Professors use a lot of different phrases to describe a specific set of publications. Whether they call it Academic or Scholarly, what they frequently mean is that they want you to find articles by researchers that have been published in a peer-reviewed journal. These articles are mainly written by people who work or teach (and thus are considered "scholars") in their respective fields and contain original research on very specific topics within their field.
In addition to the research-based articles published in peer-reviewed journals, there is a lot of work that is published by scholars in other types of publications. Professionals might present at a conference and have their presentation written up in conference proceedings, write a chapter in a book on a topic that is edited and collected by other scholars, or even write an editorial for the publication they edit. While these are not always based on original research or peer-reviewed they are typically outstanding sources.
Often it is simply more accessible to read the thoughts on a topic from someone who is either educated in the field or from a publication dedicated to a specific area. You may also need information about current events. This is where magazines, newspapers, and websites start to show some promise as resources since they are able to publish information more quickly than it would appear in more formal literature. You still want to be sure you are getting information from an appropriately scholarly source that provides in-depth discussion.
There's a lot of things published on a regular basis that serve no purpose other than to earn somebody money. While there may be information that might be provided in the process of making, it's really important to examine why something is being published and where it is being published and who is most likely to benefit from this information being shared. A lot of times you'll find works like this surrounded by advertisements, opinion pieces, and links to other information that is in no way related to your research. This type of source, unfortunately, makes up the majority of the internet.
References are typically nonexistent. You are more likely to find a link to buy something. (ex. Link to "Shop our favorites for 70% off)
Just because it exists, doesn't mean you should use it for research. You might find something interesting, entertaining, or questionable in these types of sources, but that's certainly not where you should stop. These types of sources might give you ideas for topics to research but are not worthy of use for a college-level research paper.