Directories ç Journalists’
Resources ç Additional Resources for Business Journalists ç Journalism Organizations
& Publications ç News Sources
ç Financial News Sources and Resources çInternational Resources ç
U.S.
Stock Exchanges ç Investor Hangouts ç Company Information ç Calculators ç People Finders ç Other Places ç Internet and Other Computer News ç New York
Top Sites
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Search Engines
- Yahoo: One of the oldest and
still one of the best catalogs/search engines of the Web. Arranged
hierarchically. Also provides personalized and general news, Yahoo!
Finance, Yellow Pages, locally oriented Yahoos for various countries and
cities, maps - www.yahoo.com
- Ask Jeeves: A wonderful search
engine. Instead of posing your query in Boolean ("Clinton AND scandal
NOT Lewinsky"), you use normal English ("What is the capital of
Chad?"). In addition to its own database of answers to commonly asked
questions, Jeeves, named for P.G. Wodehouse’s fictional butler, combs
through other search engines for you. I can’t say enough good things about
this site. - www.aj.com
or
www.ask.co.uk for the United Kingdom
and Ireland.
- Google: Another excellent
search engine. Uses link-based technology to zero in on what you're
looking for - www.google.com (Also offers
a government search at google.com/unclesam)
- AllTheWeb.com: A site
dedicated to making Internet searches faster - www.alltheweb.com
- Excite: Another good search
engine. Nice personalization feature. Also offers news, stocks, weather
and TV listings - www.excite.com
- HotBot: Powerful search engine
created by Wired magazine and now owned by Lycos; searches the Web and
newsgroups; many options - www.hotbot.com
- AltaVista: Comprehensive searches
of the Web and newsgroups. Multilingual (includes a translator that is
useful but not foolproof) - www.altavista.com
- Lycos: Large search engine.
Has counterparts in Europe, Asia and Latin America - www.lycos.com
- Webhelp: If your own searches
don't work, try this unique approach: a human tries to answer your
question and presents you the results of his or her search. It can be slow
and a little buggy (it was new at this writing). But if your deadline
isn't imminent and you can work on something else while interacting with
your guide, it may fill the bill - www.webhelp.com
- About.com: A guide to hundreds of
topics compiled by experts. Includes articles and discussion - www.about.com
- InfoSeek: Another good search
engine - www.infoseek.com
- Dogpile: Search several search
engines at once - www.dogpile.com
- Savvy Search: And another search
engine search engine. Also lets you look at what other people have been
searching for - www.savvysearch.com
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Specialized Search Engines or Directories
- Google Groups: Search engine for
newsgroups. You can search for postings on a given topic, person, event.
etc.; look for newsgroups dedicated to a given topic AND check out which
newsgroups a given individual has been posting to. Formerly known as
Deja.com. Very useful - groups.google.com
- FindLaw: Yahoo for lawyers. Good jumping-off
point for various legal resources, including courts and documents. www.findlaw.com
- Acronym Finder: Find out what
that mysterious jumble of letters stands for, from a database of 234,000
acronyms (Note: The “go” button takes you to Amazon and books about the
acronym, not, for example, the NATO Web site). The “Buzz Phrase Generator”
is fun - www.acronymfinder.com
- SuperPages.com: Yellow
Pages: links to several thousand businesses searchable by name, subject or
location - http://www.superpages.com
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Journalists’
Resources
- Tools for Business Journalists: From the
Master's Program in Business Journalism at Baruch College. Good, tight selection
of sites - http://faculty.baruch.cuny.edu/journalism/msbaruch/tools.html
- The New York Times selective guide to the
Internet: The Times' directory of Internet resources for
its reporters, compiled by Rich Meislin. Includes links to their extensive
resource guides for business (see below), health and politics, as well as
Sept. 11 links - www.nytimes.com/library/tech/reference/cynavi.html
- Power Reporting:
Computer-assisted reporting master Bill Dedman's impressive contribution.
