Popular media sources are just one type of source you may be using in your nursing assignments. For a quick overview on different kinds of sources along with their strengths and weaknesses, start with the NURS - Choosing and Evaluating Sources page.
You can browse particular newspaper or magazine websites for something that catches your eye. Don't limit your search to the health sections of papers - many stories with health implications appear along with general news and political coverage.
Some newspapers and magazines may lean a particular way on the political spectrum (e.g. more conservative or more liberal). Keep this is mind as you read the stories.
Canadian Newspapers
Canadian Magazines
Broadcast Media
If you are unable to read a story because it is reserved for subscribers, in many cases the Library still has access. Go to the Library website and select Journals in the search bar. Search for the title of the newspaper or magazine
If we subscribe, you will see an option to access the paper online. You can browse by date or search for the title of the article, although sometimes the title changes slightly from when the article was originally published.
WARNING - Some news articles may only be free to read for a short time. Make sure you save a copy of the article you have selected (e.g. print to a pdf file).
In Google, you can limit your search results to news stories and to a particular date range.
1. If you don't recognize the publication the article appears in, do some additional research to ensure that it is a legitimate news source. Most major newspapers or magazines have a Wikipedia page that outlines their history.
2. Consider adding words like Calgary, Alberta, or Canada to localize your search
3. Use the minus sign to exclude words from your search. For example, Calgary health -covid will exclude articles that mention COVID. You may also want to exclude newswires from your search results - often they are just press releases from organizations without context or criticism.
The Library subscribes to databases that contain newspapers and magazines from around the world.
They are designed to search for keywords in articles, and are harder to browse than stories on newspaper websites and in Google News.
Check out our News guide for more information.
