We live in our inboxes and, according to a new survey from PWR New Media, the same holds true for journalists.
In a recent post on the public relation website Bulldog Reporter’s Daily Dog, Have You Modernized Your Media Relations Yet? New Survey Reveals Journalists are Primarily Reliant on Electronic Media — And the Need for Additional Assets Makes E-Releases Increasingly Relevant, PWR New Media’s survey of more than 200 journalists found that due to reduced newsroom staffing, reporters have been forced to take on extra responsibilities at their publications – especially online duties.
The survey asked the journalists about their news release preferences and new media usage. Participating journalists were from parts of the country and represented every media outlet, with print most heavily represented: 49% from newspaper and 27% from magazines.
A majority of journalist responded that new media has made their lives easier, allowing them more and quicker access to information and open up new opportunities for publishing and communicating. Others, however, said they’re “overwhelmed” and feel new media is making their jobs harder, even putting those jobs at risk.
“The advent of New Media has allowed our organization to do deeper background research,” commented one respondent. “and the inclusion of multimedia content on our website and in our e-newsletters has allowed us to provide our readership with a more in-depth look at stories than we were able to in the past with print or static web content alone.
More than 90% of the surveyed used search engines to find electronic press kits, making the use of online newsrooms an essential part of the journalists research tool: 54% of journalists saying they use them for stories. Journalist also depend on other social media outlets for research; Blogs (43%), social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook (42%), RSS feeds (20%) and podcasts and videocasts (17%).
Strong storytelling images were found to be king in press releases. Of the journalists surveyed, 79% were more likely to cover a news release if it included easy access to hi-resolution photos. They did not want high-resolution images to accompany releases because of inbox space; a low-resolution with link to a downloadable high-resolution was the preferred method of delivery.
Journalists, 82%, also wanted usable verbiage from releases along with relevant backgrounders, bios, and other related info. Email was the preferred method to receive releases. Social Media was found unreliable, and much of it’s content to be irrelevant.
To view a review by PWR New Media on thej ournalist findings click here.
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