Study: Over Half of Journalists Use Blogs

Posted on June 22, 2005

ClickZ.com reports that a new study has found that over 50% of journalists are using blogs.

Journalists mostly used blogs for finding story ideas (53 percent), researching and referencing facts (43 percent) and finding sources (36 percent). And 33 percent said they used blogs to uncover breaking news or scandals. Still, despite their reliance on blogs for reporting, only 1 percent of journalists found blogs credible, the study found.

How could 43% of the journalists using blogs say they were using blogs to research and reference facts and then only 1% of journalists say they find blogs credible? Something doesn't add up there. With so many journalists now tracking blogs it is essential that corporations also monitor the blogs to follow conversations about their business and industry. Steve Rubel, whose PR firm CooperKatz is cited in the article, said that there is no excuse for not monitoring blogs.

Gawker said that the news about journalists using blogs should come as no surprise to bloggers that regularly see their blog content show up later in print:

To those of you who are used to seeing nuggets of your internet goodness regularly reprinted in Page Six or reinterpreted in New York mag, the following will come as no surprise. For the rest of you innocent waifs, however, it�s time to realize that your trusted journalists rely on the most questionable of sources:

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