June 25, 2012

Digital Journalism Is Flourishing Despite Economic Uncertainty, Oriella PR Network's Global Study of Journalists Finds: Investment in Videos, Mobile Apps and Infographics Is Increasing as Audiences Grow

Media brands around the world are carrying a wider range of digital content assets, supporting more devices, and are drawing on digital sources in their reporting more heavily in 2012 than at any time in the past five years. This is one of the key findings of a global survey of journalists recently published by the Oriella PR Network (www.oriellaprnetwork.com). The study further finds that the digital boom in the newsroom has heralded a return to traditional journalistic practice — trusted, influential sources command far greater value in 2012 than pre-packaged stories. The Oriella Digital Journalism Study is based on a poll of over 600 journalists from 16 countries spanning Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas, and has found the world's media are cautiously upbeat despite continued uncertainty in the global economy — over half (54 percent) expect their title's audience to grow this year, compared with only 20 percent anticipating a decline. The study further finds that publications' use of online video has almost doubled since last year, with 36 percent of journalists saying their publications publish videos, compared with 20 percent in 2011. In addition, 40 percent say their publications offer journalist-authored blogs and 22 percent produce infographics in-house. The growing importance of mobile devices and social media promotion to publishers' monetization strategies is reflected in the sustained growth of mobile apps and the continued popularity of publication-owned Twitter and Facebook pages. The proportion of journalists saying their titles now have apps has experienced continued growth over the past three years and now one publication in four has a mobile app. Around half of the respondents said their titles had Facebook pages (52 percent) and Twitter feeds (46 percent). The only key content type to experience year-on-year decline are discussion boards operated by individual publications. The proportion of journalists saying their titles use these has fallen to 26 percent, down from 37 percent when the survey began in 2008. "Our fifth annual study shows an even higher premium attached to the influence and credibility of sources, especially through social media, compared to previous years," said Giles Fraser, co-founder of Brands2Life and the Oriella PR Network, in a news release. "At the same time, the study has found publications around the world are using an ever wider range of digital assets, such as video, infographics and apps, to convey storylines. The more brands are able to reflect and support the changing requirements of the media, the better placed they will be to win in their chosen markets."

Sources matter in the social newsroom

The study finds that use of social media in newsgathering is now a majority pursuit — but only when the sources behind them are known to journalists. Just over half (53 percent) of the journalists surveyed use microblog updates (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Weibo) from sources they know. However, when the source is unfamiliar, reliance on microblogs roughly halves.

Use of conventional blogs in newsgathering is slightly lower but follows a similar trend: 44 percent of respondents said they used blogs that they know to source news stories, but just 22 percent would use unfamiliar blogs in the same way. This is a reversal of the picture in 2011, when 43 percent of respondents said they would source news from blogs they did not know, and only 30 percent said they relied on familiar sources.

The study highlights the growing importance of trusted sources and a decline of more conventional vehicles for message delivery. Reliance on industry insiders for new stories has grown from 54 percent in 2011 to 64 percent this year, and interviews with spokespeople have become journalists' preferred first port of call for stories, replacing press releases, which now rank fifth.

"As journalists we can't afford take what we see on social media at face value," said Michael Rundle, technology editor for Huffington Post UK, in the release. "We always take careful steps to establish the authority of any sources we do quote - and, often, these are people with whom we have already built up a relationship offline. However, as broad gauges of the public conversation, social networks are incredibly useful."

Print versus online ends in a draw?

The study indicates that the growth of online news media at the expense of offline is slowing. In 2011, 50 percent of respondents maintained their offline print or broadcast outlet had the largest audience. In 2012, 47 percent held this view. Meanwhile, the proportion of each publication's online output that is new — a rough measure of the level of investment in digital platforms — has remained largely unchanged since last year: 45 percent of journalists in 2012 said 60 percent or more of their online output was new (2011 figure: 46 percent).

Journalists around the world cautiously upbeat

The proportion of journalists saying they enjoy the job more than a year ago has declined sharply since last year, but still outweighs those who enjoy it less. This year, a third (33 percent) say they enjoyed the job more, compared with 43 percent in 2011. A similar proportion — 36 percent — believe their title's output has improved over the past year, compared with 20 percent who think quality has declined, with journalists in Asia particularly positive about the impact of digital media on their work.