LexisNexis indexes television transcripts from numerous news and media sources, from MSNBC to NPR, to the Congressional court hearings (usually broadcast on CSPAN).
Tips to keep in mind when you are searching:
- Usually the transcript is for the entire show, not just the individual segment of the television show, which can make it a bit tedious to find exactly what you're looking for.
- The keywords will be highlighted in red and should lead you to that segment you're looking for.
- The transcript titles themselves can be very generic, such as the name of the show and the date. But encourage students to click into them and scan the article to see if it's relevant.
- If the search results are overwhelming, narrow them down by selecting the type of News Transcript from the left hand side. (See Step 2). This will help to filter the responses.
Using LN Television Transcripts in the Classroom
- The transcripts describe everything -- even crosstalk. While it may seem annoying, it can be a helpful way to highlight the opinions within a controversy.
- Using transcripts/media are a great way to talk about "spin". Encourage students to look at the television sources that the transcripts are coming from -- PBS? Network news? Cable news?
Step 1: Select the News tab in LexisNexis, then enter your search terms.
Step 2: Use the categories on the left hand side to narrow down your results.
Step 3: Find the segment of the transcript that applies to your topic .
