The 2014 Business Wire Media Survey provides insights into how reporters research topics. The survey’s results indicate they prefer content like press releases and press kits, and are not fans of being pitched via social media.

How to Reach Reporters Today

In the survey, a number of North American journalists, editors, reporters and columnists served as participants, answering thirty questions about how they retrieve information in today’s digital age, and what kinds of content they now prefer to receive. The report also revealed the favorable key indicators that the media looks for when determining how well their stories are perceived. The ultimate goal of this survey was to help decipher what the current best practices, pertinent content and important metrics are for media professionals today.

Here are a few key takeaways from the Business Wire survey:

  • Forty-four percent of respondents said they work for online web-based publications and blogs, while only 28 percent of respondents work for magazines, and only 16 percent work for newspapers.
  • When it comes to determining how successful a story was, 53 percent of respondents said they consider the number of page views, while 40 percent consider the unique visits.
  • Press releases are king: 90 percent of the media said they recently referred to a press release in their writing, while 62 percent said they used a press release in the past 24 hours. Seventy-seven percent also revealed that breaking news is the most desired content from a press release. In addition, 73 percent believe they respond better to photographs with press releases, while 43 percent prefer graphics, 32 percent like infographics, and only 27 percent favor video.
  • Of those surveyed, 53 percent revealed that they use content from a newswire service one or more times in a day.

Because there was such a wealth of insight within this Business Wire report, we’ll be posting a second blog on this topic, stay tuned!

If you’re in healthcare, insurance, technology or other professional services industries, and need help with a PR, marketing or social media campaign, contact Scott Public Relations.

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