The extent to which Libyan university students rely on mobile phone journalism as a source of news during times of crisis A field study on students at the University of Benghazi

Abstract

This study (which is derived from a master’s thesis) aimed to identify the extent to which university students in Libya rely on mobile phone journalism during crises and the effects resulting from this reliance. It is a descriptive study in which the researcher used the survey method on a sample of Libyan university students at Benghazi University, amounting to (292) male and female students. The researcher applied the questionnaire to them as a tool for collecting data. The study reached several conclusions, most notably: young people rely on mobile journalism to a moderate degree during crises; the speed and ease of information dissemination and smooth interaction with news sources during crises are among the primary reasons for university students’ reliance on mobile journalism; and emotional impacts are the most prominent effect of relying on mobile journalism as a news source during crises.