Journalists Warming to Social Media but not for PR pitches

The Society of New Communications Research (SNCR) and Middleberg Communications have announced the results of the 3rd Annual Survey of the Media in the Wired World. The study examined the effects and impact of social media, new media and communication technologies on modern journalism. Responses were received from 200 journalists, primarily in the US.

Even thought the pool of respondents is relatively small, the shift in attitude from journalists towards the benefits of social media for information gathering is clear.
Key findings include:

• 75% of journalists use Facebook as a tool to assist in reporting, a 6% increase from 2010 study.
• 69% of journalists use Twitter as a tool to assist in reporting, a 21% increase from 2010 study.
• 68% of journalists believe that reliance on social media has increased significantly.
• 95% of journalists believe that social media can be a reliable tool for sourcing stories.
• 69% of journalists use mobile technology to search, use social networking apps, and capture videos and pictures for reporting.

Despite this trend towards social media as a tool, it seems that it’s a party PR professionals are not invited to. When asked about relationship building, the figures show 53% still prefer receiving emails and 34% still prefer receiving information via phone. Only one 1% of respondents stated that they would like to be contacted via Twitter or a direct message via a social network.

This survey is more evidence to suggest that, while it’s vital to understand social media, it’s still critically important to keep more traditional lines of communication open with journalists.

For full survey results, visit http://www.slideshare.net/sncr/how-are-media-journalism-evolving.