I’ve already blogged about the survey I did of 200 blogging journalists and recorded five podcasts, but if you want the version I wrote for the latest edition of Nieman Reports, you can now read it here.

The final part of the results of my survey of blogging journalists relates some of the findings to wider research into blogging and journalism, and also looks at some of the differences between sectors and industries.

Blogging has grown and developed considerably in the years since the studies of journalism blogs by Robinson (2006) and Singer (2005) – indeed, three-quarters of respondents had only started blogging since that research was published (in that time the BBC, for instance, expanded from its first blog in December 2005 to 43 in less than a year (Hermida 2008 [PDF]))

Respondents frequently spoke of a rapid transformation by their employers from resistance to blogs to wholesale adoption, in which commercial considerations have played an important role. These ranged from search engine optimisation (blogs help improve the rankings of news websites on search engines such as Google), to “bringing readers back more often”; “a cheap way of getting lots of content online and … resulting ad impressions” (Respondent 113, UK, freelance), to a perceived opportunity to make money, and a way of protecting against the threat from citizen media and the declining state of the news industry itself:

“They went from forbidden to encouraged in a year. Why? They saw the writing on the wall. We’re moving from an newspaper and Internet firm to an Internet and newspaper firm.” (Respondent 38, US, newspapers)

“It’s gone from: What are these things? / This is kind of stupid to put so much time into. I don’t want to waste my time, I’m so busy…to “I’ve got a blog. I’ll put it in my blog. We can blog, blog, blog.” (Respondent 47, US, newspapers)

There is evidence of ‘news repair’ (Robinson 2006) or normalisation (Lowrey 2006, Singer 2005, Wall 2005, Hermida 2008 [PDF]), as journalists seek to reassert and redefine their own work against those of independent operators, but there is also a widespread acknowledgement of the role of the former audience in identifying, researching, verifying, and correcting the news.

The evidence also supports Robinson’s contention that “The notion of who is a source – and what they can say – has evolved online” (2006: 74) – which sometimes means that the blog is used as a place to publish rumours and unverified information with the aim of readers contributing to its verification.

Friend & Singer list a number of advantages that journalist-bloggers identify in the blog format, including “the ability to share information that does not fit in the limited news hole of the traditional media format, to incorporate more voices in their reporting, to get potentially valuable feedback from the public, and even to counteract media corporatization” (2007: 136).

Matheson (2004) adds speed, depth and informality.

To these can be added new ways of pursuing stories, access to a broader field of knowledge and therefore ideas, a multimedia-interactive mindset, and ongoing, fragmented “postmodern” (Wall, 2005) reporting.

How much blogging has changed a journalist’s work was clearly related to the work that they do. Journalists who worked outside of the institutional constraints, legacies and cultures of print or broadcast media – i.e. freelance journalists or those who worked for online-only organisations – were more likely to say that their work as a journalist had been transformed “enormously” or “completely” – in contrast, no one permanently employed by the television or radio industries felt that blogging had “completely” changed any aspect of their work (Hermida’s study into blogging at the BBC (2008) also noted that the first steps in that institution took place within areas of the corporation that “enjoyed an unusually high level of independence from BBC news management”).

Career progression is clearly also an important factor, with blogs acting as portfolios and networking tools for freelancers, while blog literacy and multimedia skills have become professionally important for employees in a converging industry. Many respondents, however, expressed frustration at employers who did not allow for the extra time required to blog, or who did not understand or undervalued the format:

“I am routinely told to put my blogging on the back burner to get work done for our main product (our newspaper). Yet, when I don’t post an update, we get beat by the TV stations or the wire and I look like an idiot for sitting on a story. And, our blog contributions still don’t go toward our daily story count goals, which in essence demeans anything I do on the my blog. I don’t see my employers seeing the light until blogs can make money for them.” (Respondent 63, US, newspapers)

Just as responses differed by industry, journalists covering certain sectors were more likely than others to feel that their work processes had changed.

