Information needs and Information seeking behaviour of journalists at the nation media group

Abstract

Identification of information needs and the seeking behaviour has a considerable effect on the work of journalists. For the journalists to come up with full-proof stories, they need to identify clearly the information they need to cover the subject at hand and the expectations of their audience regarding the subject matter. They then require to have a clear roadmap of how they will go about seeking the information. Although journalists seek information on a daily basis, the extent to which they methodically go about identifying information needs and how they go about seeking it is unclear. This study therefore, investigated how journalists at Nation Media Group go about identifying their information needs and how they proceed to seek it. The specific objectives of the research were: to find out the information needs of the journalists at Nation Media Group; their sources of information; the level of information searching and retrieval skills of the journalists; establish the challenges journalists encounter in pursuit of information and suggestions to mitigate the challenges. The study was based on Niedzwiedzka‟s model of information behaviour. The research used both qualitative and quantitative research methods. It used purposive sampling to get the sample size. Data was collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews and document review. It was analysed using descriptive content analysis supported by use of tables and charts. The study found that stories done by some journalists, especially the younger ones, lacked in-depth content and did not provide a full proof fallback position in times of litigation. The study also found that quite a sizeable number of journalists at the Nation Media Group was not adequately skilled in electronic information searching and retrieval. The other finding was that journalists encounter many challenges in the course of their duties. Whilst they stand as the middle ground among protagonists, each warring faction views them as supportive of the other side of the divide. The study concluded that some of the journalists need to relook at their modus operandi in terms of how they assess their information needs and how they go about gathering information to back up their stories and satisfy those needs. The research recommends that journalists should undergo periodic refresher courses on information searching and retrieval as well as on house style, editorial policy, defamation, slander and the right of privacy for information sources. The study also recommends that journalists and librarians should create a rapport for ease of information dissemination. It further recommends that new journalists should go through an in-depth induction in the use of the in-house library to maximize on its potential