Information Seeking Behavior of Pakistani Newspaper Journalists

Abstract

This study, a replication of the one done in Kuwait, investigated the information seeking behavior of print journalists in Lahore, Pakistan, using a self-administered questionnaire. The 87 respondents, coming from 11 establishments, were mostly male. In terms of the type of information, they place emphasis on fact checking and general information. Information was obtained by using a wide variety of both informal and formal sources. ‘Human' sources were the primary informal sources used by the participants. Personal collections, daily news diaries, and news agency reports were considered high in terms of importance. The Internet and the ‘in-house electronic library of stories/reports generated by their colleagues' was very limited both in availability and use. The lack information searching skills is their top ranking problem. They consider these very important for their work and are willing to go through training if it were provided to them.