Here you will find all info related to building the Newspaper database and generating output.

1. Structure your research

Before downloading newspaper articles, getting a set of folders organised on your computer will enable you to store data and writings in a structured way. The structure described here offers  some guidelines. There is not just one structure. In fact whatever structure works for you is ok.

1. Create a folder ‘Media Analysis’ on your desktop (or any other place on your computer that makes sense to you).
2. Create within the folder ‘Media Analysis’ the following sub-folders:
   1. Data
   2. Writings
   3. Notes
   4. Literature
3. Download the ‘codebook’ (WORD-file) and the ‘Database Grid’ ( Excel-file) on the Moodle page of SO881. Save both documents in the folder ‘Media Analysis.’

2. Data Collection

The first step in crafting a database is to develop search terms. The initial search terms will be very straightforward, here we will use ‘shootings’ in the Headline and ‘Las Vegas’ in the introduction. However a quick look at the retrieved stories might reveal that while some of the stories focus on the story of mass shooting in Las Vegas, some just mention the concept ‘shooting’ or ‘Las Vegas’ and have nothing to do with the principal story of your analysis.

In a second step, scan through the results and articles. Make sure you do this in a structured way, but retrieve only information rich articles (a good number of words, focussed on your topic not a side-line story).

Starting the Database PART I: ID, Newspaper and Methodological Variables

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