The Oriella PR Network’s fourth annual Digital Journalism Study reveals that a large percentage of journalists now use digital and social media—such as blogs, Facebook and Twitter—to source and verify the stories they develop. The study polled 478 journalists from 15 countries, including the majority of Europe, Brazil and the U.S. Nearly half of respondents (47%) say they use Twitter to source new story angles. Over a third say they use Facebook (35%). Other results include:
• Blogs are a key element of this process, with 30% saying they use blogs they were familiar with, while 42% also drew from blogs they had not visited before.
• However, the study also validates the continued importance of the PR professional, with nearly two-thirds (62%) saying this is where they source stories, while 59% cite corporate spokespeople as sources.
• When it comes to validating stories already in progress, a third of those polled say they use Twitter; a quarter use Facebook; and a quarter use blogs. Brands and agencies still remain the dominant first port-of-call for this process though, with 61% using PR agencies for verification and 57% turning to corporate spokespeople.
Source: Oriella PR Network