I came across a survey entitled “Key Findings From the 2009 Middleberg / SNCR Survey of Media in the Wired World” today courtesy of Esprit Blog. The survey was a web-based questionnaire distributed to 341 journalists from around the world, and mostly focused on their perceptions of ‘the internet.’ Obviously ‘the internet’ is a big term; the survey mostly focused on multimedia content and social networking distribution.
Here’s some quick background info I pulled from the PDF on who was actually surveyed.
More than 30 percent stated their role as editor (including “online editor”); 38 percent were reporters (including freelance reporters); others were producers and publishers. Nearly half of all respondents, 49 percent, work within newspaper or magazine organizations; more than 20 percent work for online media-only organizations; and 13 percent work for broadcasters (i.e., radio and television).
Now let’s get down to the fun stuff! Here are the main points the survey dug out:
- Nearly 70 percent of journalists are using social networking sites
- 48 percent are using Twitter or other microblogging sites and tools, a 25% increase since 2008
- 66 percent are using blogs
- 48 percent are using online video
- 25 percent are using podcasts
- More than 90 percent of journalists agree that new media and communications tools and technologies are enhancing journalism to some extent
- Nearly 80 percent of respondents agreed that new media and communications technologies allow them to report with greater accuracy
- 80 percent of journalists believe that bloggers have become important opinion shapers in the 21st century and many are increasingly incorporating citizen-generated media into their reporting.
I put together this quick chart to give some context to the numbers. It compares the results of the survey (conducted in 2009) with the best data I could gather off Google for related American consumption. Most of the ‘public’ column is data collected in 2008.
| Journalists | American Public | |
| Use Social Networking | 70% | 48% |
| Use Twitter | 48% | 11% |
| Read Blogs | 66% | 40% |
| View Online Video | 48% | 30% |
| Listen To Podcasts | 25% | 20% |
The numbers mostly speak for themselves, and aren’t too surprising. Journalists are well aware of the trends that can (and are) dictating the future of their business. Journalists are largely becoming involved with digital technologies as both consumers and producers.
I would have liked to see the ‘podcast/video/blog’ question broken down a little bit more. What percentage of journalists actually produce content? I was surprised that the podcasting statistics were so low… I wonder what that says about the medium? I’ve recently gotten into podcasting and while I’m about as amateur as it comes, I have a lot of fun doing it and I can see the viability in the platform.
