JOUR 309: Reporting I (Fortini): Library Guides

A quick & easy way to find government information is to Google it! After you type in your keywords, limit to government information by typing in site:.gov. For example:
teen pregnancy statistics site:.gov
Nevada tobacco usage site:.gov

• FactCheck.org

  FactCheck.org is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics by monitoring the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. politicians in TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and press releases.
• Politifact.com

  Politifact.com is run by the Tampa Bay Times newspaper and checks the accuracy of statements made by both state and national politicians, as well as political pundits. The status of specific campaign promises made by politicians is also evaluated.
• Snopes.com

  An Internet reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation.
• Open Secrets

  "The Center for Responsive Politics is the nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, the organization aims to create a more educated voter, an involved citizenry and a more transparent and responsive government. OpenSecrets.org is the nation's premier website tracking the influence of money on U.S. politics, and how that money affects policy and citizens' lives."
• Washington Post Fact Checker

  A blog maintained by Glenn Kessler that highlights rhetoric, and which accepts public questions and suggestions for investigation.
• Center for Media and Democracy's PR Watch

  The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a non-profit investigative reporting group. Their reporting and analysis focus on exposing corporate spin and government propaganda. They publish PRWatch, SourceWatch, and BanksterUSA. Their newest investigative site is ALECexposed.org. They accept no funding from for-profit corporations or grants from the government.
• SourceWatch.org: Profiles think tanks as well as other people and organizations. Provides info on personnel, funding, and viewpoints of organizations.
• WhoIs.net

  Use this site to check to whom a website is registered.

• Gallup Polls

  "Gallup Knows More About the Attitudes and Behaviors of Employees, Customers, Students and Citizens Than Any Other Organization." The Organization conducts opinion polls in more than 140 countries around the world, tracking the public's attitudes concerning political, social and economic issues of the day.
• Pew Research Center for People and the Press

  The Center is an independent opinion research group that studies attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues. Site visitors are able to link to survey reports, commentary, and data sets.
• Quinnipiac University Polling Institute

  The Quinnipiac University Polling Institute is a public opinion polling center based at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. It surveys public opinion in Connecticut, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, and nationally. The Poll is cited by major news outlets.
• Rasmussen Reports

  "We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Some information on this web site is available only to paid subscribers.

New York Times Mapping America:  Every City, Every Block  Mapping tool for race/ethnicity, income, education, housing and families.

Data.gov part of the open government initiative, it allows the public to easily find, download, and use datasets that are generated and held by the Federal Government

Statistical Abstract of the United States 1878-2012 (also called the National Data Book)

FBI Uniform Crime Reports

NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

 

Your Assignment: The Sahara Hotel--history of the hotel, the renaming of it to the SLS and now back to the Sahara brand. 

A few starting points--newspaper archives from the 1950s through present and some suggestions below:

Assignment:  It's your time to write an obituary of a local celebrity or leader. Choose one: Robin Leach, Liberace, Art Bell

Besides investigating Special Collections & local/national newspaper databases, you may want to investigate the following for more info:

Assignmnent: Find out about events, ceremonies, and other information related to the upcoming 1 October shooting anniversary, coverage (both local & national) at the time of the shooting, and resources from UNLV Special Collections. 

Your Assignment: It used to be that celebrities were kind of put out to pasture in Las Vegas as they aged, but now it's a very hip thing to do, to be here and perform. 

Dig deep into the history of the Las Vegas residency--Did it start with Elvis? Liberace? Sinatra? What about residencies in the last 5-10 years on The Strip?

For this assignment, you may very well find some great resources & starting points right on Google--but be sure to check for accuracy!

Also investigate Special Collections & local newspaper archives.

Investigate the 2017 passage of the law focusing on insulin. In addition to finding the official legislation, investigate how newspapers covered it, in addition to how government agencies responded to this issue (such as the Nevada Dept. of Health & Human Services). Are there meetings or minutes available to the public on this issue?