media landscape survey - deirdre breakenridge...the media landscape study was a joint effort between...
TRANSCRIPT
A JOINT PROJECT BY
MEDIA LANDSCAPE SURVEY
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The Media Landscape Study survey provided industry insight from more than 1,400 editors, reporters, producers, writers and
others in various media outlets from around the country. Among the topics that respondents gave their view on were the role of
social media in originating and covering a story, the process of obtaining and reporting the news, receiving pitches and releases
from PR professionals, and how the role of a reporter will evolve in the near future.
The survey provided significant findings concerning the journalism industry as a whole and was also segmented by national,
local, and industry-specific information for further analysis. According to respondents, the majority reported using social media
to monitor a topic when working on a story with most of them doing so most often before noon. Reporters use the social media
outlet, Twitter, most frequently when monitoring a topic. Facebook follows Twitter as a resource, but to a lesser degree.
An overwhelming majority also believes that social media will continue to affect their role as reporters, first and foremost by
reporters using it to increase publications’ and their own individual following, as well as using social media increasingly to
source story ideas and monitor topics.
Reporters identified changes they believe that will affect the industry, including that more and more reporting will go online and
more journalists will use multi-media to report on the story. Additionally, a large segment of reporters are concerned about job
security and the decline in the quality of reporting.
The findings also indicate that there is a stark difference amongst the different industries represented and their commitment
and usage of social media in their reporting. The study found that the top three industries that use social media the most were
general news, science & technology, and finance, while the three industries that use social media the least are transportation,
manufacturing and medical.
The findings from the study will be used by Flagler College and Dalton Agency to better serve the public’s understanding of how
social media is utilized in reporting and how PR professionals interact with reporters. These findings and subsequent analysis
will be incorporated into the communication curriculum and best work practices by both organizations.
METHODOLOGY
The Media Landscape Study was a joint effort between Flagler College and the Dalton Agency and was administered by a
student conducting an independent study over a period of two semesters, Fall 2012 and Spring 2013. The survey, which was
administered between November 14, 2012 and December 31, 2012, was a combination of close- and open-ended questions,
and was distributed via email with the actual survey instrument being hosted online. The survey had a total of 1,453 completions
over the course of time it was open. It was analyzed during the Spring 2013 semester.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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Email pitches are the most prevalent form of
providing story ideas to reporters.
PR professionals are 7 times more likely to
submit a story idea by email than by calling.
Likewise, email is by far the most favored
method reporters prefer to receive story
ideas, outweighing all other methods by
more than 10% including phone calls, wire
services, social media and traditional mail.
While more reporters find value from press
releases than do not, it truly depends on
several variables, including well targeted to
reporter’s focus, timeliness and writing quality.
However, the largest issues are that 40%
of reporters do not trust press releases and
36% find them to be poorly written.
KEY FINDINGS
0 200 400 600 800 1000
59%
9%
8%
>1%
Emails
Social Media/Wire Svcs.
Phone Calls/Text Msgs.
Letters
0 200 400 600 800 1000
63%
5%
3.5%
>1%
Emails
Phone Calls/Text Msgs.
Social Media/Wire Svcs.
Letters
0 10 20 30 40 50
40%
36%
24.5%
Do Not Trust Them
Poorly Written
Arrived Too Late
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The main function that reporters use press
releases for is to extrapolate the main
idea and/or supporting facts to use when
working on a story.
10% of reporters use press release for
stories and edit about half of the content.
Only 3% of reporters run a press release as
a story with minimal changes.
Corporate online media rooms are
predominantly used by reporters to
gain background information.
Other purposes of online media rooms
include finding factual information and
multimedia elements.
18% of reporters surveyed stated that they
do not use corporate media rooms
The role of a reporter is going to change
in the next three years. According to
respondents, 50% believe that the majority
of news reporting would be moved online.
Additionally, respondents believe that
there would be an increase in multi-media
reporting and an increase in reporter’s use
of social media as part of their job.
Another segment, nearly 50%, are
concerned about job security, the decline
in quality of reporting, and the general
overhaul of the mediums in which news
is output.
KEY FINDINGS
0 200 400 600 800 1000
61%
10%
3%
I just extrapolate the main idea and/or facts
I use it for my story andrevise about half of it
I use it for my story and make minimal changes
0 200 400 600
18%
17%
11%
Background/Additional info
I have never used online media rooms
Check factual info
Obtain multimedia to support story
Gain story ideas 4.5%
41%
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Reporters use the social channels,
Twitter and Facebook (in that order) most
prevalently to develop story ideas.
Blogs and YouTube are also used to develop
story ideas, but less frequently than Twitter
and Facebook.
The majority of respondents, 62%, use
social media to monitor a topic when
working on a story either frequently or
sometimes.
38% of respondents either use social media
infrequently or do not use it all to monitor a
story topic.
Respondents that do use social media to
monitor a topic pay the most attention in the
morning hours and less in the afternoon.
KEY FINDINGS
0 10 20 30 40 50
30%
29%
28%
12%
Blogs
YouTube
0 200 400 600
23%
21%
16%
Sometimes
Frequently
Very Little
I do not use social mediato monitor a topic
38%
0 200 400 600
63%
53%
49%
7am-11am
11am-2pm
2pm-5pm
5pm-8pm
8pm-11pm
11pm-2am
2am-5am
5am-7am
29%
22%
6%
3%
7%
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Social media will continue to affect the role
of a reporter. More than 70% of respondents
believe that social media’s biggest impact will
be in its use to gain additional followers of
specific news outlets.
More than 57% of respondents believe
reporters will use social media to follow more
story topics.
More than 43% of respondents believe
reporters will use social media to source more
story ideas.
When comparing the different industry
verticals that reporters fall into, the top
three industries that use social media the
most to monitor a topic are: general news,
science and technology and finance.
The industry verticals whose reporters use
social media the least are transportation,
manufacturing and medical.
While 39% of respondents stated that
having a positive relationship with a PR
professional does not affect their covering
of a story, 53% of respondents stated that
the relationship with the PR professional
does affect their decision to cover a story.
The primary reason for this is affecting the
likelihood is because they are more likely to
open an email and pay attention to a pitch
from a PR professional. To a lesser degree,
respondents also find the information more
credible from someone with whom they
have a positive relationship.
KEY FINDINGS
0 200 400 600 800 1000
70%
57%
43%
18%
Use social media to follow create a larger following for my media outlet
Use social media to follow more topics
Use social media to sourcemore story ideas
Use social media more to interact with PR professionals (more so than other
communication channels)
0 200 400 600 800 1000
52%
39%
Yes
No
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Reporters overwhelmingly find
receiving pitches that are outside of
their beat to be the most annoying
behavior by PR professionals.
Being repeatedly pitched the same
story and receiving poorly written
releases were the second and third
most annoying behavior, but to a
much less degree.
KEY FINDINGS
0 200 400 600
47%
17%
10%
Receiving pitches that are outside of my beat
Being repeatedly pitched the same story
Poor grammar and spelling in email
Lack of personalization
Flattery
Being repeatedly pitched by the same person
4.5%
2.5%
1.5%
800