Do newspaper articles need a Chicago bibliography entry?

Not by default. CMOS 14.96 expects most newspaper and news-site stories to appear in notes or in parenthetical author-date citations. Add a bibliography or reference-list entry when the paper is a major source, when you cite it repeatedly, or when your instructor wants every source listed.

How do I cite a newspaper article with no author in Chicago style?

Do not use Anonymous. In a note, begin with the headline, or with the newspaper name if that is clearer. In a bibliography entry, put the newspaper title in the author position so the item sorts under the paper. The CMOS illustration is “In Texas, Ad Heats Up Race for Governor,” New York Times, July 30, 2002. The live Q&A now cites §14.97 for that rule.

Should I include a page number or section for a print newspaper?

Only if it helps and you actually saw it. CMOS lets you cite a page or section in a note and tells you to omit pages from the bibliography, because the same day’s paper may exist in several editions. An edition statement is more useful than a guessed page.

Is a BBC or CNN story cited as a website or as a newspaper?

As a newspaper or news site, under CMOS 14.89–14.98. Use the reporter if there is a byline, italicize the site (BBC News), give the date, and add the story URL. Reserve the website format (CMOS 14.104) for pages that are not dated news stories.

Do I write The New York Times or New York Times?

In running text, CMOS 18 §8.172 capitalizes and italicizes an official initial The: The New York Times. In citations, the manual still allows you to omit The, and the official Quick Guide examples use New York Times. Pick that citation form and keep it consistent.

How do I cite a reader comment on a news article?

In the text or in a note only. The Quick Guide’s notes illustration is Michelle (Reno), December 15, 2023, comment on Blum, “Flax Seeds.” The author-date illustration is (Michelle [Reno], December 15, 2023, comment on Blum 2023). Do not give the comment its own bibliography entry.

How do I cite a newspaper book review in Chicago?

Cite the reviewer, the review headline, the words review of, the book title, the book’s author, the newspaper, and the date. The live Quick Guide sample (CMOS 14.100) is Alexandra Jacobs, “The Muchness of Madonna,” review of Madonna: A Rebel Life, by Mary Gabriel, New York Times, October 8, 2023.

Does Turabian cite newspapers differently from Chicago?

No. Turabian 9th edition is the student handbook that implements Chicago. Use the same note or author-date pattern, including the notes-only option for ephemeral news. Your department may still require a full bibliography; that is a local rule, not a different citation system. See Turabian vs Chicago.

How to Cite a Newspaper Article in Chicago (CMOS 18) [2026]

How to Cite a Newspaper Article in Chicago: Quick Answer

Use a numbered footnote or endnote in Chicago notes-bibliography, or a parenthetical author-date citation in the sentence. Name the journalist if there is a byline, put the headline in quotation marks, italicize the newspaper or news site, and give month, day, and year. For an online story, add the article URL or, if that URL is a poor substitute, the name of the library database. A page or section may sit in a note when you actually saw it. It does not belong in the bibliography or reference list.

CMOS 18 newspaper templates

Notes-Bibliography first note:

First Name Last Name, “Headline of the Article,” Newspaper Name, Month Day, Year, URL or Database.

Notes-Bibliography shortened note:

Last Name, “Shortened Headline.”

Notes-Bibliography bibliography (when you need one):

Last Name, First Name. “Headline of the Article.” Newspaper Name, Month Day, Year. URL or Database.

Author-Date in-text:

(Last Name Year)

Author-Date reference list:

Last Name, First Name. Year. “Headline of the Article.” Newspaper Name, Month Day. URL or Database.

Author-date already places the year after the name. Do not write the year a second time after the month and day. That is CMOS 18 §14.89, restated on the official What’s New in the 18th Edition list. Turabian 9th edition, the still-current student handbook built on Chicago, uses the same newspaper punctuation in both systems. Turabian 10th edition is announced; until it ships, do not treat a student-handbook preview as CMOS 18.

Official Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide newspaper sample (opened 16 September 2026)

First note:

1. Dani Blum, “Are Flax Seeds All That?,” New York Times, December 13, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/13/well/eat/flax-seeds-benefits.html.

Shortened note:

5. Blum, “Flax Seeds.”

Optional bibliography:

Blum, Dani. “Are Flax Seeds All That?” New York Times, December 13, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/13/well/eat/flax-seeds-benefits.html.

