Assessing the Active Component of Information-Seeking

Unlike most diffusion studies that trace how audiences passively learn about major news—often catastrophic events—this study sought to find when and how individuals actively seek news information. In a telephone survey, most people claimed to engage in active information-seeking several times a week. This was greatest for local weather information. None of the remaining 12 topics assessed was sought, on average, more than every other day. Information-seeking behaviors generally were limited to the media normally used for information and surveillance functions.