Blogging sport journalists consistently reported that less change in their processes than journalists covering other sectors. In contrast, media and technology journalists reported a much stronger change in their working practices (this is to be expected, having a more web- or media-savvy audience).

But more interestingly, finance and arts and culture journalists were also more likely to say that blogging had changed their processes “enormously” or “completely”, while journalists covering foreign affairs reported a particularly strong effect on generation of ideas and the relationship with the audience.

Lowrey’s prediction that the journalism community “may try to redefine blogging as a journalistic tool, and bloggers as amateur journalists … (rather than as a unique occupation)” (2006: 493) certainly appears to be supported, as does his contention that vulnerabilities in journalism may be repaired by increasing use of non-elite sources.

The research also supports his prediction that “news organisations will try to repair these vulnerabilities on the cheap by encouraging journalists to monitor blogs, tap the specialized expertise of the blogosphere, and track stories that have staying power with audiences.” (2006: 494).

Although many respondents mentioned how blogging affected their routines in print and broadcast production, further research is needed into how much ‘crossover’ there is, and how much of the transformatory potential of blogging is contained within online channels, or, indeed, affects non-blogging colleagues. Some respondents spoke of blogging as something done “in addition to our ‘real’ job” rather than being integral to the organisation’s journalistic processes.

It is also important to make a distinction between journalists’ perceptions of how their processes have changed, and the content they actually produce. As Matheson points out: while many journalists “are enthusiastic about the potential to rearticulate practice in the new forms that are available online, the texts that these same journalists produce do not show strong evidence of this” (2004: 444).

Finally, these are still early stages in the adoption and evolution of the blog format, with a third of respondents having only started blogging in the past year. In the same way as many non-professional bloggers have developed and changed their approach to blogging over the past few years (MacManus, 2008; Perez, 2008), journalists can be expected to change and develop as they gain similar experience. Longitudinal studies are needed to record that development over time.

Do you know of any research into blogs and journalists? Any questions about this research? Let me know in the comments

The 6th part of the results of my survey of blogging journalists looks at how blogging has affected the relationship with the former audience.

Of all areas covered by the survey the relationship with the audience was by far the most affected, with over half of respondents saying it had been “enormously” or “completely” changed. In particular, journalists felt they had developed a more personal relationship with the reader, who was no longer an anonymous figure.

“They know about my personal life, and I know about theirs” (Respondent 23, US, newspapers).

As a consequence, journalists felt more pressure to be accountable to their readers, and less “arrogant”. There was a need to make themselves understood; to explain their decisions in the face of increased and more personal feedback from a community they feel part of.

Interactivity and “conversation” were frequently mentioned:

“I cover more than thirty countries: the reaction of people who live in a place I visit tells me a lot about the issues I am writing about. My blog seems to generate arguments which at least help me understand a story more.” (Respondent 156, Belgium, TV)

“The best stories are a result of incredible conversations.” (Respondent 60, US, freelance)

For some that has led to a newfound sense of respect for readers; for others, a realisation that readers were “total idiots” (Respondent 54, US, newspapers) or had poorer comprehension than they had assumed.

Journalists also identified a change in how they saw other bloggers, subscribing to more blogs and commenting or participating in discussion more often.

Commercial and bureaucratic advantages were also identified: being able to answer comments in public rather than the same question via emails in private saved time for some, while others respondent mentioned the ability to maintain the audience relationship between publication dates, or to attract work from employers.

Read the final part: Discussion and conclusion.

Has blogging affected your relationship with readers, listeners or viewers? Let me know in the comments.

The 5th part of the results of my survey of blogging journalists looks at how blogging has affected what happens after news is ‘published/broadcast’.