The section on researching non-profits alone is worth the visit - powerreporting.com
- JournalismNet: Working journalist
Julian Sher’s guide to the Net, featuring 600 different Web pages with
6,000 links designed to help find useful information fast - www.journalismnet.com/
- Sree.net: Created by Sreenath Sreenivasan,
new media maven and a professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School
of Journalism. Lots of good, regularly updated stuff here, including tips
on setting up your own Web site. Sree also puts out sreetips, a
free-monthly newsletter of Web tips and tricks which you can subscribe to
through the site – www.sree.net
- The Internet for Journalists : Jonathan
Oatis’s links for journalists on the Web plus downloadable handouts on
obtaining public records online, electronic mail, Internet discussion
groups and useful Internet software - http://www.oatis.com/
- Profnet: Need an academic,
think tank or corporate expert on a given topic? Profnet can find him or
her. Note: if you want an academic expert and not a corporate one, be sure
to specifiy that - www2.profnet.com
- register.com: A "secret
weapon" for tracking down the owners and operators of non-military,
non-U.S. government Internet addresses. Try typing in a so-called
second-level domain name, such as "ap.org" or
"reuters.com" and – after a few clicks -- you’ll be rewarded
with names, addresses and phone numbers. A valuable investigative tool - www.register.com/.
- Free Searchable Databases on the Internet: What it
says. A comprehensive A-Z list from computer-assisted journalist David
Milliron - david-milliron.net
- Internet Public Library: GREAT
resource. Links to all kinds of online reference works AND you can e-mail
questions to online reference librarians (be prepared to wait a day or two
for an answer, though) - www.ipl.org
- Reporters' Internet Resources: Assembled by the staff
of the National Press Club's Eric Friedheim Library - npc.press.org/library/reporter.shtml
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Additional
Resources for Business Journalists
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Journalism Organisations &
Publications
- Poynter.org : Online home of the
Poynter Institute – www.poynter.org
- American Press Institute:
Like Poynter, provides training and professional development for
journalists – www.americanpressinstitute.org
- FACSNET: Another good place to
find expert sources. FACS, a non-profit group dedicated to helping
journalists, also provides links to other Internet resources, the
Monday-Friday daily Associated Press general news and business news
schedules annotated with links and information about FACS-sponsored
conferences for journalists, as well as other resources. You have to
register, but it’s free. Worth checking out - www.facsnet.org
- National Institute for Computer-Assisted
Reporting (NICAR): Home page of the leading organization
devoted to the discipline. All kinds of good stuff here - www.nicar.org
- Investigative Reporters and Editors: The leading
U.S. organization for invetigative journalists. Lots of useful stuff
including links to its Campaign Finance Information Center
(www.campaignfinance.org) - www.ire.org
- Society of Professional Journalists:
“Improving & Protecting Journalism”. Includes online versions of
articles in Quill, the society’s publication – www.spj.org
- Society of American Business Editors and
Writers (SABEW): The lead organization for U.S business journalists – www.sabew.org
- Committee to Protect Journalists: Fights
for the right of journalists to do their jobs without being killed,
attacked or imprisoned -- www.cpj.org
- The Online News Association:
Global group for journalists producing news on the Internet and other
digital platforms. Oversees the Online Journalism Awards, the Pulitzers of
new media – www.onlinenewsassociation.org
- The Society for News Design: Dedicated to
newspaper and online design – www.snd.org
- Columbia Journalism Review: Thoughtful, incisive coverage of
media worldwide – www.cjr.org
- American Journalism Review: Another good
journalism review. Good collection of Web links – www.ajr.org
- Online Journalism Review: from the University of
Southern California's Annenberg School - www.ojr.org/ojr/page_one/index.php
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News Sources
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Financial News
Sources and Resources
- Yahoo! Finance: Reuters,
AP, Dow Jones, FT.com and TheStreet.com news and opinion, company
profiles, PR Newswire, Business Wire, much more - finance.yahoo.com
- Yahoo Reuters business headlines: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/78
- Federal Reserve Board: Information
on the Fed and its activities, contact information for and links to the
home pages of the 12 regional Fed banks, and links to other central banks,
including the Bank for International Settlements and the European Central Bank
- www.federalreserve.gov
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: All kinds
of economic data, via the FRED database - www.stls.frb.org
- The Wall Street Journal Online: Full text
of the Journal, Dow Jones news wire stories, "briefing books"
chock full of information on companies and more. Free two-week trial.
