Substantive News and General Interest
These periodicals may be quite attractive in appearance, although some are in newspaper format in their printed versions. Articles are often illustrated, generally with photographs.
What to look for
News and general interest periodicals rarely cite sources.
Articles may be written by a member of the editorial staff, a scholar or a free lance writer. The author information is called a byline in news sources.
The language of these publications is geared to any educated audience. There is no specialty assumed, only interest and a certain level of intelligence.
They are generally published by commercial enterprises or individuals, although some emanate from specific professional organizations.
The main purpose of periodicals in this category is to provide information, in a general manner, to a broad audience of concerned citizens.
Substantive news sources are accountable for the accuracy of their reporting and use recognized journalistic standards.