A new survey from the Arketi Group finds that 84 percent of journalists say they would or already have used blogs as a main source or secondary source for articles.
Of those surveyed 100 percent said they depend on the Internet to get their job done. Twenty-five percent of journalists said blogs make their jobs easier and 18 percent said instant messaging makes their job easier.
“In an era exploding with user-generated content, social media, and Web 2.0, it’s important for those in business-to-business communications to understand how journalists are using technology when it comes to reporting news,” said Mike Neumeier, principal of Arketi Group.
Ninety-seven percent of journalists said they like using new technologies. Thirty percent said they use some type of instant messenger for professional communication.
Sixty percent of journalists spend more than 20 hours a week on the Internet. Journalists use the Internet in the following ways:
98 percent say reading news
97 percent say emailing
93 percent say finding news sources
89 percent say finding story ideas
72 percent say reading blogs
67 percent say watching webinars or webcasts
“Clearly this survey shows that business journalists are embracing user-generated content like blogs, webinars and podcasts as useful in their day-to-day reporting,” said Dr. Kaye Sweetser, APR, assistant professor of public relations at the University of Georgia’s Grady College.
“Savvy companies know this and are looking for ways to legitimately increase their participation in creating and growing online content using Web 2.0 methods.”
Ninety percent of journalists look to industry sources for story ideas, 90 percent also get story ideas from news releases and 89 percent use public relations contacts.
79% of journalists report finding story ideas on newswires
74% say from Web sites
72% say from other media outlets
54% report blogs spark story ideas
When it comes to working with unknown sources:
98% of journalists surveyed say they prefer emails
80% say phone contact with an unknown source is acceptable
93% of business journalists say they prefer to receive news releases via email from companies they don’t know, but are in industries they cover
Other sources of credible online information include:
International organizations (89 percent)
Government agencies (85 percent)
Corporate websites (85 percent)
PR professionals (77 percent)
Activist websites (41 percent)
Blogs (41 percent)
Politicians (35 percent)
Chat, message boards (18 percent)
Journalists find the most useful information on a corporate Web site to be contact information (97 percent), search capabilities (95 percent), press room/press kits (92 percent), company backgrounders (89 percent) and publication quality graphics or photos (66 percent).
