Wikipedia:WikiProject Newspapers/Learning resources

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This 6 minute demonstration video will give you an overview of how to create an article that looks about like this one.

Preparing to write newspaper articles for a certain state

1. Determine the name and location of the newspaper. Do research to determine if the newspaper is notable.
2. Look at the [[List of newspapers in "State"]] article. Determine if there is already an entry for the newspaper and whether there is already an article on the newspaper.
3. Visit the "States" tab of WikiProject Newspapers, and click on your state. Is there already a Draft article on the newspaper.
4. Explore the contents carefully. These pages vary, due to prior efforts by your peers in the project.
   • The simplest versions will look like this -- a simple list of links.
   • A more developed "state page" will look like this -- the list of links is still there, but it follows a detailed list of "resources" (potential source materials to consult, etc.) and the papers in the list are divided into sections, reflecting how much work they require, whether the work has been begun, etc.
5. Familiarize yourself with the relevant reference materials. If your "state page" already lists some, take a close look at them; get a feel for what kind of information each one has to offer. If an important resource is not available online, check it out at the library.
6. Do some independent research on resources relevant to your state.
   • Do web searches for phrases like "<state name> newspaper history" etc. Be creative; if you find that there are scholars who have delved into the topic, add their names into your search strings. Search on the titles of several prominent newspapers in your state. Etc. Use Google's specific "news" and "books" searches, and play with the options -- restrict the date ranges, etc.
   • Visit your library and look for books on the history of journalism.
   • Check some general sources, and search for your state's name. For example, there are some full issues of the newspaper The Fourth Estate (focused on jourmalism) available and searchable online.
7. Keep notes on what you learn on the State page above -- for your own later reference, as well as for your fellow Wikipedians!
8. By now, you should be developing a sense of what newspapers have received a good deal of coverage, and/or have had the strongest influence in your state. Do some research on those specific papers, and you will probably find additional resources.
9. Start some drafts -- see separate list of instructions.

Highly recommended article elements

In general, an article about a newspaper should include all of the following {{Infobox newspaper}} template elements:

• Founded date: | foundation =
• Founded by: | founder =
• Current editor or news director: | editor =
• Current publisher: | publisher =
• Current owner: | owners =
• Current location of headquarters: | headquarters =
• Circulation:
  | circulation =
  | circulation_date =
  | circulation_ref =
• Publication schedule (daily, weekly, twice weekly etc): | type =
• URL of online presence: | website = {{URL|example.com|optional display text}}
• If still has a print edition: in text
• A citation to the library of congress record in the Chronicling History project (if available): | oclc =
  | ISSN =

The text should contain

• at least one citation besides the newspaper itself.
• previous names of the newspaper and dates they were used.
• notable awards

If this information is not available after search, find the best alternative -- an old circulation number, the earliest known date published. If publisher is not discoverable make sure you have the owner.

Note for contests: For the purposes of the charity challenge, whether each page has met these requirements will be determined by a team of researchers and students from Wellesley College, who have been doing research in this area, particularly in how absence of well-developed Wikipedia pages on news sources adversely affects the public's ability to judge credibility.

Here's a general outline of an article, with notes, about the fictional "Metropolis Bulletin". Be sure to look at it in "edit source" mode as well, to see the wikitext that generates the article.

Stages of article development

We recommend following this sequence as you create a new article:

1. Assess notability: Before you put much work into a new article, it's important to determine whether or not it meets a Wikipedia "notability guideline" -- that is, whether sufficient source materials exist to justify its inclusion on Wikipedia. If you publish an article on a newspaper that is later deemed not to meet the threshold, your article will likely be deleted. The general notability guideline is the overall rule; there are more specific definitions for various topic areas, but not for newspapers. (There's a draft of a new guideline here; it might be helpful to look at this, but keep in mind this is not a formally accepted guideline!) Basic rule of thumb: Your newspaper should be mentioned prominently in a book, journal, or news article about newspapers (e.g., "History of Journalism in <State> or <County>"), plus 2-3 more independent sources, such as lists of winners of statewide or national awards; online databases of information about newspapers; biographies of founders or editors of the paper; etc.
2. Draft: Start your article as a "draft." A draft is publicly visible and editable, but it will not be found by standard searches on Wikipedia, Google, Bing, etc., and there are essentially no standards you have to meet; it will stay online for at least a few months, permitting you to gradually get it to a state you are confident is worthy of publishing as a true Wikipedia article. To start a draft article, click the appropriate "Draft:..." link on the title of the paper on the state page.
3. Stub: A stub is the minimum version of an article worthy of publication on Wikipedia. Once you have a few sentences about the paper with the most important information, with proper footnotes to a few source materials, you can "move" the page, removing the word "Draft:" from its title. This will effectively "publish the article on Wikipedia." If you're new to Wikipedia, it's strongly recommended that you have a more experienced Wikipedian review your draft prior to publishing a stub. If you're a student working on an assignment, check with your instructor; or, you can always leave a note on this project's talk page: WT:WPNEWS
4. Start: A "start class" article is generally considered to be a bit more complete than a "stub." For the purposes of our project, an important element would be including a basic infobox.
5. [higher quality ratings]: Wikipedia has a system of quality ratings. This WikiProject is focused on quantity (above a basic quality threshold) more than quality; we aim to start 1,000 "stub"- or "start"-class newspaper articles. But for context, the quality ratings you should be aware of are these:

   stub—start—C—B—Good Article—Featured Article

   The final two (Good and Featured) require formal peer reviews; the levels lower than that are frequently self-assessed.

   If you want to know more, see: Wikipedia:Content assessment

Short video on the value of having Wikipedia articles about newspapers

Other learning resources

• Mike's videos
• Pete's videos, and materials at WP:WWACOURSE
• Video: Two easy ways to add footnotes
• Other folks...Wiki Edu? Sgerbic?
• Needs Infobox