有別於傳統新聞學研究探討記者與消息來源的互動關係，因礙於研究對象的預設限制，因而相關研究大多僅探討記者如何與消息來源培養、鞏固、強化及修補關係，對於記者如何尋覓至消息來源卻少有著墨。有鑑於此，本研究試圖跳脫以往僅以政治人物或公關人員作為研究對象，乃以低社會能見度之小人物作為消息來源，試以探究記者在尋找小人物消息來源的過程中，如何運用環境周遭的物質工具及人際關係網絡等中介資源以達成任務。 透過深度訪談及參與觀察方式，本研究發現記者尋找小人物消息來源乃是一種富涵新聞機構性的行為，在尋人初始階段，記者乃會對於尋找何種類型的小人物存有特定假設；然而，假設的形成並非全然由表徵系統進行控制，而是一循環建構的過程；另一方面，在新聞常規的作用之下，本研究發現小人物新聞乃需與其他新聞類型進行版面競爭，此時，在突發新聞不可獨漏的情況下，又需兼顧因時事議題所發展的小人物專題，記者乃會利用傳播或資訊科技工具來縮短一般新聞的處理時間，進而延長小人物新聞資訊素材的蒐集時間；再者，新聞常規亦會造成小人物新聞遺漏的現象產生，而記者亦會適時選擇特定傳播或資訊科技工具以彌補小人物新聞遺漏的缺口。 除此之外，人際關係網絡更是記者尋人不可或缺的資源之一。本研究發現記者在選擇資訊中間人時，乃會依據雙方之間的關係特質，以形成各式不同策略來與資訊中間人應對，藉以獲取尋人線索或相關資訊素材，尤其記者乃會利用與自身擁有弱連結關係的資訊中間人，作為新資訊擷取與流通的橋樑，而利用強連結關係作為與這些弱連結關係資源交換的籌碼。 綜言之，記者尋人行為乃是一種「配置型智能」的展現，將原先大腦所需承擔的認知負荷交由環境中各式中介資源分散處理；另一方面，記者尋人行為更加蘊含「行動中思考」之過程，任何中介資源的使用，乃是端視記者當下所處情境，是否賦予記者視見中介資源之功能性用途。由此可知，記者尋人的知識即是展現在記者審時度勢的功夫上，以適時運用環境周遭的中介資源，協助解決任務、尋覓至小人物消息來源。 / As previous studies have emphasized on journalist-source relationship for a long time, they provide a jumping-off point for this study to divert from them. In terms of traditional research subjects (politicians and public relations), most of those studies mainly focus on how journalists develop, cement, augment and repair mutual relationship with their sources. However, the question of how journalists seek for their sources has been rarely discussed. Therefore, this study attempts to turn to low-status sources (i.e. ordinary people) and examine how journalists manipulate artifacts and social networks to seek for them. This study conducted by in-depth interview and participant observation shows that the institutionalization of newspapers makes big impacts on journalists’ people-seeking behavior. At the first phase, journalists will be cultivated to form specific hypotheses for the type of sources they are seeking for. Second, it may cause ordinary people news necessary to compete with other news genres for news pages. Finally, it may also cause some of ordinary people news stories to be omitted. However, even though journalists’ people-seeking behavior is constricted to the social structure, they are still able to exercise their agency in the use of information and communication technology to extend the time of newsgathering and to ensure all potential ordinary people news will be found. Moreover, those hypotheses for the people they are seeking for are not totally controlled by journalists’ representational systems either but constituted recursively. In addition, social networks are also one of indispensable resources for journalists’ people-seeking behavior. According to research results, the factor that impacts journalists on deciding which intermediary they will ask help for is based on mutual relational characteristics. Journalists will use weak ties to access new information and strong ties as a bargain chip to negotiate with weak ties for resource exchange. In sum, during the process of people-seeking, journalists’ cognitive functions will be distributed and offloaded to the mediated resources in the situation in a cooperative way to ease the cognitive burden imposed on their brains. In addition, the usage of mediated resources also depends on the situation journalists stay in, which enables them to perceive the function of each mediated resource. All in all, journalists’ knowledge of people-seeking behavior rests on how they consider the situation and manipulate mediated resources properly to solve their tasks.