75% of Journalists Get Story Ideas from Blogs

Monday, January 14th, 2008 by Janet Thaeler

75% of Journalists Get Story Ideas from Blogs

A new survey by Brodeur and MarketWire, shows that 75% of journalists use blogs to get ideas for stories. Journalists may not comment but they are reading…in fact, four in five say they read blogs at least two to three times a week. Almost 30% of journalists in the survey say they have their own blog.

Journalists consult blogs for story ideas, angles and insights:

Over 75% of reporters see blogs as helpful in giving them story ideas, story angles and insight into the tone of an issue.
70% of reporters check a blog list on a regular basis.
21% of reporters spend over an hour per day reading blogs.
57% of reporters read blogs at least two to three times a week.

Journalists are getting more savvy not only utilizing social media, but as participants:

16% have their own social networking page.
48% say they are “lurkers” – in that they read but rarely comment on blogs.

The survey was conducted among a random sample of reporters and editors. There looks to be 177 participants (here is a link to the PDF file of the survey). If you want to increase your visibility or PR, starting a blog is worth the investment.

Not only do blogs provide good visibility for journalists, a blog will increase your search engine visibility (recent numbers showed that about 75% of people find your business through a search engine). For that reason, I think new businesses should launch a blog along with their web site. As for me, I found this story on Twitter (thanks Scoble).

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27 comments on “75% of Journalists Get Story Ideas from Blogs”

» Blog SEO: Journalism And Your Business 101 Search Engine Optimization Journal Says:

January 14th, 2008 at 1:17 pm

[...] there is no reason to have a blog. You’d be wrong. If you haven’t considered it before, here’s one more reason to start a blog [...]
Saskatoon Website Design Tip - Blog SEO: Journalism And Your Business 101 Says:

January 14th, 2008 at 1:21 pm

[...] there is no reason to have a blog. You’d be wrong. If you haven’t considered it before, here’s one more reason to start a blog [...]
GoWFB Says:

January 14th, 2008 at 2:39 pm

A blog certainly helps, it generate buzz and works as a spoken person for your business. Just need dedication and commitment for it to succeed.
See, blogs do count! « PR, Babies and All The Rest Says:

January 14th, 2008 at 2:48 pm

[...] Marketing Pilgrim Not that anyone is reading mine to get story ideas… but good survey pointed out today on Marketing [...]
Mike Mothner Says:

January 14th, 2008 at 3:29 pm

This is a fascinating finding. It highlights the fact that extending beyond journalists getting story ideas, the general public is increasingly relying on blogs as their go-to source for news. It has become one of the primary means by which they are able to stay up to date on what interests them most, whether it be social networking sites, sports, technology, or even politics.
RTP Designs weblog » 75% of Journalists Get Story Ideas from Blogs Says:

January 14th, 2008 at 5:35 pm

[...] 75% of Journalists Get Story Ideas from Blogs [...]
Alan Johnson Says:

January 14th, 2008 at 5:54 pm

It’s quite interesting come to think of it: a lot of journalists look down upon bloggers, but on the other hand, the same people follow more than a few blogs on a daily basis.

Alan Johnson
Can 75 percent of journalists really be getting story ideas from blogs? | New Media Bytes | Online journalism, web and intertubiness Says:

January 14th, 2008 at 6:31 pm

[...] marketer Andy Beal makes note of a Brodeur and MarketWire survey (pdf) which found that 75 percent of journalists use blogs to generate story ideas. This sounds like an awesome statistic – but I’m not so sure I [...]
Andy Beal Says:

January 14th, 2008 at 7:28 pm

It’s good to see that number up from 51% a couple years ago: http://blogs.zdnet.com/ITFacts/?p=8115&part=rss&tag=feed&subj=zdblog
Mobile guy Says:

January 15th, 2008 at 12:17 pm

All great ideas already have been invented.
Reasons to blog elevator pitch - what’s your game plan? | herbsawyer.com Says:

January 17th, 2008 at 12:44 pm

[...] I’ll repost a ‘top five’ in a couple of days. Use of key stats encouraged – 75% of Journalists Get Story Ideas from Blogs. [...]
CatherineL Says:

January 20th, 2008 at 10:32 pm

Interesting results. And this is great so long as they don’t cheat. I read a post recently where some journo had completely ripped off someone’s blog post and not attributed the work to the original author.
75% of Journalists Get Story Ideas from Blogs « L9 Blog Says:

