Oriella | Journalism.co.uk
An annual global survey of journalists by public relations firm Oriella finds that more than half now use social media as a source of story ideas, and nearly half use blogs to find angles and ideas.
Among journalists in North America, the rates were even higher — 62 percent said they draw news from trusted sources on Twitter or Facebook, while 64 percent rely on well-known blogs as a source of story ideas. However, journalists said they were much less inclined to use information from an unfamiliar social media user or blog.
The study’s findings are significant, but so is its margin of error: It’s based on an online survey of 613 journalists in 16 countries, with likely fewer than 100 respondents in the U.S. and Canada. Another survey in 2010 reached similar conclusions about reporters’ reliance on blogs and social media:
89 percent [of journalists] said they look to blogs for story research, 65 percent go to social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, while 52 percent check out what’s happening on Twitter and other microblogging sites.
Earlier: 10 ways journalists can use Twitter before, during and after reporting a story (Poynter) | Social media tool aims to help journalists find undiscovered, reliable sources on Twitter (Poynter) | 15% of Americans now use Twitter (Poynter)
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