After that, you have to subscribe; the price is lower if you already get
the paper. Like its print counterpart, offers U.S., European and Asian
editions - online.wsj.com/home/us
- The Financial Times: The
salmon-colored British financial newspaper's salmon-tinted online
counterpart. World news and company news, as well as background on
companies, countries and industries - www.ft.com
- Reuters: Reuters news, along
with stock, commodity and foreign exchange quotes - www.reuters.com
(The
UK arm is http://www.reuters.co.uk/)
- Bloomberg: Bloomberg news, with
frequent updates - www.bloomberg.com
- News.com: Excellent coverage of
e-commerce and technology from CNET - http://news.com.com
- Business Week: The magazine’s online
counterpart. You need to be a Business Week subscriber to access some
material - www.businessweek.com
- CNN/Money: CNN/Money, CNN and
Money magazine team up - http://money.cnn.com/
- CNBC.com: Internet outpost of
the cable TV business channel; part of MSN Money - http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/home.asp
- InternetNews.com: Categories
include business, e-commerce, wireless and finance. www.internetnews.com
- Motley Fool: Investor-oriented site
- http://www.fool.com
- TheStreet.com: Online financial
publication, featuring commentary by financier James Cramer.
Subscription-based - thestreet.com
- CBS Marketwatch: Still more
market and other business news - cbs.marketwatch.com
- SmartMoney.com: Personal
finance magazine SmartMoney’s online counterpart. Good interactive
worksheets - www.smartmoney.com
- Forbes.com: Forbes magazine’s
place on the Net - www.forbes.com
- Quicken: Personal finance site
of financial software maker Quicken. Information on stocks, taxes and
insurance. Includes stock quotes, news - www.quicken.com
- Wall Street Research: This
service has daily stock information and links to economic and press sites
- www.wsrn.com
- Whispernumber: This site gives the
"whisper numbers" circulating among traders as well as investor
recommendations - www.whispernumber.com
- CommerceNet: Industry group for Internet
business. Internet demographics and other resources - www.commerce.net
- Morningstar.com: Information
on mutual funds from the leading provider of fund information - www.morningstar.net/
- Grant's Interest Rate Observer: Puts the
focus on interest rates. Check out "links we love" for a lengthy
list of interest rate news sources and commentary - http://www.grantspub.com/
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U.S. Stock
Exchanges
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Investor Hangouts
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Company
Information
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Calculators
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People Finders
The following sites enable
you to find a person's phone number, address and e-mail address -- or all
three. Some can even draw you a map to show you where they live. Most are
U.S.-centered.
