Newspaper Journalists Use E-mail to Gather News

Newspaper Research Journal, Spring 2004 by Garrison, Bruce

A survey of daily newspaper reporters and editors finds a growing role for e-mail in the newsroom, but journalists expressed concern about the security and credibility of the information found in e-mail.

Electronic mail has become the most important tool of the Internet for journalists. Reavy observed that journalists are learning to take advantage of its speed, low cost, convenience, flexibility, power and security despite its equipment and computer literacy requirements, occasional language complications, and accessibility problems.1 E-mail has, in effect, replaced fax machines because it is faster, more reliable, personalized and does not require paper.2 Journalists have observed that e-mail can be used to answer routine questions and fact checking in an efficient manner. E-mail may often be the only method available to contact sources in remote locations or in distant time zones. Reluctant sources find the mask of e-mail to be appealing and reporters have found that difficultto-reach sources are often more accessible using e-mail. It has become valuable for international reporting and research.3 Some journalists take advantage of e-mail's capacity to contact multiple sources with a single message and they like the convenience of follow-up messages.4

Most news media authorities agree that e-mail is an effective way for public relations professionals to communicate with journalists.5 Journalists and public relations practitioners use these tools to monitor public opinion about current events and issues, to exchange information and views about news stories with other journalists and to identify potential sources.6 E-mail has been used for distribution of press releases, texts of speeches, tipsheets, announcements, graphics and press conference notifications. One advantage often noted is that e-mail is easier to target specific recipients who use e-mail and is convenient for distribution to lists of journalists.7 Journalists have responded to contacts by public relations representatives with mixed feelings, noting that they are both a benefit and a nuisance.8 Reporters frequently communicate with editors and colleagues through e-mail, even if these individuals are in the same building.9 News researchers use e-mail extensively, often in the same ways as reporters-to chase down information, confirm facts, monitor distribution lists and discussion groups, exchange information with other news researchers and subscribe to alert services.10 News organizations use e-mail to create interactive communication with audiences and they often value reader feedback on stories and submissions of letters to the editor.11

Concerns that journalists have traditionally offered about sources, such as verification of source identity and general credibility matters, have been expressed about e-mail.12 Anonymity of location, role of the sender and even whether the name of the sender is actually the individual sending the message canbe problematic for journalists. The absence of social context clues is often troubling to newspeople who must evaluate the quality of information before it is used. These matters often lead to forgery problems.13

Buckley determined contact with sources to be the most common use of e-mail. She also found that editors preferred to use e-mail to communicate with public relations representatives, to receive releases and to communicate with free-lance writers and readers.14 Trumbo and his colleagues studied e-mail use by science journalists in 1994 and 1999, reporting a dramatic increase in use and volume. Task functions, they noted, have grown at a faster rate than have social functions.15

Adoption of e-mail in newsrooms appeared to follow Rogers' classic diffusion of innovation model.16 Maier found more than half the newspapers represented in a study of newsroom computer trainers used e-mail in 1999, the second-largest use of computer-based newsgathering resources. He found that lack of time and technical skills, low levels of management support and the absence of training were the primary causes for not using computers.17

Use of new media technology has often been studied within the context of the uses and gratifications theoretical approach. Research based on this approach focuses on the various uses of a new or existing technology as well as the intended gratifications, psychological and otherwise, from that use. This framework for new media research has been applied to cable television, VCRs, cell phones, the Internet, World Wide Web and other new technologies and offers research advantages with its focus on audience members.18

Research Questions

Despite the growing body of literature and an evolving theoretical foundation for the uses and effects of new technologies, only a limited number of empirical studies have viewed e-mail as part of a news reporting strategy. Research has not provided much insight into journalists' perceptions of e-mail use in newsgathering and any related problems.

RQ1:

How often do journalists receive e-mail? How much e-mail do journalists receive?