Author-Date in text:

(Blum 2023)

Author-Date reference list:

Blum, Dani. 2023. “Are Flax Seeds All That?” New York Times, December 13. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/13/well/eat/flax-seeds-benefits.html.

Those five lines are the live Quick Guide “News or magazine article” newspaper sample, not an invented stand-in. The official Notes-Bibliography numbering is 1 for the full Blum note and 5 for the shortened form (2–4 and 6–8 in that block are Mead, Pegoraro, and Klein). If your assignment names notes-bibliography or author-date, follow that instruction. If it only says “Chicago,” history and most humanities courses want notes and a bibliography. The atomic how-to-cite page shows one formatted newspaper; this guide is the workflow around it.

Official CMOS 18 Wording

Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide, Notes and Bibliography

Articles from newspapers or news sites, magazines, blogs, and the like are cited similarly. Page numbers, if any, can be cited in a note but are omitted from a bibliography entry. For articles consulted online, include a URL or the name of the database.

Readers’ comments are cited in the text or in a note but omitted from a bibliography.

Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide, Notes and Bibliography, “News or magazine article,” opened 16 September 2026. CMOS points to 14.87–14.88 for magazines and 14.89–14.98 for newspapers and news sites.

Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide, Author-Date

Articles from newspapers or news sites, magazines, blogs, and the like are cited similarly. Page numbers, if any, can be cited in the text but are omitted from a reference list entry. For articles consulted online, include a URL or the name of the database.

Readers’ comments are cited in the text but omitted from a reference list.

Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide, Author-Date, “News or magazine article,” opened 16 September 2026.

CMOS 18 What’s New and §14.89, as reprinted by university libraries

Author-date reference list entries that include a month and day (as for a newspaper article) do not need to repeat the year with the month and day.

A period in the middle of a newspaper headline may be changed to a colon.

To cite an article consulted online, include the URL or, if no suitable URL is available, the name of the database

Because news sites may update certain stories as they unfold, it may be appropriate to include a time stamp for any article that includes one

Because a newspaper’s issue of any given day may include several editions, and items may be moved or eliminated in various editions, page numbers can be cited in a note but are usually omitted from a bibliography entry. For the same reason, a time stamp may be necessary (14.87, 14.89).

The first two sentences are CMOS “What’s New in the 18th Edition,” §§14.89 and 14.90. The URL-or-database and time-stamp sentences are CMOS 18 §14.89 as Douglas College Library reprints them (guide last updated 22 April 2026). The editions sentence is the University of Queensland reprint of the same paragraphs. Time stamps sit after the year, with a comma.

That wording is why this page is not a second magazine tutorial. A magazine feature often has a useful note page. A daily paper of a given date may exist in several editions, and a digital story may be updated the same afternoon. CMOS therefore treats the date as the locating fact and treats page numbers as optional helpers in a note, not as part of the bibliography record.

Current Edition: Chicago 18th (2024)

Cite newspapers from The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition, published by the University of Chicago Press in September 2024. Older charts still describe the 17th edition (2017), where unsigned-newspaper guidance lived at §14.199. CMOS 18 moved newspapers and news sites to §§14.89–14.98, newspaper and other reviews to §14.100, and magazines next door to §§14.87–14.88. The live Chicago Style Q&A on unsigned newspapers now cites §14.97. Turabian 9th follows the same newspaper punctuation for student papers.

Where newspaper rules sit in CMOS 18
Question	CMOS 18 paragraph	What to do
Print or online news story	14.89–14.98	Cite like other news pieces; add a URL or database
Magazine feature	14.87–14.88	Same date pattern; see the magazine guide
Notes-only option	14.96	Most news stories stay in the note or parenthetical citation
Unsigned story	14.97	Note may start with the headline; bibliography lists the paper as author
News services and releases	14.98	If Associated Press or Reuters is the byline, that organization is the author
Newspaper book review	14.100	Add “review of” plus the book; see Jacobs below
Headline with a mid-title period	14.90	Change the period to a colon, or use the first sensible part
“The” in running text	8.172	Keep The New York Times if that is the official name
“The” in a citation	14.91	You may omit The: New York Times
Year in author-date	14.89	Do not write the year twice in the reference list
Ordinary web page	14.104	Describe it in the text when you can; otherwise see websites

Notes-Bibliography or Author-Date?

