Nora M. Paul is a faculty member of The Poynter Institute. She conducts leadership programs in the areas of news research, computer-assisted journalism, and new media for the Institute. Government agencies refer reporters to their website forthe latest copy of a report or study. Some companies no longer send out paper press releases, they are e-mailed or found on their web. News libraries which used card catalogs to point journalists to the books they had available now create information rich Internet path-finders on their newsroom intranets.
Reporters locate interview sources, both people and data, on the Internet.
And those interview sources, once found, often prefer first contact by e-mail, not telephone. For good, or ill, the Internet has changed the process of news gathering more profoundly, in a shorter period of time, than any other development. Most online vendors of information have migrated to web-accessible versions of their software and those who haven't yet will soon. What hasn't changed is the mission of this guide. Originally conceived as a compilation of helpful handouts on various online resources, the goal continues to be to provide guidance in thinking about your news research and information seeking tasks.