Nearly 90% of journalists always or often do research on the Internet when writing articles. Only 7.8 percent of them choose print sources when looking for news. The survey, prepared by the International Public Relations Network, confirms the trend of increased digitization of journalists’ work and gives tips on how to communicate with them in the online space.
The International Public Relations Network (IPRN) asked more than 800 journalists from 12 countries about their daily life in the digital world. The answers yielded concrete knowledge, including their sources of information or their most frequently used social media channels. When preparing their texts, journalists most often turn to other media articles (22.3 percent) and content posted on company websites (20 percent). Social media is also a popular source for them, with 91.1 percent using it in their work, with Facebook (28 percent), Twitter (26.8 percent) and Linkedin (17.4 percent) being the most explored channels in sourcing news. Interestingly, some journalists obtain news from Instagram and YouTube (11.5 and 8.4 percent, respectively), platforms associated with visual content.
In the case of YouTube, this may have to do with the increasing consumption of audio-oriented content on the channel. An example of this is podcasts, which are a great way to convey information.
An important signal for professionals in charge of corporate communications, in turn, is the data on the most common tool used by journalists to communicate with business leaders. Next to traditional e-mail, Linkedin plays the biggest role, which was indicated by 27 percent of respondents. This means that the leading figures of any corporation need to approach this communication channel with even more attention.
The survey was conducted in spring 2020 and included 828 journalists from Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Poland, Russia, Greece, Finland, Czech Republic, Estonia, Luxembourg and Panama. Respondents were selected to build a full picture of “Journalists in the digital era,” including a cross-section of all media types, the topics they cover and their work characteristics.
IPRN was founded in 1995 and has members worldwide, covering markets in North and South America, Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Far East, and Australia. The combined revenue of its member agencies is $5 billion, employing more than 7,000 professionals who provide local expertise and global reach to their clients.
