2024- 2025 SPIRaL Cohort

The Research: Information Challenges Experienced by Student Journalists

In the 2024-25, the SPIRaL team studied how student journalists writing for official student newspapers in the United States perceive information challenges affecting the field of journalism. Recognizing that much of the existing research on the future of journalism was coming from the perspective of experienced, professional journalists, the SPIRaL team sought to understand how up and coming journalists perceived their future work and what kinds of information challenges they experienced in their current work at university newspapers.

The team interviewed student journalists from Big Ten universities about their experiences as journalists and found three major themes: Balancing Logistical Issues and Balanced Reporting, Negotiating a Relationship with an Audience, and Navigating Campus Contexts.

Learn more about the key findings from the team’s executive summary of their study.

This research may help identify new approaches for Libraries faculty to partner with journalists on information literacy efforts that reflect the experiences of emerging journalists and their perspectives on the future of the profession.