Since the Web itself is an increasingly important part of the media, there is no shortage of relevant sites for you to examine. Begin by using your search engine to find a couple of the mainstream news organizations (e.g., the New York Times or the major television networks). Compare how they treat the same stories. Then use your search engine to locate additional news sources that are not sponsored by the mainstream outlets.

To put the role of journalism in perspective, check out the Freedom Forum's interactive museum of journalism (the Newseum) at www.newseum.org. Use its historical materials to examine how the reporting of news has changed over the years.

If you are interested in how people react to journalism, the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press (www.people-press.org) is a valuable source. Take a look at the surveys measuring the extent to which people follow particular stories. Think about the stories that interest you most. How do your interests compare to those of Americans in general? You might also find it interesting to match the reported public interest in a particular story with the coverage that the story actually received. The Annenberg Public Policy Center (www.appcpenn.org) regularly conducts and reports studies of television's coverage of politics. How well does the amount of television coverage correlate with public interest in a story?

A very good source of commentary and studies on modern journalism by journalists can be found at www.journalism.org. This site, sponsored by the Committee of Concerned Journalists, is an especially good source for information about local television news practices. See how your local station stacks up against stations around the country in the coverage of news.