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.
Robot Wisdom http://www.robotwisdom.com
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.
Naples News blogs http://www.naplesnews.com/blogs
More examples of the effective format we displayed on page 159.
↑ 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.
National Press Club http://npc.press.org/newssources/index.cfm
The National Press Club's online directory of experts in nearly 400 topics.
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.
NewsTrove http://newstrove.com/index.html
Links to news sources filtered to suit your own viewpoint. Is this the future of news delivery?
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
Television Newswriting Workshop http://www.mervinblock.com/tips.html
Articles, tips and columns by the outspoken and entertaining Mervin Block.
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/
The Global Yellow Pages http://www.globalyp.com/world.htm
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 |