Citation, Documentation of Sources

Q. When citing an article from a news website like Vox or BBC News, would you cite it as a newspaper article or as website content?

A. The distinction between a website for a news organization like Vox Media or BBC News, on the one hand, and a website for a traditional newspaper like the New York Times or the Guardian, on the other, has all but disappeared. In source citations, Chicago treats them the same, styling the name of the news website in italics as if it were a traditional newspaper:

1. Terry Nguyen, “Colleges Say Campuses Can Reopen Safely. Students and Faculty Aren’t Convinced,” Vox, June 26, 2020, https://www.vox.com/the-goods/21303102/college-reopening-fall-coronavirus-students-faculty-worry.

2. “Coronavirus: US Hits Record High in Daily Cases,” BBC News, June 26, 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53191287.

3. Jack Schneider, “Pass-Fail Raises the Question: What’s the Point of Grades?,” New York Times, June 25, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/25/opinion/coronavirus-school-grades.html.

Related mentions of Vox and BBC News in the text would also be italicized, though this choice may depend on context. As in the opening sentence of this answer, regular text would be appropriate when referring to a news organization as a company rather than as a publisher—a stylistic distinction that would also extend to the New York Times Company (see also CMOS 8.172). Regular text should also be preferred for news services such as Reuters and the Associated Press (see CMOS 14.200).

[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]