Investigation of Online News Consumption Habits and Information Overload Among Civil Servants in Abuja

The digital information environment has created conditions for information overload that affect the news consumption behaviour and cognitive wellbeing of knowledge workers in Nigeria's administrative capital. This study investigated online news consumption habits and perceptions of information overload among civil servants at selected federal ministries in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 240 civil servants across Grades 7 to 14, selected through systematic sampling from three ministries. A structured questionnaire assessed news platform preferences, daily news consumption time, news-seeking motivations, and a validated information overload scale adapted for the Nigerian digital media context. Results indicated that respondents consumed news across an average of 4.2 digital platforms daily, with WhatsApp news groups (82.5 percent), news apps (64.2 percent), and Twitter/X (48.3 percent) as the dominant channels. Perceived information overload was reported by 67.1 percent of respondents, with 43.8 percent describing it as moderately to severely impairing their ability to make informed judgments about current events. Years of service positively correlated with information overload perception (r = 0.38; p < 0.01). Strategies for managing overload included muting WhatsApp groups (68.3 percent) and limiting news checks to scheduled periods (41.7 percent). The study concludes that information overload is a significant professional challenge for Abuja civil servants and recommends workplace digital literacy programmes addressing news curation and credibility assessment skills. Keywords: online news, information overload, civil servants, Abuja, digital media