EMERYVILLE, CA: A new study by Bulldog Reporter and TEKgroup
International shows that reporters across all media are increasingly dependent on
blogs, RSS feeds, online newsrooms, and other Internet sources of information.
About 73% said they visit an online newsroom or corporate
Web site to conduct research at least once per week and 69% said they read one
or more blogs regularly.
“[Journalists] can research immediately and publish breaking
news,” said Ibrey Woodall, director of marketing and sales for TEKgroup
International. “There are more deadlines and they're tighter.”
PR professionals must be sure that they're sending
information that's pertinent to a journalist's beat and categorizing online
newsrooms for simple searches, Woodall adds.
37% say they receive RSS feeds for updates on blogs,
podcasts, and other news services. Among consumer electronics reporters, half
said they receive five or more RSS feeds.
“Going to a number of newsrooms per day is a lot of work,”
says Woodall. “That RSS feed will notify them, streamlining the process even
more.”
Nevertheless, 52% say they never seek out audio or visual
materials and 33% say they never visit Web sites like YouTube or Facebook.
However, this statistic is also beat-specific, with only 14% of entertainment
journalists saying they never go to social media sites.
The first-ever survey was conducted October 4-10 with data
collected from 2,046 respondents; 47% were editors or editorial staff and 35%
were reporters.
The study also found that 77% of respondents refer to local
papers for news, 62% rely on The New York
Times, and 50% turn to Google News.