January 21st, 2008 at 4:12 pm

[...] from Blogs Posted by jebworks under Uncategorized This report covered recently in Marketing Pilgrim contains some interesting facts that support the idea of maintaining a corporate blog, combined [...]
75% of Journalists Get Story Ideas from Blogs « Travel Marketing in the Age of Web 2.0 & Beyond Says:

January 21st, 2008 at 4:13 pm

[...] on January 21, 2008. This report covered recently in Marketing Pilgrim contains some interesting facts that support the idea of maintaining a corporate blog, combined [...]
My Tips.. « oNLY gOOD Says:

January 22nd, 2008 at 11:37 am

[...] Journalists Also Get Ideas from Bloggers: Mainstream media loves to say that without them bloggers wouldn’t have stuff to blog about. Guess what, looks like journalists are get inspired from blogs frequently. [...]
Ils copient sur leur voisin « Aline Testuz blogue Says:

January 31st, 2008 at 5:41 am

[...] les journalistes: 75% des journalistes utilisent les blogs pour trouver des idées de sujets, selon une étude réalisée récemment aux Etats-Unis (en anglais). En revanche, ils commentent rarement les blogs. Cette étude est sans doute [...]
Jayson Says:

February 4th, 2008 at 2:16 pm

This doesn’t surprise me. Blogs usually allow journalists to see how certain angles or positions will be accepted (comments etc.). In addition, many bloggers do a great job in researching and presenting information.
Seomotion Says:

February 11th, 2008 at 4:12 am

It’s really true. My frined as an author, and he often takes sugjects of his stories from blogs
Quand le journalisme se fait assassiner sur Internet, 1/3 : le rapport au web « internet et opinion - web 2.0, communication, relations publiques, influence, médias, blogs, etc. Says:

February 12th, 2008 at 3:49 am

[...] (1) A noter : Aux USA, 75% des journalistes déclarent utiliser les blogs pour leurs sujets. [...]
Maggg: Bloggers Magazine Says:

February 20th, 2008 at 1:55 pm

I think it’s really interesting that journalists get a lot of their story ideas from bloggers, especially since I thought a lot of bloggers got their subject matter (and ideas) from current events posted by journalists and reporters.
Mike Montague Says:

February 23rd, 2008 at 12:32 am

I am not one bit surpised by this. Blogs make for great story ideas.
Traditional Journalists Use Blogs for Story Ideas | Travel & Tourism Technology Trends Says:

April 8th, 2008 at 2:51 pm

[...] they may also feed off each other, one supporting or promoting the other. In this article from Marketing Pilgrim, Janet Meirs reports that a survey by Brodeur and MarketWire showed that 75% of the journalists surveyed actually used [...]
75% des journalistes américains se servent des blogs pour trouver/écrire leurs sujets. | MotsAndCo Says:

April 17th, 2008 at 6:53 pm

[...] que sur les 98% de journalistes américains qui se servent du web pour leurs recherches, les 3/4 utilisent régulièrement les blogs pour rédiger ou trouver une idée de sujet [...]
Link Tips: 20 January 2008 Says:

April 18th, 2008 at 2:24 pm

[...] Journalists Also Get Ideas from Bloggers: Mainstream media loves to say that without them bloggers wouldn’t have stuff to blog about. Guess what, looks like journalists are get inspired from blogs frequently. [...]
yhyif » Blog Archive » Link Tips: 20 January 2008 Says:

July 5th, 2008 at 1:09 pm

[...] Journalists Also Get Ideas from Bloggers: Mainstream media loves to say that without them bloggers wouldn’t have stuff to blog about. Guess what, looks like journalists are get inspired from blogs frequently. [...]
Emilie Ogez » Blog Archive » Les journalistes américains, le Web et les blogs Says:

September 29th, 2008 at 4:53 pm

[...] voir : 75% of Journalists Get Story Ideas from Blogs et 98% of Journalists Use the Web for [...]
Blogging and the death of proper journalism | danny BROWN Says:

October 4th, 2008 at 3:14 am

[...] the pooling of writing talent and information can be a very powerful tool. Journalists can gain excellent leads for stories and bloggers can gain invaluable insight into the world of investigative writing. However, despite [...]