Chicago is one manual with two documentation systems. History, art history, and most other humanities programs expect Notes-Bibliography: a full note on first mention, a shortened note after that, and a bibliography only when the paper is a major source. Some social-science courses expect Author-Date: a parenthetical citation in the sentence and a reference list. Do not mix footnotes with author-date citations in one paper.

Notes-Bibliography (humanities)

First note carries the full citation
Later notes use author plus shortened headline
News stories are often notes only (CMOS 14.96)
Add a bibliography entry when the paper is central or cited often
Typical in history, art history, and religion

Author-Date (social sciences)

In-text form is (Last Name Year)
Reference list repeats the year after the name
Month and day follow the newspaper title
Do not repeat the year with the month and day
Typical when a course already uses Chicago author-date

Notes-Bibliography Format

The first citation of a story is a full note. Later citations drop to last name plus a shortened headline. CMOS 13.32–13.39 is the general shortened-note rule. For a news headline, keep the words that identify the story — Blum’s “Are Flax Seeds All That?” shortens to “Flax Seeds,” not to “Are.” That shortened form is the live Quick Guide’s own cut, not a four-word guess.

Do newspaper articles belong in the bibliography?

Often, no. CMOS 14.96 treats daily news as something readers can recover from a precise note or parenthetical citation. University guides restating that paragraph — including Thompson Rivers and Lynn University — say newspapers are more commonly cited in notes than in bibliographies. That is the opposite of a journal article, which almost always appears in the bibliography.

Include a bibliography entry when the newspaper is a major source for the paper, when you cite many stories from the same title and want the paper to sort under N for New York Times, or when your instructor wants every note source listed at the end. If you cite one unsigned story only in passing, a note is enough. If you cite eight stories from the same local paper as primary evidence, list the paper.

Note only is enough

A single news item used for one fact
A reader comment on a story
A wire brief you mention once
A story your reader can open from the URL in the note

Add a bibliography entry

The paper is a main primary source
You cite the same title throughout a chapter
The syllabus says every source must be listed
You need the newspaper to alphabetize as a corporate author

Online newspaper with a URL

Prefer the canonical story URL, not a search result, not a homepage, and not a link stuffed with campaign tracking. An access date is unnecessary when the publication date is printed on the story. Add one only if the piece is undated.

Quick Guide online newspaper (Blum, official numbering)

Note:

1. Dani Blum, “Are Flax Seeds All That?,” New York Times, December 13, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/13/well/eat/flax-seeds-benefits.html.

Shortened note:

5. Blum, “Flax Seeds.”

Story from a library database

When you read a newspaper through ProQuest, LexisNexis, Newspapers.com, or another subscription file, a session URL is often long, unstable, or locked behind your campus login. CMOS prefers the database name in that case. This is the live Quick Guide’s database newspaper. Official note 3 is the full form; official note 7 is the shortened form:

Official Quick Guide database newspaper

Note:

3. Rob Pegoraro, “Apple’s iPhone Is Sleek, Smart and Simple,” Washington Post, July 5, 2007, LexisNexis Academic.

Shortened note:

7. Pegoraro, “Apple’s iPhone.”

Optional bibliography:

Pegoraro, Rob. “Apple’s iPhone Is Sleek, Smart and Simple.” Washington Post, July 5, 2007. LexisNexis Academic.

Author-Date in text:

(Pegoraro 2007)

Author-Date reference list:

Pegoraro, Rob. 2007. “Apple’s iPhone Is Sleek, Smart and Simple.” Washington Post, July 5. LexisNexis Academic.

Print newspaper, with an edition

CMOS 14.89 lets you omit page numbers because a newspaper’s issue on any particular day may include several editions. If you know the edition, add it. If you have a section letter that actually helps a reader — “sec. A” or “Sunday Opinion” — you may add it in the note. Do not invent a page or section you did not see. University reprints of the CMOS print form (Red Deer Polytechnic; Thompson Rivers) still show Laurie Goodstein and William Glaberson, “The Well-Marked Roads to Homicidal Rage,” New York Times, April 10, 2000, national edition, as the worked print case. Treat that as a library reprint of the handbook example, not as a Quick Guide line.

Print-edition template (not a live Quick Guide sample)

Note template:

First Name Last Name, “Headline of the Article,” Newspaper Name, Month Day, Year, edition.

Bibliography template:

Last Name, First Name. “Headline of the Article.” Newspaper Name, Month Day, Year, edition.

