A "general" article differs from a scholarly one in a number of ways. It could be written by a journalist, rather than a scholar, and published in a newspaper or magazine. Most journalism articles are not subjected to "peer review". (See the PowerPoint for a detailed explanation.)
Articles from trade and professional journals, general-circulation magazines, newspapers, or, today, from blogs or other web sources, are not considered scholarly sources.
This does not mean you can't use them in your essays; it merely means that you, as a researcher, have to distinguish between the scholarly and the non-scholarly article.
There is a link from the Research Databases page to a separate page just for newspapers.
Some of the best sources are
Ethnic NewsWatch & ENW: A History
Full-text articles from newspapers, magazines and journals of ethnic communities in the United States. In several languages, 1965-present.
Alt-PressWatch
Several hundred U.S. alternative newsweeklies, covering issues like the environment, labor, public policy, and the peace movement, 1992-present.
Historical New York Times
The entire New York Times, searchable, in image files, from 1851 to three years ago.
Searchable full-text of the financial paper of record in two databases. Current – 1985 to present. Archive from 1889-1990.
Wall Street Journal Archive
Searchable full text of the backfile of the financial paper of record, 1889-1990.
Readers' Guide Abstracts
Citations and abstracts for articles from popular periodicals from the U.S. and Canada, 1983-present.
Readers' Guide Retrospective
Citations to articles in 600 popular U.S. magazines, 1890-1982.