Abstract:
This research study has examined the relationship between the demographic predictors (i.e.
gender, age and institution) and the news consumption habits of Media Studies’ undergraduate
students from the four highly ranked universities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi having Mass
Communication/Media Studies Department. The study has analyzed the news consumption
habits of students with respect to their needs’ fulfillment through the lens of Uses and
Gratification Theory postulates. The researcher has conducted a survey based on purposive
sampling from October 7th, 2018 to December 28th, 2018. A total of 277 respondents were
surveyed through simple random sampling technique. After conducting descriptive statistics,
crosstabulations and categorical analysis of variables, our results have shown that there is a
significant relationship of gender with the several news consumption patterns (including
platforms, outlets, types, formats and sources of news) while age has been found as least
affecting predictor. The results have shown that students of Media Studies have a strong
inclination towards social media news feed specifically Instagram and Facebook and online news
sources which is a filtered and highly selective version of news stories. The study contributes to
the existing literature by classifying the demographic predictors which can affect the news
consumption habits among students and provide support for better insight of modern-day news
media audiences.
