Research, Citation, & Class Guides: Communication 131: Media Outlet project: Founding &amp; Funding

To research your organization's founding, check these sources:

Start at your news organization's webpage. What does it say about itself, its founding, funding, history, etc.?

Recognize that the organization's website is a public relations document in itself -- it wants to portray itself as the best and most trustworthy news organization on the planet. So start there, but also check the sources below:

Research@UWW
Search for the name of your media outlet, plus words or "phrases in quotes" like:
--"corporate history"
--founder
--origin
--background
or other, similar words.

Wikipedia
Check the Wikipedia article for the history of your news source -- not to cite Wikipedia, but check the References or Further Reading section at the bottom. Those are often great sources to cite!

To research your organization's funding, check these sources:

Google
Search for the name of your media outlet, plus words like:
--funding
--financials
--donors
or other, similar words.
State of the News Media project
A project from Pew Research Center. Data and factsheets on the state of news media since 2004.
Search for your news organization in the top box, or go to their archived factsheets for previous years to see how funding patterns may have changed.
Nonprofit Explorer
If your news outlet is a nonprofit (e.g. ProPublica, PBS), then check here for its 990 forms. A nonprofit, tax-exempt organization must still file these 990 forms with the IRS. They contain some financial information.
** There are many similarly-named local branches of some organizations -- be sure you are viewing the national one! **

Communication 131: Media Outlet project

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