How to Cite a Newspaper in MLA | Format & Examples
To cite a newspaper article in MLA style, list the author, title, name of the newspaper, date of publication, and URL (for online articles) or page number (for print articles). Use the interactive example below to explore the format.
You can also use Scribbr’s free MLA Citation Generator to effortlessly create MLA citations for newspaper articles.
Page numbers in newspaper citations
In your Works Cited entry, always include page numbers when available. Use “p.” for a single page or “pp.” for multiple pages. Page numbers in newspapers are often written with letters, e.g. “D3”; make sure to include the letters if present.
Use an en dash for a range of consecutive pages (e.g. “pp. 4–6”). For articles that appear on non-consecutive pages (e.g. starting on the first page but continued on the sixth), MLA recommends just writing the first page number followed by a plus sign.
- pp. 1, 6–8
- pp. 1+
In an in-text citation, only add a page number if the article extends across multiple pages. If the article is entirely on one page, the page number is already specified in the Works Cited, so you just write the author’s last name in your in-text citation.
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Citing a newspaper from a database
To cite a newspaper article you accessed through a database, just include the usual information for a print newspaper, followed by the name of the database in italics.
MLA format | Author last name, First name. “Article Title.” Newspaper Name, Day Month Year, p. Page number. Database Name. |
---|---|
MLA Works Cited entry | “Hoover Favors Stand in Pacific.” The Washington Observer, 3 Jan. 1950, pp. 1+. Google News Archive. |
MLA in-text citation | (“Hoover” 2) |
Note that a shortened version of the title is used in the in-text citation, since no author is listed for the article in this case.
Citing local newspapers
When citing a local newspaper (one that is not published nationally or internationally), it’s sometimes necessary to clarify the publication you mean by including the city name in square brackets after the name of the newspaper. You don’t need to do this if the city is already part of the newspaper name.
- Dallas Observer [Dallas]
- Dallas Observer
- The Gazette
- The Gazette [Montreal]
Frequently asked questions about MLA citations
Cite this Scribbr article
If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.
Caulfield, J. (2024, March 05). How to Cite a Newspaper in MLA | Format & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved May 21, 2025, from https://www.scribbr.com/mla/newspaper-citation/