The researcher hot on the trail of current events or news on companies or individuals generally expects that to find that information in the largest circulation newspapers and magazines. By now you d expect every such periodical to have a Web page. That s close to the truth. When it comes to research viability, though, the truth isn t so close, in some cases, quite nowhere s near.
Some newspapers have archives of considerable depth.
Others haven t got even a single article online. Some offer services that can be useful to the traveling journalist, businessman, or tourist. Many services from the papers, like classifieds, are searchable for free. Then we find some sites that are little more than billboards, electronic brochures with no reason to come back to the site in the future. Our survey not only looks at what is onsite but rates each on a scale of A-F for its research viability and for other useful features that may be found there.