Three-quarters of UK journalists are using blogs or social media websites to source news stories, according to a new study.
In a worldwide poll of journalists conducted by Brands2life called ‘The Oriella Digital Journalism Study’, exactly three out of every four UK journalists said that they use websites like Facebook or Twitter to find new stories or verify existing leads. This is way above the global average of 52 per cent.
According to journalism.co.uk, the authority of the source remains extremely important to journalists using digital sources. Only half of those who use social media websites said they would use a source they were unfamiliar with.
44 per cent of those questioned said that they would be happy to use blog content as a news source, although this figure again halved to 22 per cent if the blog was not immediately familiar.
The proportion of journalists using blogs and social media content to assist them in their jobs was much higher than in the previous year.
A conclusion by Brands2life posted on oriellaprnetwork.com stated: “Journalists are working harder, but they’re also working smarter – not taking canned stories in the form of press releases at face value, but using a wider range of assets to convey their narratives.”