Author-Date Format

Chicago author-date puts a parenthetical citation in the sentence and a matching entry in a reference list. The in-text form is (Last Name Year), with a page or section only if you actually used one. The reference-list year sits immediately after the author’s name. The month and day stay with the newspaper title and do not repeat the year. That last point is CMOS 18, paragraph 14.89.

Official Quick Guide author-date newspaper and magazine pair

Newspaper in text:

(Blum 2023)

Newspaper reference list:

Blum, Dani. 2023. “Are Flax Seeds All That?” New York Times, December 13. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/13/well/eat/flax-seeds-benefits.html.

Magazine in text (page legal when the source has one):

(Mead 2023, 21)

Magazine reference list:

Mead, Rebecca. 2023. “Terms of Aggrievement.” New Yorker, December 18.

Database newspaper in text:

(Pegoraro 2007)

The Mead locator belongs to the Quick Guide magazine example in the same “News or magazine article” block (“Terms of Aggrievement,” New Yorker, December 18, 2023, 21). It is here only to show that a page in parentheses is legal when the source has one. For most newspapers you will write (Blum 2023) and stop. Format the magazine itself on How to Cite Magazine Articles in Chicago Style.

Newspaper Book Reviews (CMOS 14.100)

A newspaper review of a book is still a newspaper citation, plus the words “review of” and the book you are pointing at. The live Quick Guide’s review sample — pointed at CMOS 14.100 — is Alexandra Jacobs’s 8 October 2023 New York Times review of Mary Gabriel’s Madonna: A Rebel Life. The official lines omit a URL. The live story is at nytimes.com/2023/10/08/books/review/madonna-a-rebel-life-mary-gabriel.html. Add that URL only if you read the review online and want a reader to open the same file.

Official Quick Guide newspaper review (Jacobs)

First note:

1. Alexandra Jacobs, “The Muchness of Madonna,” review of Madonna: A Rebel Life, by Mary Gabriel, New York Times, October 8, 2023.

Shortened note:

2. Jacobs, “Muchness of Madonna.”

Bibliography:

Jacobs, Alexandra. “The Muchness of Madonna.” Review of Madonna: A Rebel Life, by Mary Gabriel. New York Times, October 8, 2023.

Author-Date in text:

(Jacobs 2023)

Author-Date reference list:

Jacobs, Alexandra. 2023. “The Muchness of Madonna.” Review of Madonna: A Rebel Life, by Mary Gabriel. New York Times, October 8.

Cite the review when you used Jacobs’s sentences. Cite Gabriel’s book itself — see How to Cite a Book in Chicago Style — when you used the biography. Do not collapse the two into one entry.

Unsigned Articles, Editorials, and Comments

Many news items have no byline. Do not write “Anonymous” unless the piece is signed that way. In a note, CMOS lets you begin with the headline or, when that is awkward, with the newspaper name. In a bibliography entry, the newspaper title stands in the author position so the item sorts under the paper, not under I for “In Texas.”

Official CMOS wording on unsigned newspapers

Unsigned newspaper articles or features are best dealt with in text or notes. But if a bibliography entry should be needed, the title of the newspaper stands in place of the author.

Chicago Style Q&A, Documentation of Sources (faq0076), opened 16 September 2026. The live answer now cites CMOS 18 §14.97 and still prints the Texas illustration. A 17th-edition banner remains on the page; the paragraph number is the 18th-edition number.

Official CMOS unsigned-newspaper illustration

Note:

“In Texas, Ad Heats Up Race for Governor,” New York Times, July 30, 2002.

Bibliography:

New York Times. “In Texas, Ad Heats Up Race for Governor.” July 30, 2002.

Author-Date in text:

(New York Times 2002)

Author-Date reference list (if needed):

New York Times. 2002. “In Texas, Ad Heats Up Race for Governor.” July 30.

The live story still resolves at nytimes.com/2002/07/30/us/in-texas-ad-heats-up-race-for-governor.html. CMOS’s illustration omits that URL; add it only if you read the piece online. A signed editorial or op-ed is cited like any other bylined news story. An unsigned staff editorial can be identified as an editorial in the text (“a Boston Globe editorial argued…”) and then cited from the headline. Letters to the editor are usually notes or running text. Reader comments are never bibliography entries.