In the post-publication or post-broadcast phase of journalism, blogging has introduced a more iterative and ongoing format. Some phrase this in terms of old media paradigms – the items have “more legs” – while others identify how the previous process of “moving on” to the next big story and forgetting about the old one no longer applies so strongly:

“Much less file-and-forget” (Respondent 116, UK, newspapers)

“After the story goes up, instead of moving onto the next idea I’ll spend time answering reader questions and comments, because now it’s not just an anonymous ‘letter to the editor’, they get to speak directly to me.” (Respondent 26, Australia, newspapers)

The ability to enter into correspondence with users, to fix errors and post updates were frequently identified as changing journalistic work, turning on its head Lowrey’s sugestion that bloggers “often emphasise immediacy and opinion at the expense of accuracy” (2006) and that journalism would protect itself by focusing on editing; responses suggest that, conversely, journalists are relying on commenters to contribute to the editing process.

The lack of print or broadcast deadlines means journalists could, and did, add or correct information that wasn’t available or was incorrect when going to press or air, while the permanence of the web meant stories were always ‘live’:

“Where once the story had a fairly short shelf life – unless you were willing to dig around in the archives – stories are now readily available regardless of whether they were written today, yesterday or last year. The audience remains able to comment on the content, and regularly provides information which updates it. The reporter then has the opportunity to revisit the subject, creating a great ‘off diary’ print story (loved by news editors everywhere), crediting the information to the online contact, therefore cross promoting platforms, sparking more online conversation, generating more comment, updates and on and on and on…” (Respondent 126, UK, newspapers)

“Well, you never finish, do you? You write something that may or may not spark a conversation and you’ve got to be ready for that conversation even if it happens months later. Besides, I find that more and more of what we do online is writing parts of the picture, not the whole and unvarnished truth. Often we’ll do a quick news story, then one reaction, then two others etc. and link it all together – it’s a process and sometimes you find yourself writing for debate, for discussion, for max distribution rather than the equivalent of copies sold. Traffic is cool and important, but debate and distribution is another part of the picture. And of course I might blog, twitter or bookmark the stuff I write in order to increase distribution” (Respondent 147, Norway, freelance)

This importance of distribution is an emerging but particularly important change. While the print and broadcast news industries have long-established distribution infrastructures and conventions, online news does not: it might be argued that “Everyone is a paperboy/girl now” (Bradshaw, 2008).

Supporting this, journalists spoke of forwarding links to bloggers, posting updates on microblogging/texting service Twitter, and syndication through RSS, while for others the blog itself was seen as a distribution tool for stories that appeared in the main news website, print or broadcast edition.

But this is a two-way process, and the most common theme mentioned by respondents with regard to post-publication was the rise of:

“Feedback, quick, straight, unforgiving. Miss a story or it’s real meanings and you’re screwed, bloggers won’t forgive you. Blogs are the watchdogs of traditional media.” (Respondent 14, Romania, TV)

Unlike ‘letters to the editor’, the real-time and more intimate feedback of blog comments has a real effect on the ongoing story. One respondent spoke of changing lines, stories and sometimes trashing complete stories due to comments. For some this represents unnecessary extra work, with the quality and relevance of comments varying enormously. But for many sifting through comments has led to new stories, angles and, particularly, follow ups.

Has blogging affected your job post-publication/broadcast? Let me know in the comments.

Read Part 6: Blogging and the relationship with the audience.

The 4th part of the results of my survey of blogging journalists looks at how blogs have affected how news production is affected by blogging.

The area where respondents most often identified a change in news production was in the rise of a looser, more personal, and less formal writing style, echoing the findings of Wall (2005). Respondents talked of finding their “voice”, being more informal and “creative”. For some this fed back into the mainstream news vehicles, particularly for broadcast journalists whose work previously involved less writing.

Some identified a move away from print- or broadcast-driven production processes, with some stories, for example, “written after the visual … rather than finding an image to support the story” (Respondent 26, Australia, newspapers), or vice versa.

The immediacy of the web was clearly a factor, with respondents noting that they worked more quickly, breaking stories on their blogs before following up both online and in print or broadcast. Related to this was a movement towards the iterative journalism that many theorists (Beckett, 2008; Bruns, 2005; Gillmor, 2004; Matheson, 2004) have identified in online journalism.

