Searching for teaching open source... no results

This is a complaint.
As part of one of my assignments in writing a white paper, I had to find a couple of sources of each of these types of sources:

1. reputable sources like NY Times, Washing Post, The Economist
2. trade publications - I used this list of trade magazines
3. journal articles

And these are my conclusions:

• reputable sources have OK search engines but did not find the results I was looking for
  
• trade publications have search engines that just threw at me whatever they would feel like (Yes, websites have desires and feelings)
• journals - I love journals, they are structured, well categorized, labeled and with a lot of meta data regarding other sources

I am really dissapointed with the search engines withing portals that I have found and with the educational system that makes everyone do the same assignments even if the topic of research that I have chosen does not come out of standard sources.

It feels that I have to cage my topic even if it looses steam by doing it...