The impact of the Internet as a news gathering tool among Maltese journalists

Abstract

In an attempt to find out the use of the Internet as a news gathering tool among Maltese journalists, 28 interviews were carried out. The study was also aimed at revealing information about journalists' proficiency when using search engines. The areas of the Internet dealt with in this study were e-mail, the World Wide Web, Newsgroups and Listservs, predominantly as providers of breaking news, accurate information, more in-depth information, previously unavailable information and sources, and stories otherwise not apparent. The first part of the interview was meant to better understand which of the above mentioned areas, Maltese journalists use, how frequently, their effect on traditional methods of news gathering, and journalists' level of satisfaction when using these areas. The second part of the interview dealt with journalists' use of search engines, online sources and information. Finally, journalists were asked to give an example of a story they produced using information gathered from the Internet. Results show that e-mail and the World Wide Web are used very frequently by respondents. While the majority of the journalists do not use newsgroups, the number of respondents using Listservs seems to be evenly spread out.