Brevity was also frequently mentioned, with journalists reporting writing shorter, more tightly edited pieces not just for blogs but also for print and broadcast.

Conversely, the web provided a space and technology for expanding in ways that print and broadcast did not allow.

“Stories that otherwise would have been footnotes in print can be explored more fully on the blog,” noted one (Respondent 33, US, newspapers).

Perhaps the most significant change was in the way that blogs provided a platform for stories or detail that would otherwise not make the print or broadcast version at all. Respondents talked of augmenting coverage that “would otherwise fall in the cracks”, of pieces that were interesting, but wouldn’t merit space in the paper, or that use elements that “don’t necessarily fit into the rigid lengths of radio pieces.”

It also meant journalists could link elsewhere when time or space constraints meant they were unable to report in full – to some extent fulfilling Jeff Jarvis’s rule (2007) of “Cover what you do best and link to the rest”

Read Part 5: Blogging and post-publication here.

Has blogging affected your news production processes? Let me know in the comments.

The third part of the results of my survey of blogging journalists looks at how blogging has affected how stories are researched.

As journalists move onto gathering information for a story, the scope of easily accessible sources is made broader by journalists’ involvement in blogs.

It may be that in some cases the process of ‘having an idea in public’, as highlighted in part two, means that story research is increasingly done by readers before, or alongside, that done by the journalist. Once they begin pursuing a story journalists are using the blog format as a way to ‘put the call out’ for information and sources while they work.

Although journalists asking members of the public for information on a story is nothing new, the nature of the relationship appears to be different, in that it is a two-way, ongoing process:

“On hot-button stories where our readers are asking a lot of questions, we post updates every time we make a phone call. For example, [a company] declared bankruptcy and the new owner wouldn’t take the previous owner’s gift cards. Our readers were peeved and hounding us to do something. The corporate folks weren’t saying anything so we didn’t have any new information to report. Because we didn’t have any new info, we didn’t write anything in the paper. But on our blog, we would post updates at least daily to tell people when we left a message and if we had heard back yet. We eventually scored an interview with the new CEO and posted it in its entirety on our site. Another reporter saw it and called us. We swapped info. Our readers also post links to other stories on the topic from other news orgs.” (Respondent 63, US, newspapers)

In some examples, this collaboration becomes a form of crowdsourcing:

“Last year, there was a vote in the Senate to oust Renan Calheiros, the chairman of the house. The votes were kept in secret, and he was absolved. Interviewed, much more senators would say they had voted to oust Calheiros than the votes the proposal actually got. So, I proposed that readers contacted the senators to ask them about their reasons.” (Respondent 24, Brazil, freelance)

As highlighted previously, blogging journalists report finding it easier to find sources who don’t come from a government agency or professional association, and to keep up with events they are not participating in.

Many post links to original material and ongoing updates as they research, or to reports on stories that they do not have time to follow up.

But for some the pressure to publish meant more reliance on rumours, and less rigorous research, with the onus placed on blog readers to clarify and fact-check.

On a practical level the actual process of newsgathering is also changing as a result of the demands of the blog.

Journalists report being more likely to gather multimedia material such as images, video and audio to post on the blog – or, in the case of broadcast journalists, to gather more material than they used to, as there is now a platform for material that wouldn’t otherwise make it to broadcast.

“It ensures avoiding that trap of TV reporting,” noted one: “one sequence, two interviews and we have a story without digging deeper.” (Respondent 156, Belgium, TV).

More detail is shown in the following tables:

Read Part 4: Blogging and news production here.

Has blogging affected how you gather information on a story? Let me know in the comments.

The second part of the results of my survey of blogging journalists looks at how blogs have affected how journalists generate story ideas and leads.

Blogs and news ideas: “The canary in the mine”

Blogging's effect on story ideas by industry

For blogging journalists, blogs have disrupted the traditional processes of journalism in a number of ways.

Respondents spoke of a clearer perception of audience needs and interests as a result of comments and visitor statistics, which in turn fed into the choice of topics and angles to cover.

