Here's our list of recommended Web sites, arranged alphabetically.
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Biographical Dictionary http://www.s9.com
A good site for a quick (but brief) biographical check on almost any famous person.
Biography http://www.biography.com
The Biography Channel Web site. Provides data on public figures and (especially) celebrities.
↑ Back to Top BLOGS
Romenesko http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45
The best Web roundup of media industry news and gossip.
Boingboing http://www.boingboing.net
Looking for feature story ideas? Tracking trends? Or just hoping for oddball, interesting reading? These two respected sites demonstrate how the best blogs monitor what's new and cool.
↑ Back to Top CRIME AND COURTS
Covering Crime and Justice http://www.justicejournalism.org/crimeguide/toc.html
Helpful articles on covering the crime and justice beat compiled by Criminal Justice Journalists.
FBI's Uniform Crime Reports http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm
Statistics on all types of crime occurring throughout the United States.
Bureau of Justice Statistics http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook
Criminal justice statistics from over 100 sources.
U.S. Department of Justice http://www.usdoj.gov
U.S. Courts http://www.uscourts.gov/allinks.html
Offers links to all courts throughout the U.S.
↑ Back to Top ENVIRONMENT
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) http://www.epa.gov
Includes the EPA Newsroom, regulations and educational resources for the public.
National Oceanic & Atmospheric
Administration http://www.noaa.gov
Data on oceans, the atmosphere, ecosystems, climate change and weather forecasts.
WorldWatch Institute http://www.worldwatch.org
News and features on environmental issues and problems from around the world.
↑ Back to Top EXPERT SOURCES
ProfNet Experts http://profnet3.prnewswire.com/enter/index.jsp
A site connecting journalists with experts and information officers around the world.
US Newswire http://www.usnewswire.com/links/slink.html
Connects journalists with expert sources in public policy, academia, government and industry.
↑ Back to Top GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Fed World http://www.fedworld.gov
Links to a vast array of federal government sites.
Voter Information Sevices http://www.vis.org
Offers analysis of Congressional voting records.
Campaign Finance Information Center http://www.campaignfinance.org
Part of the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Web site, to help you follow the money.
Federal Election Commision http://www.fec.gov/disclosure.shtml
Official campaign finance reports and statistics.
U.S. Government Statistics http://www.fedstats.gov
U.S. Bureau of Census http://www.census.gov
U.S. Federal Government Directory http://www.searchbeat.com/fed-usa.htm
A collection of links to federal and state Web sites, agencies, news, weather, businesses, etc.
State and Local Government on the Net http://www.statelocalgov.net
A directory of Web sites for state, county and local governments across the country.
U.S. Government Printing Office Access http://www.gpoaccess.gov
The Web site to view or order documents printed by the U.S. government.
↑ Back to Top HISTORY
Best of History Web sites http://www.besthistorysites.net
Links to more than 1,000 history Web sites.
The History Channel http://www.historychannel.com
Speeches, videos, timelines and maps.
The Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/index.html
Access to maps, documents, photos, video.
↑ Back to Top JOURNALISM ORGANIZATIONS
American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors http://www.aasfe.org
American Copy Editors Society (ACES) http://www.copydesk.org
American Press Institute http://www.americanpressinstitute.org
American Society of Journalists and Authors http://www.asja.org
American Society of Newspaper Editors http://www.asne.org
Asian American Journalism Association http://www.aaja.org
Associated Press Sports Editors http://apse.dallasnews.com/
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication http://www.aejmc.org
Association for Women in Communications http://www.womcom.org
Association of Health Care Journalists http://www.healthjournalism.org
Black Journalism Review http://www.blackjournalism.com
Center for Media and Public Affairs http://www.cmpa.com
Columbia Scholastic Press Association http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cspa
Committee to Protect Journalists http://www.cpj.org
Committee of Concerned Journalists http://www.journalism.org
Criminal Justice Journalists http://www.reporters.net/cjj/index.html
DART Center for Journalism & Trauma http://www.dartcenter.org
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting http://www.fair.org
First Amendment Center http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/
Freedom Forum http://www.freedomforum.org
International Center for Journalists http://www.icfj.org
Investigative Reporters and Editors http://www.ire.org
Journal of Mass Media Ethics http://www.jmme.org
Journalism Education Association http://www.jea.org
Media Info Center http://www.mediainfocenter.org/
