Facebook remains the go to channel for journalists

Journalists continue to recognise the value of their PR contacts claims a report from news and PR platform Mynewsdesk. Worldwide, nearly 70% of journalists say it’s important to keep a good, ongoing relationship with PR professionals, but this view changes depending on region. In the English-speaking markets (US, UK, CA, AUS, IR), over three-quarters (76%) say the relationship is important, whilst in Scandinavian countries 59% feel the same way.

Favourite channels

Facebook still rules the social world for most journalists. When asked about which social media channels they use to report or distribute their news stories on, 66% cite Facebook as a news-distribution channel worldwide, though the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) are less likely to use it; 51% from those countries choose it. Twitter is also popular, but again it has much lower usage rates in Scandinavian and DACH countries.

The online challenge

Print journalism continues to struggle, as the recent news about Miirror and Express losses demonstrates. One journalist who has learnt to navigate the new digital age is Martin Schibbye, chief editor of Blankspot. Blankspot is a crowdfunded digital-only platform for long-form journalism, reported from around the world. Discussing how journalism is evolving, Schibbye says: “The key insight to survive in a new media landscape is to understand that the readers know more than I do. We as journalists can’t be rigid about where our audience is or where they spend their time. We need to be where they are with our stories. All these different social media tools offer an excellent opportunity for me as a journalist to not only produce content, but to also be a conversation leader – to discuss my stories with my readers. The whole journalistic idea of being in an ivory tower and sending out messages – those days are gone.”

In terms of using new tools, Schibbye embraces them: “All these tools that make communications possible are something we need to use, and we need to use them not only to spread out content and get people to share our stories, but also use them for real communications and real one-to-one talks and conversations.”

Future is bright for PR

As journalism evolves, so does PR. Falling journalism budgets and constant evolving social platforms continue to open more windows for PR professionals to become more involved in creating and disseminating content that today’s audiences are looking for.

Methodology

Mynewsdesk conducted a quantitative survey of journalists, editors, freelancers, and communicators from the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Australia and Canada. The survey garnered 3,175 responses across two major categories: journalists (65%) and communicators (35%). Download the report here for more information on how journalists use social media