Newspaper reports have nearly always been edited and often only provide an outline of the events. Note that though old newspapers can be useful, they are not normally regarded as reliable sources. However, the information from old newspapers tells us about the feelings and actions of other (common) people of the country.

On the other hand, one would expect police reports to be more detailed but the information in police reports tells us only about what officials thought, what they were interested in and what they wished to preserve for posterity.