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The Information Cycle
How is information produced and distributed, and how does it change over time? The term “Information Cycle” describes the progression of media coverage relating to a particular newsworthy event or topic.
Understanding how the information cycle works will help you to know what kinds of information may be available on your topic as you locate and evaluate research sources.
The progression of the information cycle is directly connected to the amount of time after an event has happened:
On the same day it happened: - Social Networking (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) and Mobile Communication (Texting), Mainstream Media (News sites, TV, radio, Newspaper)
A month - Monthly Magazines
3 to 6 months - Scholarly Journals
A year or more – More Scholarly Journals, Books, Government Reports, and Reference Materials
An example: At noon on July 18, 2015, Pope Francis released the encyclical Laudato Si', concerning the environmental crisis and the world’s seeming indifference to it The document’s appearance was accompanied by a news conference from the Vatican. In the minutes and hours after it appeared, people were emailing and texting, writing about it on Facebook and other social media sites—perhaps not having had time to fully digest or understand it. Mainstream media covered it on the major networks; again, without much careful analysis. Newspaper articles appeared that very day. These were the raw reactions in the early hours after it came out. Later in the week, after people had time to reflect on it, more thoughtful studies began to appear.
After a few months, scholarly journals and books were published. By then, scholars, students, critics, and others had thoughtfully analyzed and evaluated the document, studying it closely, word by word, researching similar documents and writings, formulating opinions, and scrutinizing the impact and eventual outcomes. Now, in 2023, there exists an enormous body of scholarly research, interpretation, critical analysis, commentary, discussion and more, from which to draw when writing an academic paper about the document. Writings that appeared in the earlier days and weeks may be less appropriate as references (unless one is analyzing early reactions to the encyclical.)
So—pay attention to when a reference was published or appeared. Depending on your topic, especially if it concerns an event, timing is important. Remember, if you're taking a look at Open AI/ChatGPT: the entire content is based on information available up until September 2021. Therefore, ChatGPT is not a good source of information about events, developments, or updates that have occurred after that date.
Contact me whenever you need assistance. Happy researching!
~Judy Clarence, M.L.I.S., GMU Librarian
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