Answer:
It depends of what kind of research you want to perform
Step-by-step explanation:
If you want to know how the fire affected these families through a neutral or technical way, a newspaper is the better choice. The news coverage of the Great Chicago Fire was enormous, so many papers, articles, essays, and leading articles would give you a sight about this event. However, if you want to perform a research-based into a personal point of view, then a journal is the better choice. Many family members, especially the young, had the tradition to write their feelings, frustrations and the leading happenings of day by day life in these journals. So, in the Great Chicago Fire, there's a lot of personal insight about this event on the journals of the period.