Use of Mobile Phones by Journalists in Borno State, Nigeria

ICTs are generally perceived as basic tools for making and sustaining relevance in modern society. The unprecedented impact has left every profession exploring ways to appropriately use the various ICTs in their various professional endeavours. Journalists like other professionals have found mobile phones and other ICTs relevant for their professional practices of information gathering, processing and dissemination..The study looks at the use of mobile phone in Journalistic practice. It focuses on journalists in Borno State. This study made use of survey research method and relied on responses from a sample of journalists in Maiduguri. The study showed that Journalists in Borno state use the mobile phone for information gathering and it is a reliable tool in this regard but there are challenges which include poor network and epileptic services by operators, high cost of sophisticated mobile phone suitable for journalistic practices among others. The study concludes that Journalists can only maximize the use of this new medium, when measures are taken to address the challenges they face in mobile phone usage for their journalistic practices. This calls for boosting telecommunication infrastructural base of the country, cut down tariffs and make 3G phones and services available and affordable. Key Words: Journalistic Practices, Information and Communication Technologies, Mobile Phone. JCMRJournal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 1, No. 2, October 2009, 105 – 114. About the authors *Joseph Wilson is a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri Borno State, Nigeria. **Nuhu Diraso Gapsiso is a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri Borno State, Nigeria. Full Article Words: 5,236 Pages: 10 To access full article, click on download. Article Citation Wilson, J. & Gapsiso, N. D. (2009): Use of mobile phones by journalists in Borno State, Nigeria. Journal of Communication and Media Research 1(2): 105 – 114.