Journalists and academics need to collaborate in a more structured way

Newspapers are a valuable research tool for the humanities, social sciences and arts. They cover a wide range of topics with content that is pertinent to almost every subject (history, politics, the arts, business, science, and much more), making it essential to all scholars. 

It's also a crucial primary source for students, teachers, and academics of all levels looking for information on current affairs and historical events. The newspaper has always been and will always be a valuable resource for us. 

The content of the newspaper still reflects the needs and interests of the public, even though delivery formats have changed to include electronic editions and websites.

Finding crucial data that is relevant to scientific research can be challenging. Newspapers from the past and the present are rife with information that can be used in a variety of situations, including scientific research, entertainment, and education. 

Unbiased news reports gather and provide quantifiable data from dependable, verified sources, to frame the context of a story. Reporting is apolitical: Stories do not have a blatant political bias or motivation, and they do not advance political self-interest. Newspaper articles are an example of primary and secondary sources. Therefore, before you can decide whether it will be regarded as a primary or secondary source, you must evaluate information regarding the author of the article, the date of the article and how the piece will be used in your work.

We shall attempt to examine how academic researchers employ newspapers in their scholarly writings through the course of this succinct note, as well as the general significance of newspaper citations in scholarly journals. 

Newspapers are generally considered to have content that is less worthy than that found in scientific journals and textbooks, for any serious educational or research objective, because of their tendency toward sensationalism. This is somewhat true, but they also frequently contain distinctive information that is unavailable elsewhere and reflect the social and cultural values of the time and place in which they were written. The linguistic fashion of the time in which they were written is also evident in them.

For sociological research, online newspapers are a great source of information (reader comments, etc.). The social sciences and humanities should do research on newspapers based on their explicit values. The availability of well-organised and well-preserved newspaper collections could be advantageous to academics in the fields of history, linguistics, psychology, media studies, education science, information sciences, publishing, graphic design, and other sciences.

How to use newspapers in classrooms

Newspapers need to be used both formally and informally in our classroom. Teachers can demonstrate to children how newspapers relate to their interests and needs. You can invite students to share an article from the newspaper that struck their attention. 

Encourage students to explore the full range of information in the newspaper that is relevant to their lives. Elementary-level classroom activities involving local and community news can help students develop comprehension and research skills. 

For students, reading newspapers is a good hobby. As time goes on, students develop complete reading and vocabulary proficiency. Reading the newspaper helps people write and read better, because they generally come across more complex terms in their professional lives that could otherwise confuse readers.

Newspaper articles serve as a primary source of information about historical and current events. Some of the benefits of using newspaper articles as primary sources include: seeing how people viewed an event when it happened; providing multiple points of view about an issue, including a comparison of local and international views; permitting researchers to trace the historical development of subjects over time; examining issues in the context of their time (by seeing how stories about an issue related to other stories, or by examining the type of coverage provided); giving a snapshot of a time period detailing how people lived, and what they purchased, etc. which is helpful for writers, playwrights, historians, etc.

In the dawn of Covid-19

The Covid-19 situation has changed the way we work, and we've already figured out how to work from a distance more often. It might also have an impact on how we conduct our study. Numerous researchers were forced to halt data collecting or redo their work in order to allow for social-distancing strategies. 

From social distancing to mask-wearing, news media took the lead in supplying information to aid policymakers in daily decisions. Reporting organisations were well-equipped to consistently update the public about the pandemic, because the industry places a strong focus on 24-hour news. Their contribution to Covid-19 has also been recognised and acknowledged with growing viewership.

A formidable partnership

As a researcher, I advocate a cooperative strategy between journalists and researchers to find pertinent and trustworthy responses to researcher's inquiries. 

Academics and journalists frequently have isolated interactions. An academic works on research on a subject they are enthusiastic about, sometimes for years. The research is released as a working paper or in a peer-reviewed publication. An editor or journalist believes the work may be interesting or valuable to the neighbourhood. A story is created after the journalist interviews the researcher. The conversation is over.

Partnerships, or simply occasionally checking in with each other, can help researchers and reporters enlighten the public in a more sophisticated way than they could on their own. Instead of being a one-time transaction, the relationship develops into an ongoing dialogue. It will be beneficial for both parties to be aware of the ethical standards of their respective institutions if the relationship develops into a true collaboration, with the reporter and researcher routinely checking in and exchanging ideas. 

They should negotiate about when to speak on the record and when to speak off the record, whether and how they will share credit, and how much data and other information they can disclose.

In general, journalists have up-to-date knowledge of events in the subject they cover. Journalists will not necessarily be as knowledgeable about scholarly research as a result. Researchers should actively get in touch with regional reporters that cover the same themes if they want their work to have a beneficial real-world impact, especially if they are working on applied topics that directly affect policy.

Building mutual trust and a productive working partnership require patience and regular communication. Both the reporter and the researcher must be dedicated to accuracy, respect each other's skills, and set their egos aside in order to debate alternate or creative approaches to answering questions. 

Trust can build up over time through an open discussion regarding the information each party will utilise as well as any ethical issues. They need to be practical when talking about deadlines, research embargoes and confidentiality agreements.

Illustration: TBS

The author is an Associate Professor at the Department of Government and Politics, Jahangirnagar University and Visiting Scholar (Oxford, Cambridge, and SOAS).