Research Guides: Film and Media Studies: Newspaper Databases

Newspaper Databases

Newspapers are great sources for both current information and historical research. They report on events using clear, accessible language and are usually written for a general audience, though some target specific groups or interests. While articles are edited, the fast pace means quick turnaround and limited analysis. Most newspapers include news stories, editorials, opinion pieces, and longer feature stories.

This page links to a variety of newspaper databases—both current and historical. When searching older papers, think about how language and terms may have changed over time. For more in-depth help, check out the Newspaper Research Guide. This page of the research guide links you to resources on the following:

Free Online Access to Major Newspapers!

UCI Libraries is also very proud to offer campus-wide access to the following newspapers and sites! In order to set up and activate your accounts, please click on the links below which will bring you to the library guide on how to do so.

California/USA - Current News

U.S. Major Dailies
Provides access to the five most respected U.S. national and regional newspapers, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and the Wall Street Journal. Current content is available each day with archives that stretch as far back as 1980.
New York Times, 1980 - Present
Full-text coverage of the New York Times, 1980 to present, via the ProQuest search interface.

For institutional access to the New York Times via the website, please follow the set up instructions here: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/nytimes

Los Angeles Times

California/USA - Historical News

Newspaper Collections:

ProQuest Historical Newspapers
ProQuest Historical Newspapers is a newspaper digital archive offering full-text and full-image articles for significant newspapers dating back to the 18th century. Every issue of each title includes the complete paper, cover-to-cover, with full-page and article images in easily downloadable PDF format. Titles covered include Chicago Defender, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.
America's Historical Newspapers (via Readex)
A collection of newspapers (as digital facsimiles) chronicling the evolution of American culture and daily life from 1690 to the recent past. This database includes five unique collections, including African American Newspapers Series 1 and 2; Early American Newspapers Series 1, 2, and 13; Early American Newspapers California, and Hispanic American Newspapers.
California Digital Newspaper Collection
A digitized collection of selected California newspapers spanning the years from 1849 to 1911. The project is run by the Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research at the UC Riverside.
Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980 (via Readex)
A collection of Spanish-language newspapers printed in the U.S. during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Illustrated Civil War Newspapers and Magazines
Contains full-text articles from periodicals, including campaign newspapers, published from 1860 to 1865. The database also contains a sample selection of Union and Confederate letters from the larger database, American Civil War: Letters & Diaries. Document types include advertisement, article series, biographical sketch/obituary, cartoon, editorial, fiction, government announcement, humor / satirical commentary, illustration, map, news story/item, panoramic view, poetry, portrait, publisher's notice, and travel narrative.

Newspaper Titles:

New York Times Historical
Provides access to the full text, "as printed" edition of The New York Times, including images and advertisements. Coverage begins with the first edition published in 1851 and extends to three years from the present day (due to a rolling embargo).
Los Angeles Times Historical [via ProQuest]
Provides access to the full text, "as printed" edition of Los Angeles Times, including images and advertisements, from 1881 - 1997.

Washington Post Historical (1877-1994)
The Washington Post (WaPo) was founded in 1877 and is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, DC. This archie provides access to articles published between 1877 and 1994.
Chicago Tribune Historical (1849-1986)
Founded in 1847, the Chicago Tribune is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois and remains the most-read daily newspaper in the Chicago metropolitan area. This link provides access to articles published from 1877 through 1994.
Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1998)
The Baltimore Afro-American, commonly known as The Afro or Afro News, is a weekly African-American newspaper published in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the flagship newspaper of the AFRO-American chain, and the longest-running African-American family-owned newspaper in the United States, established in 1892. This link provides access to articles published from 1893 through 1998.
San Francisco Chronicle (1869-1922)
The San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as The Daily Dramatic Chronicle. It is the only major daily paper covering the city and county of San Francisco. This link provides access to articles published between 1869 through 1922.

Alternative Press Newspapers

American Prison Newspapers
American Prison Newspapers will bring together hundreds of these periodicals from across the country into one collection that will represent penal institutions of all kinds, with special attention paid to women's-only institutions.

Alternative Press Index
This database indexes alternative, radical, and left periodicals and magazines. Coverage is both international and interdisciplinary and the database is updated on a quarterly basis.
Alt-PressWatch
Full text database of selected newspapers, magazines, and journals of the alternative and independent press.
Ethnic NewsWatch
Contains newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press. It also provides historical coverage of Native American, African American, and Hispanic American periodicals from 1959-1989.
Independent and Revolutionary Mexican Newspapers
This collection includes newspapers from Mexico from its pre-independence, independence and revolutionary periods (1807-1929). These newspapers provide rare documentation of the dramatic events of this era and include coverage of Mexican partisan politics, yellow press, political and social satire, as well as local, regional, national and international news.

Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2005)
The Los Angeles Sentinel is an African American owned and operated newspaper that puts emphasis on issues concerning the African American community and its readers. It’s a very highly regarded paper and this link will allow you to research articles published historically from its first issues in the 1930s through 2005.

International Newspapers - Current and Historical

Independent and Revolutionary Mexican Newspapers
This collection includes newspapers from Mexico from its pre-independence, independence and revolutionary periods (1807-1929). These newspapers provide rare documentation of the dramatic events of this era and include coverage of Mexican partisan politics, yellow press, political and social satire, as well as local, regional, national and international news.
Latin American Newspapers (via Readex)
A collection of historical Latin American newspapers, including newspapers published in the 19th and early 20th century in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela.
Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980 (via Readex)
A collection of Spanish-language newspapers printed in the U.S. during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Canadian Major Dailies
Included in this collection are national and leading regional papers such as National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Ottawa Citizen, Regina Leader Post, Vancouver Sun and the Victoria Times-Colonist.