Official Quick Guide reader-comment samples

Notes-Bibliography comment:

9. Michelle (Reno), December 15, 2023, comment on Blum, “Flax Seeds.”

Author-Date in text:

(Michelle [Reno], December 15, 2023, comment on Blum 2023)

The Quick Guide keeps the commenter’s screen name, adds a location in parentheses (notes) or brackets (author-date) when the platform supplies one, dates the comment, and points back to the story you already cited. Official Notes-Bibliography numbering for that comment is 9. Do not promote a comment into a bibliography or reference-list entry of its own.

News Sites, Wire Services, and “The” in the Title

CMOS 18 files newspapers and news sites under 14.89–14.98. BBC News, CNN, and similar organizations are cited like newspapers, not like a miscellaneous web page. The Quick Guide’s own online newspaper is already a news-site URL: Blum’s story on nytimes.com. A marketing page, an “about the newsroom” statement, or a tool dashboard is a web page and belongs on that other guide.

News-site template (use the version you actually read)

Note template:

First Name Last Name, “Headline of the Article,” News Site Name, Month Day, Year, URL.

Shortened-note template:

Last Name, “Shortened Headline.”

CMOS 14.98 covers news services and news releases. If a wire service such as the Associated Press or Reuters is the author, list that organization in the author position and keep the newspaper or site that published the item as the container. If the same AP brief appears in three papers, cite the version you actually read. Do not invent a second byline the page does not print.

University reprint of CMOS 18 regular-column wording

Regular columns or features may carry headlines as well as column titles. Like the names of sections, these should appear in roman, capitalized but without quotation marks, when they are included in a citation.

University of Queensland CMOS 18 newspaper page, restating the handbook on column titles. Write Opinion or Sunday Review in roman type; keep the headline in quotation marks.

City names and well-known papers

Add a city when the title does not already identify it and the paper is not a nationally recognized title. CMOS’s own illustrations include Albuquerque Journal (city already in the name) and Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ). You do not add “(New York, NY)” after New York Times, or a city after Wall Street Journal or Christian Science Monitor. If two towns share a name, add the state or country in the parentheses: Times (Trenton, NJ).

How to write the newspaper’s name
In the sentence	In the citation	City?
The New York Times (CMOS 8.172)	New York Times (The omitted)	No — the title is enough
The Washington Post	Washington Post	No
The Chicago Tribune	Chicago Tribune	No — the city is in the title
the Star-Ledger	Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ)	Yes — add city and state
BBC News	BBC News	No — it is a news site

Official CMOS 18 wording on initial The

When newspapers and other periodicals are mentioned in running text, an initial The that appears on the masthead or cover or is otherwise considered part of the official title is usually capitalized and italicized along with the title of the publication

An initial The is now capitalized in running text when it forms part of the official name of a periodical (e.g., The New York Times) but may be omitted in source citations.

First sentence: CMOS Shop Talk, “When to Capitalize an Initial The” (updated 18 March 2025), quoting CMOS 18 §8.172. Second sentence: CMOS “What’s New in the 18th Edition,” §8.172. In citations, CMOS 14.69 and 14.91 still let you drop The.

Updated stories and time stamps

Place the time after the year, with a comma, using the stamp printed on the version you read. If a later update changes the headline, cite the headline in front of you, not a remembered earlier one. Do not invent a time the page does not show. University of Queensland’s worked time-stamp case is Megan Cassidy-Welch, “Why lessons from the past can help us understand the refugee debate,” The Conversation, 14 July 2011, 7.14am AEST — a dated news-site essay with a printed clock. Copy that clock only when your source prints one.

Time-stamp template (use only the time printed on the story)

Note template:

First Name Last Name, “Headline of the Article,” Newspaper Name, Month Day, Year, hour:minute a.m. or p.m. time zone, URL.

Historical Newspapers as Primary Sources

In a history paper, a newspaper is often a primary source: evidence of what was reported, argued, or advertised on a given day, not a secondary analysis of that day. Cite the issue you used. If you read a bound volume, a microfilm reel, or a scan in Chronicling America, you are still citing the newspaper. Add the archive or database only when it is how a reader will recover that edition — the Pegoraro / LexisNexis Academic pattern.

Real Chronicling America page (not an official CMOS sample)

Note, Evening Star influenza editorial page:

Evening Star (Washington, DC), October 16, 1918, 6, Chronicling America, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1918-10-16/ed-1/seq-6/.

Unsigned-headline template for a named story in the same file:

“Headline of the Article,” Newspaper Name, Month Day, Year, Database Name.

