Companies spend millions of dollars on their media relations programs to reach and influence journalists. A new study reports important new information on how journalists get and receive information that will – and should – improve the effectiveness of these media relations efforts.

Specifically:

– Firms should make sure their online newsrooms and websites are well-organized and up to date
for journalists. While nearly half of all journalists report visiting corporate websites or
online newsrooms at least once a week, 39% report that they cannot easily find information
they need on corporate websites.
– With more journalists reading blogs and using RSS feeds, companies should employ these new
media communication techniques to reach these writers. More than one in four journalists
report regularly reading five or more blogs to keep up with the subject matter they cover.
Nearly 70% say they follow at least one blog regularly. More than 28% of journalist say they
visit a social media site at least once a week as part of their reporting, and more than 445
visit once a month. More that a third receive at least one regular RSS feed a week.
– Give extra weight to the New York Times, Google and Yahoo online news services as
these are the major national sources of news for journalists.

Conducted in October, 2007 by Bulldog Reporter and the TEKgroup International, Inc., interviewed 2046 journalists; 47% were editors or editorial staff and 35% were reporters or writers. To read the full report

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