Blogging Joins “Old Media”, But Not the Way You Think

05/22/2008

Almost all traditional media outlets like magazines, newspapers and other media outlets now have a blog. It is often used as a place for its media personalities to showcase a more informal part of their character. Of these outlets, ninety-five of the top 100 newspapers in the U.S. have reporter blogs, and 58 of the top 100 magazines have one. Of these, newspaper reporter blogs are some of the most popular.

A study by Prospero Technologies in 2007 found that almost eighty percent (78%) of U.S. businesses had blogs for their editorial staff members, including other social media applications like RSS feeds, forums and customer reviews.

Although one would think that blogs are a great medium for breaking stories, research indicates that journalists and reporters don’t use them that way. They are far more apt to use them to connect with readers and keep tabs on the competition than to break stories. However, Rathergate (the high-profile 2005 scandal in which Dan Rather was booted from CBS) was an exception to this rule.

In a joint survey by PR Newswire, PR Week and Millward Brown, almost 58 percent of journalists said they used blogs primarily to get the pulse of their readership. A bit more than half (51%) used them to dig up how their competitors may be covering a story; less than a third (30%) used them professionally, i.e., to find sources.

Other studies have underscored the fact that blogs are not a “sourcing medium” for journalists. In fact, only about 4% of U.S. adults consider it a news source at all. In fact overall, blogs rated last as a news source. [Source: September 2007 Synovate survey for Marin Association of Realtors].

A 2007 Pew Research Center for the People and the Press produced practically the same results, with blogs ranking close to last as a source of news for U.S. adults.

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