That Evening Star URL is a Library of Congress persistent address for the 16 October 1918 Washington paper, page 6 — the influenza editorial page also used on Primary Sources for History Research. A TimesMachine or library scan of a 1969 print issue does not turn that issue into a website citation. For the larger historical-source workflow, see that guide and the History Citation Guide.

Newspaper, Magazine, or Website?

Choose the guide that matches the object in your hand. A daily or continuous news report — print paper, newspaper website, or BBC/CNN story — stays here. A periodical feature with a week or month on the cover belongs with magazines. The Quick Guide’s own magazine siblings in that same block are Rebecca Mead, “Terms of Aggrievement,” New Yorker, December 18, 2023, and Elana Klein, “Meet Flip, the Viral Video App Giving Away Free Stuff,” Wired, December 21, 2023. A standalone page that is not a dated news story belongs with websites. A peer-reviewed article with volume and issue belongs with journal articles.

Pick the right Chicago source page
You are citing	CMOS 18	Use
Daily paper or news-site story	14.89–14.98	This guide
Newspaper book review	14.100	This guide (Jacobs sample)
Magazine feature or profile	14.87–14.88	Magazine articles
Blog post or ordinary web page	14.104	Websites and blog posts
Scholarly journal article	14.67–14.86	Journal articles
Unsigned or unnamed author in any style	—	Source with no author

Common Mistakes

1. Forcing every news story into the bibliography

Chicago is not APA. APA 7 wants a reference-list entry for a newspaper article you cite. Chicago often wants only the note. Copying an APA habit into a history seminar produces a bibliography stuffed with one-off news briefs CMOS 14.96 would have left in the notes. See How to Cite a Newspaper Article in APA if you are switching styles, not if you are writing Chicago.

2. Inventing page numbers

If you did not see a page or section, omit it. A PDF from a campus database may show “A12” for one edition and nothing for another. CMOS would rather you skip the page than guess.

3. Treating a news site as a generic web page

A BBC or CNN story has a headline and a date. Cite it as news (14.89–14.98), not as an undated web page (14.104). Conversely, do not dress a newspaper homepage, a live-blog index, or a “most read” module up as an article.

4. Repeating the year in author-date

Wrong: Blum, Dani. 2023. “Are Flax Seeds All That?” New York Times, December 13, 2023. Right: Blum, Dani. 2023. “Are Flax Seeds All That?” New York Times, December 13. CMOS 14.89 dropped the repeated year.

5. Lowercasing The in prose, or keeping it inconsistently in citations

In a sentence, CMOS 18 wants The New York Times when that is the official name. In citations, follow the Quick Guide and drop The, then stay consistent. Do not write the New York Times in one paragraph and The New York Times in the next.

6. Pasting a tracking URL or a shortened link

Cite the stable article URL. Strip utm_ campaign tags. Do not substitute a shortened link. If the only available address is a database session string, name the database instead.

7. Citing a newspaper review as if it were the book

Jacobs reviewed Gabriel. If your sentence is about the reviewer’s claim, the source is Jacobs (CMOS 14.100). If your sentence is about Madonna’s career as Gabriel narrates it, the source is the book. Mixing those two is a different error from a missing italic.

A Practical Workflow

Before you leave the article

Copy the byline exactly as printed; if there is none, plan to start with the headline or the paper
Copy the headline in title-case capitalization; if it contains a mid-title period, you may change that period to a colon (CMOS 14.90)
Record the newspaper or news-site name, then decide whether a city in parentheses is required
Record month, day, and year, plus a time stamp if the page shows one and the story is being updated
Save the canonical URL or the database name, not the address bar after you clicked through campus proxy
Note the edition or section only if you actually saw it
Decide now whether this story is a passing note or a bibliography-level source
If the piece is a review, record “review of,” the book title, and the book’s author

Then format once in the system your course named. The Chicago generator and the newspaper citation generator will arrange the same fields. The one-page Chicago how-to is the short companion to this guide; the Chicago cheat sheet is the punctuation reminder. For MLA’s version of the same source, see How to Cite Newspapers and Magazines in MLA.

Generate the Chicago newspaper citation

Paste the article URL or enter the byline, headline, paper, and date. Switch between notes-bibliography and author-date without retyping the source.