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Other Places
- Fedworld: Gateway to the federal
government. A good place to find that agency or commission you’re looking
for - www.fedworld.gov
- The U.S. Census Bureau: Powerful
source of demographic data - www.census.gov
- The White House: Good place
to look for texts of presidential and vice presidential speeches and a
gateway to the executive branch - www.whitehouse.gov
- Thomas: searchable database of
bills in Congress, giving full text and bill status; searchable database
of the Congressional Record; directory listing phone numbers, addresses,
committee assignments and Web pages of Congress members; and more - thomas.loc.gov
- The U.S. Congress: The
official Web sites of the House of Representatives -- www.house.gov -- and the Senate -- www.senate.gov
- Federal Election Commission: An
important source of campaign finance data - www.fec.gov
- Campaign Finance Information Center: Links to federal
and state campaign financing information put together by Investigative
Reporters and Editors - www.campaignfinance.org
- refdesk.com: Bills itself as “The
single best source of facts on the Net.” A wealth of reference and news
resources here. – www.refdesk.com
- Internet Public Library: Online
guide to periodicals and much much more, including an Internet-based
reference collection and the ability to e-mail questions to reference
librarians - www.ipl.org
- Information Please: Search
material from the Information Please almanac and other reference works - www.infoplease.com
- Bartleby.com -- Great Books Online: A wealth of
searchable online reference works, including the Columbia Encyclopedia,
Roget’s Thesaurus and Bartlett’s Quotations. One caveat: Bartlett’s is the
1919 edition, meaning you won't find anything from Kennedy or Churchill
here But there's still lots of good stuff from the likes of Shakespeare
and Dickens - www.bartleby.com/99
- State Department: Live feed
of daily news briefings (click on the "Video Connection” link in the
lefthand column), access to travel advisories and foreign policy guidance
- www.state.gov
- The CIA: Web home of the CIA
Factbook, a hugely detailed reference on every country in the world - www.cia.gov
- United Nations - www.un.org
- Government Printing Office: Visitors
can downloand the Congressional Record, congressional bills and countless
other government documents the same day they are published - www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs
- Department of Commerce: Trade and
other economic statistics. The best stuff requires payment of a fee, but
there's a lot more available for free - www.doc.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics: Tons of
business and economic data. The source for Consumer Price Index
information dating back to 1913 - www.bls.gov
- National Weather Service: Direct
access to U.S. official weather forecasts - www.nws.noaa.gov. For
everything you wanted to know about hurricanes - check out the National
Hurricane Center - www.nhc.noaa.gov
- Internal Revenue Service: Obtain tax
statistics, rules and regulations - www.irs.gov
- Smithsonian Institution:
www.si.edu
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Scheduled
events, background information, research and a gallery of pictures, movies
and sounds - www.nasa.gov
- Demography and Population Studies: Huge list
of demographic resources, with links to dozens of virtual libraries and
census agencies around the globe - demography.anu.edu.au/VirtualLibrary
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Information
on individual nuclear power plants, background on radioactive waste and other
regulatory questions - www.nrc.gov
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: Regulates
natural gas, oil, electricity and hydroelectric projects - www.ferc.fed.us
- American Petroleum Institute: A site
devoted to oil and related issues, with links to dozens of companies,
organizations, government agencies and news sources - www.api.org
- U.S. Energy Information Administration: Tons of
information, reports, etc, on various forms of energy, environment,
forecasts, lots of information on ormation on conservation links to many
energy sites - www.eia.doe.gov
- Legal Information Institute: The Cornell
University Law School site offers collections of recent and historic
Supreme Court decisions as well as tons of other federal, stae, foreign
and international legal information - www.law.cornell.edu
- Terrorism Research Center: Resources
and research including comprehensive listing of links to terrorism-related
Web pages including profiles of individual terrorist groups compiled by
the U.S. Navy's Dudley Knox Library - www.terrorism.com
- Language translator: Not perfect, but can
give you the gist of foreign Web pages. Languages include French, Spanish,
Italian, German, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese Japanese and Korean. - babelfish.altavista.digital.com
- Internet Movie Database: A good
place to go for background information on movies, directors, actors and
actresses (fun, too!) - www.imdb.com
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Internet and Other
Computer News
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New York
- NYCLink: New York City
government. Directory of city officials and services, including links to
agency Web sites, schedule of events and links to other city-related sites
- www.ci.nyc.ny.us
- New York Public Library: Information
on research libraries, library branches and library exhibits, plus links
to New York state and city, U.S. government, health and business Web sites
- www.nypl.org
- WCBS radio news - www.newsradio88.com
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Copyright Jonathan Oatis, Dec. 29, 2002