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Business

Newspapers

Newspapers may be useful to you as you progress through your Business degree. While academic journals provide in-depth analysis, newspapers and business publications offer a real-time snapshot of the business world, allowing you to:

  • Stay Current: Keep up with the latest market trends, company news, and economic shifts that shape the business landscape. This helps you understand the context in which academic theories are applied.
  • Spot Emerging Trends: Get ahead of the curve by identifying new business opportunities or threats before they're covered in academic journals.
  • Analyse Real-World Examples: Access case studies and real-world examples of businesses in action, bridging the gap between theory and practice.
  • Gain Industry Insights: Dive into dedicated industry sections to understand specific challenges, opportunities, and best practices.
  • Quick Research for Time-Sensitive Assignments: When you need information fast, newspapers and business publications are your go-to resources.

Remember, while valuable, always critically evaluate information from these sources. Consider their reputation, potential biases, and target audience to assess the credibility of the information presented.

You can access current newspapers and magazines from several databases:

  • Gale OneFile News: The primary newspaper resources available to you from the library. It contains just under 4,000 different publications from around the world, and it contains over 750 from the United Kingdom. It provides either archival or current access to its content—and sometimes both.
  • ProQuest One Business: Offers full-text access to an extensive collection of business-focused news articles and trade publications, including major newspapers and industry-specific journals.
  • Gale Business Insights: Provides access to a curated selection of business news articles, magazine features, and trade publications covering a wide range of industries and topics.

Students studying business or business-related degrees like accounting, human resources, or marketing should consider reading the following global newspapers to gain a broader perspective on business issues:

United Kingdom:

  • Financial Times: A global newspaper with a strong focus on business and economic news, providing insights into international markets and industries.
  • The Economist: A weekly magazine with in-depth analysis of global business, economics, and politics. Highly recommended for all business students.

United States:

  • The Wall Street Journal: Renowned for its in-depth financial reporting, market analysis, and coverage of corporate news. Essential for finance and accounting students.
  • The New York Times (Business Section): Offers broad coverage of economic trends, business strategies, and corporate leadership.
  • Financial Times: As mentioned above, the FT is a global newspaper but is headquartered in London, offering a unique perspective on European and UK business affairs.

Other International Newspapers:

  • Nikkei Asia (Japan): Provides comprehensive coverage of business and economic news in Asia, including emerging markets.
  • The Economic Times (India): Covers Indian business and economic news, offering insights into a major emerging market.
  • The Australian Financial Review (Australia): Covers Australian business and finance news, providing insights into the Asia-Pacific region.

Specialised Publications:

  • Bloomberg Businessweek: A weekly magazine that combines business news with lifestyle and cultural reporting.
  • Forbes: A magazine known for its lists and rankings of wealthy individuals and companies, as well as articles on entrepreneurship and leadership.
  • Fortune: A magazine that covers a wide range of business topics, including corporate strategies, leadership, and innovation.
  • Harvard Business Review: A magazine that publishes articles on management, leadership, and business strategy, often written by academics and industry experts.

Additional Tips:

  • Read industry-specific publications: Depending on your specific area of interest, there may be niche publications that focus on your industry. For example, Adweek for marketing students, or HR Magazine for HR students.
  • Consider international perspectives: Reading newspapers from different countries can provide a broader understanding of global business trends and diverse economic models.

Historical newspapers offer unique insights into the past and can be a valuable resource for business students in various ways:

  1. Tracking Business Evolution: Historical newspapers provide a firsthand account of how businesses, industries, and markets have evolved over time. By analysing past news articles, you can gain insights into the factors that have shaped the current business landscape.

  2. Understanding Economic Trends: Historical newspapers often report on economic events, such as financial crises, recessions, and periods of growth. These reports can help you understand the cyclical nature of economies and the impact of various economic policies.

  3. Analysing Company Histories: Newspaper archives can reveal the history of specific companies, including their founding, growth, challenges, and successes. This information can be invaluable for case studies, competitive analysis, and understanding the factors that contribute to long-term business success.

  4. Examining Consumer Behaviour: Historical advertisements and articles on consumer trends can shed light on how consumer preferences and behaviours have changed over time. This can inform marketing strategies and product development decisions.

  5. Researching Regulatory Changes: Newspaper archives can track the evolution of business regulations and policies, helping you understand the legal and regulatory framework in which businesses operate and how it has changed over time.

  6. Investigating Social and Cultural Context: Historical newspapers provide a glimpse into the social and cultural context in which businesses operated in the past. This can help you understand how societal values, cultural norms, and technological advancements have influenced business practices and consumer behaviour.

 

The library provides you with many different sources of historical newspapers that you can discover here and easily access digitally.

  • Gale 19th Century British Library Newspapers
    • This archive includes the archive of over 50 regional and national newspapers from the 19th century. Titles include Glasgow Herald, Manchester Times, and Northern Echo.
  • 19th Century UK Periodicals
    • This archive includes the archive of over 90 periodicals (magazines, journals, and some newspapers) from the 19th century. The collection covers many different titles that reveal life in the nineteenth century and which will be a valuable resources for exploring changing attitudes to life in the UK and the UK's developing society. 
  • Burney Newspaper Collection
    • This archive includes the archive of over 1000 newspapers from the 17th and 18th centuries. It also includes Acts of Parliament, addresses, broadsides, pamphlets, and proclamations. Newspaper titles include Bath Chronicle, Calcutta Chronicle and General Advertiser, and Dublin Gazette.
  • The Times and The Telegraph Archives
    • The library provides a digital archive of The Telegraph from 1855-2016 and The Times from 1785-2019.