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How Do Journalists Use The Internet?

By Andrew Redfern @ 6th July 2009 2:06 pm

Arketi Group, a high-tech business-to-business public relations and marketing firm, released its 2009 Arketi Web Watch Survey. The survey reveals 68 percent of journalists consider the impact of social media on BtoB reporting to be positive.

“While high-profile social media tools like blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are of interest to journalists, our findings indicate BtoB marketers should not discount tried-and-true Internet technology,” said Mike Neumeier, principal of Arketi. “Search engine optimization and building media-friendly websites site remain vital to reaching the business media.”

When asked how journalists use the Internet:

** 95 percent say search
** 92 percent say reading news
** 92 percent say emailing
** 89 percent say finding story ideas
** 87 percent say finding news sources
** 75 percent say reading blogs
** 64 percent say watching webinars
** 61 percent say watching YouTube
** 59 percent say social networks

Eighty-eight percent of journalists say they spend 20 or more hours a week on the Internet. Eighty-five percent have a LinkedIn account, 55 percent are on Facebook and 24 percent tweet on Twitter.

Ninety-two percent of journalists say they get story ideas from news releases, 85 percent turn to industry sources, and an equal number tap PR contacts. Twelve percent have used Twitter to find a source or story idea.

Corporate websites make a difference in how journalists view an organization, 80 percent say companies without a website are less credible.

The growth of “citizen journalism” has not gone unnoticed by most journalists, more than half (56 percent) of those surveyed rate the impact of citizen journalism as positive.

If you are interested in learning how people search the Internet? then contact Hit Search, Search Engine Optimisation and Pay Per Click experts, on 0845 643 9289.

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