What has been written about this topic online, in newspapers and in broadcast media?
Check the newspaper databases. Factiva is best for viewing a day's headlines. Canadian Newsstream is useful keyword searches by headline or full text. For instance, you can search for Summer 2020 protests by adjusting the date range and searching: "Black Lives Matter" Toronto. Directions for how to search within a specific publication are available on the search newspapers page.
Where can you find expert sources and read the latest research?
Check these scholarly databases, which range from general sources like Google Scholar to more specific like Alternative Press Index. Academic journal articles usually include email contact info and sometimes phone numbers for the authors as a starting point for requesting interviews. For more in depth research, know that different disciplines, like health sciences and business have highly specific ways of organizing information, including resources and terminology. TMU Library has assembled research guides on the best resources for each discipline and librarians are available by appointment to guide you through them.
Do you need government information?
Check out the list of government document databases and the custom search for government documents, which allows for the retrieval of municipal, provincial, and federal documents.
Do you need to know about the law?
Check out this guide on Canadian law research and ask the Journalism Librarian or the Law Librarian for help.
Does your topic have an Indigenous aspect?
Check out Indigenous news sources for research on this topic and review the Indigenous journalism writing guides.
Looking for data for a story?
This data journalism page lists marketing databases that can used as a starting point for a story, important government data sources, and ebooks on the practice of digital journalism. The Geospatial Map and Data Centre offers data resources, including data not available to non-TMU patrons and data software, including for data visualization. This centre also offers workshops on how to use these resources, including individual and group appointments. For social media analysis, the TMU Social Media Lab offers analysis and applications, some of which, like Netalytic, do not require coding.
Do you need writing or formatting help?
Check out a writing style guide and the APA citation guide which includes information on citation management software.
Do you need to know about professional practice?
Check out the top scholarly journals about journalism.