In some cases ideas were posted by journalists on their blogs and the development of the story guided by reader feedback, often changing in the process, or in some cases resulting in stories being covered which would otherwise fallen through Tuchman’s (1978) ‘news net’.

There is evidence of an increasing disintermediation of the editor’s role – understandably, as the editorial role of determining the reader’s identity and needs is undermined when writers, through their blogs, have a closer, more immediate and reliable access to that information.

The mindset of thinking for a single medium – typically print, radio or television – was also changing. Some spoke of thinking in terms of multimedia or interactivity, in turn opening new approaches to some ideas and leads.

The often highlighted (McNair, 1998; Allan, 2004; Deuze 2008 [PDF]) reliance of journalists on public relations firms, pressure groups and diary events is also being affected: respondents spoke of a broadening of the range of contacts and of the sources of ideas for potential stories.

Many mentioned getting story leads from comments on the blog or through private communication initiated via the blog. Others noted the ease of accessing contacts through other blogs, and the ability to build trust with sources through their online output, all of which represents an important challenge to traditional theories of news processes which rely on routinisation, predictability, and an “understanding that society is bureaucratically structured [which] furnishes the reporter with a ‘map of relevant knowers’ for newsworthy topics.” (Allan, 2004, p62). For some reporters, that map is being redrawn along networked lines:

“As a freelancer, blogging gives me a headstart on my MSM [mainstream media] colleagues. While they are plowing through press releases and assignments from editors, I do my digging online. Also, bloggers themselves are often great stories because they are passionate, knowledgeable and accessible.” (Respondent 174, US, freelance)

At the same time there is a framing of blogging and the blogosphere in old media terms. For many respondents, the most important change brought by blogs was an increased need for speed. Spotting trends early, or following the “chatter”, were also identified, suggesting that the ‘herd instinct’ of mainstream media remains.

Blogs are sometimes “the canaries in the coal mine,” noted one. (Respondent 69, US, Online). Some respondents also spoke of using blogs in the same way as they had previously relied on the trade press for leads and expertise.

Finally, journalists used their blogs (and microblogging platforms such as Twitter) as a way to source case studies, in the same way as previously done through other channels.

More detail in the following table:

Blogging's effect on story ideas by sector

Has blogging affected how you generate or find story ideas? Let me know in the comments.

Part 3: Blogs and story research is here.

Back in June I distributed an online survey to find out how journalists with blogs felt their work had been affected by the technology. 200 blogging journalists responded in total, from 30 different countries.

The responses paint an interesting picture: in generating ideas and leads, in gathering information, in news production and post-publication, and most of all in the relationship with the audience, the networked, iterative and conversational nature of the blog format is changing how many journalists work in a number of ways.

However, this is by no means universal, and there are notable variations between industries and sectors.

Over the next week I will be publishing the results on the Online Journalism Blog, covering a different stage of the journalistic process in each post.  But to begin with, here’s some academic context:

Blogs and journalism: a little background

Blogs have become part of the editorial furniture. As of this year, 70% of US newspapers (PEJ, 2008), 85% of UK news organisations, and 44% of European news organisations (Oriella PR Network, 2008) were offering journalist-authored blogs, and all the signals from editors and management suggested these figures would continue to rise.

A number of studies have focused on how newsroom cultures have reacted to the rise of the online newsroom (Boczkowski 2004, Friend & Singer 2007, Paterson & Domingo, 2008), and how news organisation blogs themselves have adopted the format (Singer, 2005; Robinson, 2006); and much has been written of the potential of blogs for journalism as a whole (Gillmor 2004, Wall 2005, Beckett 2008), but few have looked at the perceptions of journalists themselves of how the blogging has affected their processes – a gap this research aimed to address.

