AFRS 451: Mass Communication in the African American Community

Periodicals refer to publications that publish content through scheduled intervals. Common publishing intervals are daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly (every 3 months), and semiannually (twice a year). Popular periodical formats include newspapers and magazines and are non-academic. They are technically considered journals as they tend to publish content relating to matters of current interest. Academic journals are distinguished from newspapers and magazines as they are research-oriented, and include citations. Journals that are peer-reviewed are those that utilize a board of experts (peers) to scrutinize article submissions for scientific rigor (methods) and will be labeled "peer-reviewed" in the library catalog. Newspapers and magazines may be identified by their formats by name ("newspaper" or "magazine") within the catalog, but not necessarily. When in doubt open the periodical online to verify if it is a newspaper, magazine, or academic journal.

The following are links to online periodicals:

• African Americans -- Periodicals (ALL)
• African American women -- Periodicals
• African American men -- Periodicals

Popular Magazines

• Ebony
• Essence
• Jet

African American Newspapers

• Los Angeles Sentinel (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)

  Full-page and article images from the Los Angeles Sentinel, the oldest and largest black newspaper in the western United States and the largest African-American owned newspaper in the U.S., covering issues concerning the African-American community and its readers.

• African American Newspapers, 1827-1998

  Digital archive of more than 270 historically significant African American newspapers published in the 19th and 20th centuries.

• Chicago Defender (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)

  Full-text digital archive of the influential black newspaper Chicago Defender.

• Black Studies Center. Newspapers

  Full-text digital archive of the influential black newspapers Chicago Defender and Daily Defender.

• Independent Voices

  Chronicles the 60s, 70s, and 80s through the lens of an independent alternative press. Independent Voices provides over 1,000 titles from the special collections of dozens of libraries. Independent Voices provides easy access to the voices of feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Latinos, gays, lesbians, and more. This collection contains 12,992 issues comprising 388,368 pages.

Databases for News & Current Issues

General Historical Periodicals Databases

• America's Historical Newspapers - Digital archive of more than 1,000 U.S. historical newspapers. Includes: Early American Newspapers, Series 1-3, 1690-1922; African American Newspapers, 1827-1998; California's Historical Newspapers, 1850-1922; and Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980.
• American Periodicals Series Online (ProQuest) - This collection contains searchable, digitized images of the pages of over 1,100 American magazines and journals published from colonial days to the dawn of the 20th century, chronicling the development of America across 150 years.

Popular Magazines Online

• Time
• Newsweek
• The Atlantic

Popular Newspapers Online

• Wall Street Journal - Alternative Name(s) & Keywords: WSJ. A direct link to the Wall Street Journal on the ProQuest platform

• New York Times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) - Digital archive offering full-text and full-image articles for the New York Times from 1851-2012.

• Los Angeles Times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) - Full-page and article images from the Los Angeles Daily Times (1881-1886) and the Los Angeles Times (1886-2012).

To become acquainted with issues relating to the African American press, use the links below to access research on the topic.

• Books on African American press
• Scholarly articles on African American press (peer-reviewed)