Journalist and Librarian Roles, Information Technologies and Newsmaking

Abstract

Information retrieval technologies and databases are causing the work of newspaper reporters and librarians to merge and blend, this survey of 105 larger daily newspapers reveals. Among newspapers studied, 90% subscribed to at least one database, with a median number of four taken. In 60% of newsrooms equipped with personal computers, reporters searched public records electronically. This study also discovered that at least four of ten newspapers that sell information from their own electronic databases are making money.