Recent history has been extraordinarily difficult for U.S. and foreign car makers, as they’ve been hit by everything from the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression to a tsunami in Japan. In response to consumer concerns about operating costs, the 2012 Detroit Auto show featured many models with higher gas mileage, but there was also plenty of choice for those still in the market for bigger and more powerful vehicles.

On April 20, 2010, BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded, leading to the largest oil spill in world history — more than five million barrels. While much of the surface oil dispersed faster than expected after the well was capped in July, undersea plumes linger, as do the spill’s impacts on the environment and human health.

The issue: Since penicillin was introduced in the 1940s, antibiotics have saved countless lives. But we have used these drugs so much for so long that the diseases they once killed have adapted and developed immunity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 23,000 Americans now die each year from infections by bacteria that are impervious to antibiotics.

The issue: Gaps in student achievement often fit familiar patterns. Children from wealthy families generally perform better on tests than students from poorer families; white students tend to do better than black or Hispanic students.

College campuses are where many great journalists first were bitten by the investigative reporting “bug” and first experienced the thrills, and challenges, of digging into a complex story. Nothing beats talking to students, faculty, staff and members of surrounding communities, of course. But online databases and sources can provide context and data, and generate new stories and fresh angles.

Curated below are some relatively recent research-based reports, studies, papers and essays, as well as forthcoming projects, that may provide useful perspective for journalism educators. It’s tough to keep up with everything, and so we’ve gone back over the past year or so and spotlighted some interesting arguments and insights about the discipline and industry.