Using Social Media to Find New Stories

By Deborah Rogell 

An annual global survey of journalists by public relations firm Oriella finds that more than half use social media as a source of story ideas, and half use blogs to find ideas.   

Journalists in America rates were higher -- 62 percent said they draw news from trusted sources on Twitter or Facebook, while 64 percent rely on blogs as a source of story ideas. But, journalists are less inclined to use information from an unfamiliar social media user or blog.

 “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.”  

A study by Brunswick Research found that over two-thirds of journalists have written a story that came from social media. Journalists cite Twitter as a good source of experts and blogs as the foundation for their stories.Study focused on the trends in the use of social media by journalists.

 

 Key findings include:

• Social media is increasing as an influential source of information used by journalists.
• Social media has a positive effect on the quality of journalism, including the angle and content of stories.
• Nine out of 10 journalists have used social media to investigate an issue.
• Twitter provides the most valuable information sources, while blogs most often provide the foundation for the story.
• North American journalists use and believe in social media more so that journalists elsewhere.

Sources:

Sonderman, J. (2012, June 21). Most journalists now get story ideas from social media sources, survey says. Poynter. Retrieved from http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/178070/most-journalists-now-get-story-ideas-from-social-media-sources-survey-says/

mRELEVANCE. (2012, March 26). Journalists Use Social Media to Find Stories. mRELEVANCE. Retrieved from http://marketingrelevance.com/03/journalists-use-social-media-to-find-stories/