Chicago citation generator Newspaper citation generator

Frequently Asked Questions

Do newspaper articles need a Chicago bibliography entry?: Not by default. CMOS 14.96 expects most newspaper and news-site stories to appear in notes or in parenthetical author-date citations. Add a bibliography or reference-list entry when the paper is a major source, when you cite it repeatedly, or when your instructor wants every source listed.
How do I cite an online newspaper article in Chicago style?: Give the author, headline, italicized newspaper, full date, and the article URL. CMOS 14.89: “To cite an article consulted online, include the URL or, if no suitable URL is available, the name of the database.” An access date is needed only when no publication date is available.
How do I cite a newspaper article with no author in Chicago style?: Do not use Anonymous. In a note, begin with the headline, or with the newspaper name if that is clearer. In a bibliography entry, put the newspaper title in the author position so the item sorts under the paper. The CMOS illustration is “In Texas, Ad Heats Up Race for Governor,” New York Times, July 30, 2002. The live Q&A now cites §14.97 for that rule.
Should I include a page number or section for a print newspaper?: Only if it helps and you actually saw it. CMOS lets you cite a page or section in a note and tells you to omit pages from the bibliography, because the same day’s paper may exist in several editions. An edition statement is more useful than a guessed page.
Is a BBC or CNN story cited as a website or as a newspaper?: As a newspaper or news site, under CMOS 14.89–14.98. Use the reporter if there is a byline, italicize the site (BBC News), give the date, and add the story URL. Reserve the website format (CMOS 14.104) for pages that are not dated news stories.
Do I write The New York Times or New York Times?: In running text, CMOS 18 §8.172 capitalizes and italicizes an official initial The: The New York Times. In citations, the manual still allows you to omit The, and the official Quick Guide examples use New York Times. Pick that citation form and keep it consistent.
Why does the author-date reference list omit the year next to December 13?: Because the year already appears after the author’s name. CMOS 18 §14.89, as the What’s New list restates it: “Author-date reference list entries that include a month and day (as for a newspaper article) do not need to repeat the year with the month and day.” Write Blum, Dani. 2023. “Are Flax Seeds All That?” New York Times, December 13.
How do I cite a reader comment on a news article?: In the text or in a note only. The Quick Guide’s notes illustration is Michelle (Reno), December 15, 2023, comment on Blum, “Flax Seeds.” The author-date illustration is (Michelle [Reno], December 15, 2023, comment on Blum 2023). Do not give the comment its own bibliography entry.
How do I cite a newspaper book review in Chicago?: Cite the reviewer, the review headline, the words review of, the book title, the book’s author, the newspaper, and the date. The live Quick Guide sample (CMOS 14.100) is Alexandra Jacobs, “The Muchness of Madonna,” review of Madonna: A Rebel Life, by Mary Gabriel, New York Times, October 8, 2023.
Does Turabian cite newspapers differently from Chicago?: No. Turabian 9th edition is the student handbook that implements Chicago. Use the same note or author-date pattern, including the notes-only option for ephemeral news. Your department may still require a full bibliography; that is a local rule, not a different citation system. See Turabian vs Chicago.
How do I cite a historical newspaper I read on microfilm or in a database?: Cite the newspaper as the source: author if named, headline, italicized paper, and the issue date. Then add the database name if that is how a reader will recover the edition (the Pegoraro / LexisNexis Academic pattern). A real Chronicling America case is the Evening Star (Washington, DC), October 16, 1918, page 6. Do not recast a print story as a website merely because you viewed a scan.

How to Cite a Newspaper Article in Chicago: Quick Answer

Official CMOS 18 Wording

Current Edition: Chicago 18th (2024)

Notes-Bibliography or Author-Date?

Notes-Bibliography Format

Do newspaper articles belong in the bibliography?

Online newspaper with a URL

Story from a library database

Print newspaper, with an edition

Author-Date Format

Newspaper Book Reviews (CMOS 14.100)

Unsigned Articles, Editorials, and Comments

News Sites, Wire Services, and “The” in the Title

City names and well-known papers

Updated stories and time stamps

Historical Newspapers as Primary Sources

Newspaper, Magazine, or Website?

Common Mistakes

1. Forcing every news story into the bibliography

2. Inventing page numbers

3. Treating a news site as a generic web page

4. Repeating the year in author-date

5. Lowercasing The in prose, or keeping it inconsistently in citations

6. Pasting a tracking URL or a shortened link

7. Citing a newspaper review as if it were the book

A Practical Workflow

Generate the Chicago newspaper citation

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Guides