National Association of Black Journalists http://www.nabj.org
National Association of Hispanic Journalists http://www.nahj.org
National Association of Science Writers http://www.nasw.org
National Conference of Editorial Writers http://www.ncew.org
National Federation of Press Woman http://www.nfpw.org
National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting http://www.nicar.org
National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association http://www.nlgja.org
National Scholastic Press Association http://studentpress.journ.umn.edu/
National Society of Newspaper Columnists http://www.columnists.com
Native American Journalists Association http://www.naja.com
Newseum - Interactive Museum of News http://www.newseum.org
Online News Association http://www.journalists.org/
Quill & Scroll http://www.uiowa.edu/~quill-sc/
Poynter Institute for Media Studies http://www.poynter.org
The Pulitzer Prizes http://www.pulitzer.org
Radio-Television News Directors Association http://www.rtnda.org/
Religion Newswriters Association http://www.rna.org
Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press http://www.rcfp.org
Society of American Business Editors and Writers http://www.sabew.org
Society for Environmental Journalists http://www.sej.org
Society for News Design http://www.snd.org
Society of Professional Journalists http://www.spj.org
South Asian Journalists Association http://www.saja.org
Unity: Journalists of Color http://www.unityjournalists.org
↑ Back to Top LAW AND ETHICS
Freedom of Information Act http://www.usdoj.gov/04foia/
The Reporter's Privilege: http://www.rcfp.org/privilege
Shield laws by state, from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Student Press Law Center http://www.splc.org
Journalism codes of ethics http://www.asne.org/ideas/codes/codes.htm
Links to dozens of news organizations' codes.
↑ Back to Top NEWS AND NEWS SITES
Mondo Times http://www.mondotimes.com
Newslink http://newslink.org
NewsVoyager http://www.newspaperlinks.com/voyager.cfm
Need a link to a newspaper, magazine, TV or radio station? If it exists, one of these three sites will get you there.
10 X 10 http://tenbyten.org
An innovatively designed news site that ranks the day's top stories visually and numerically.
Newspaper Archives http://www.newspaperarchive.com
Need to track down an old story? This site boasts access to millions of back issues.
U.S. News Archives on the Web http://www.ibiblio.org/slanews/internet/archives.html
A clearinghouse of links to the archives of many U.S. newspapers.
↑ Back to Top PUBLIC RELATIONS
All About Public Relations http://aboutpublicrelations.net/toolkit.htm
A toolkit of helpful columns and articles compiled by Steven R. Van Hook.
PR News Wire http://prnewswire.com
International clearinghouse of news releases.
Public Relations Society of America http://www.prsa.org
↑ Back to Top RADIO AND TELEVISION
Broadcast Education Association http://www.beaweb.org/
National Association of Broadcasters http://www.nab.org
↑ Back to Top RESEARCH SITES FOR JOURNALISTS
Refdesk.com http://www.refdesk.com
A comprehensive one-stop information source. For a reporter, this makes a good home page.
Journalist Express http://www.journalistexpress.com
Another all-purpose home page with links to reference material, publications, headlines, etc.
The Journalist's Toolbox http://www.americanpressinstitute.org/pages/toolbox/
Hundreds of helpful links from the American Press Institute.
Power Reporting http://powerreporting.com
A Web site listing "thousands of free research tools for journalists."
Reporter's Desktop http://www.reporter.org/desktop
Another one-stop collection of links to reference materials, Web sites, maps and search engines.
Cool calculators http://www.madison.com/library/LEE/calculators.html
A broad assortment of tools to help you calculate percentages, money, speed, temperature, etc.
Fagan Finder Quotations and Proverbs Search http://www.faganfinder.com/quotes/
Need to track down a quote or proverb? This is usually the best place to start.
Search Systems http://www.searchsystems.net
A free directory that allows you to search public record databases of all kinds.
The Smoking Gun http://www.thesmokinggun.com
Want to see how entertaining public records and legal documents can be? This stuff is priceless.
Internet Movie Database http://www.imdb.com
The best source for information about movies, videos—even television shows.
CIA - The World Fact Book https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
Information on every country on the planet, from illicit drug use to number of telephones, courtesy of U.S. intelligence agencies.
↑ Back to Top TELEPHONE AND ADDRESS SERVICES
Anywho Online Directory http://www.anywho.com/rl.html
Switchboard http://www.switchboard.com/
Zip Codes http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp
↑ Back to Top URBAN MYTHS AND LEGENDS
Health-Related Hoaxes and Rumors http://www.cdc.gov/doc.do/id/0900f3ec80226b9c
The Centers for Disease Control posts information on most health hoaxes here.
Urban Legends Reference Pages http://www.snopes.com
Urban Legends and Folklore http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blhoax.htm
These two sites help separate fact from folklore.
↑ Back to Top |