How Reporters Use Blogs and Social Media

The 2008 Journalist Survey on Media Relations Practices, a recent study conducted by Bulldog Reporter and TEKgroup International, offers insights into how journalists use online newsrooms, blogs, RSS and social media. Knowing how journalists use these resources can help guide PR and media relations efforts.

The survey includes responses from 2,386 journalists; 48% were editors or editorial staff and 34% reporters or writers.

Some valuable insights:

• Half of journalists report visiting a corporate website or online newsroom at least once a week; they complain about not being able to find contact information for a media representative or to find contact information for those representatives.


• Journalists use blogs, with almost 75% saying that they read “one or more blogs to keep up with the subject matter they cover.” About 29% read five or more blogs to keep up with their beat.


• About three-fourths of journalists use social media to research stories. “Almost 38% of journalists now say they visit a social media site at least once a week as part of their reporting. Only 25% say they don’t use social media.


• “An overwhelming majority of journalists—74.8%—prefer to receive information about corporate, not-for-profit and government news by email. Commercial newswires were a distant second choice, with only 8.1% of respondents indicating that preference.”

Posted by Michael Stoner
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