Although blogs have existed for over a decade, in their short history the format has undergone a number of generic developments: beginning as lists of links to similar sites, then becoming more diary-like, with accompanying cults of personality (Blood, 2000) and more recently increasingly adopted by news organisations, who have started blogs by their own journalists, employed bloggers on their staff, teamed up with blogging and citizen journalism operations (Gant, 2007), or targeted them for takeovers (The Outlook 2007, MacManus 2008).

It might be argued that this has in turn affected the generic qualities of blogs once more, and more recently there have been suggestions that blogging has lost its relational focus in the jostle for attention (MacManus, 2008), or that successful bloggers curb their creativity in the consciousness of a wider audience (Lowrey & Latta, in Paterson & Domingo, 2008) while much of the personal material that was previously published on blogs is now being published on ‘lifestreaming’ and ‘microblogging’ platforms like Twitter (Perez, 2008).

Of particular interest to this research is what has happened to journalistic processes in this meeting of cultures, particularly as some theorists have argued journalism is in a process of adapting in the face of technological, social and economic changes (Lowrey, 2006; Wall 2005; Robinson 2006).

Lowrey (2006) sees blogging as an occupation, noting that bloggers see themselves as part of a community that shares values, rituals and language, organising conferences, and exploring codes of ethics. As Singer notes (2005), professional journalists have had to negotiate this occupational culture alongside their own, and these cultures differ in important ways.

Blogs, for example, are typically opinionated, while US journalism at least aspires to objectivity (this is not the case in the UK – see Hampton, 2008); blogs treat the audience as a co-creator, while traditional journalism treats them as a passive recipient; and whereas blog journalism is incomplete and fragmented, traditional journalism is structured and closed (Lowrey 2006; Wall, 2005: 162).

Ultimately, Lowrey argues, it is “the organisation of production [that] is the most fundamental distinction between journalism and blogging” (2006: 480), and this is what this research is primarily concerned with.

Methodology

To consider whether journalists feel blogging has affected their working processes an online survey was distributed in June and July 2008. A self-completing survey method was chosen due to its efficiency, scalability and global reach (Robson, 2002). A diverse range of distribution channels, both public and internal, were used in an attempt to attract a diversity of respondents, and both open and closed questions were used to draw a large response and allow respondents to answer in their own terms (Bryman, 2001).

Respondents came from all sectors of the news industry. Almost half of respondents worked in the newspaper industry, and a third were online-only or freelance. Television, radio and magazine journalists accounted for the lowest proportions. Half of respondents worked in the US or Canada, and a further fifth in the UK, with the remainder coming from mainland Europe, South America, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

The journalists covered a wide range of sectors, and most covered more than one. Local journalism made up the largest proportion (43%), but media and technology correspondents also contributed heavily. Along with a number of well-represented areas such as business, politics, lifestyle and culture, there was a ‘long tail’ of small numbers of respondents covering ’Other’ areas ranging from education and health to travel and the environment.

Percentage of respondents by sector

In analysing the data I have attempted to take these factors into account and to use the differences between industries and sectors as a valid finding in itself, rather than focus on the  figures coming from the entire sample. It is important to note that generalising from this study should be done with caution, given the diversity of nationality, industry, sector and blogging experience of respondents. The study is intended to highlight a number of areas that warrant further research.

The study takes as its structure the three elements identified by Quinn and Lamble (2007) as constituting the basic parts of the journalistic process: generating ideas, gathering information, and production. It also looks at the relationship with the audience, and post-publication, both of which are frequently identified as areas undergoing change as a result of networked technologies such as blogging (Gillmor 2004, Bruns 2005, Beckett 2008).

If there’s any research you think would add to the context of this study, please let me know in the comments

Read the rest of the report here:

Part 2: Blogs and news ideas: “The canary in the mine”

Part 3: Blogs and story research: “We swapped info”

Part 4: Blogs and news production: “I think in hyperlinks, even when working in print”

Part 5: Post-publication: “You’ve got to be ready for that conversation”

Part 6: Blogging and the audience relationship: “The best stories are a result of incredible conversations”

Part 7: Discussion and conclusion: “The writing on the wall”