Tag Archives: research

Blogging journalists: survey results pt.1: context and methodology

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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. Continue reading →

When retailers and consumers move into social media, news should surely follow

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Stat of the day comes from Cone (I’m sure there’s a fascinating reason for that name):

Sixty percent of Americans use social media, and of those, 59 percent interact with companies on social media Web sites. One in four interacts more than once per week.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, 93 percent of social media users “believe a company should have a presence in social media”. “56 percent of users feel both a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they can interact with them in a social media environment.”

But it’s MediaPost’s Research Brief that complements this with something more interesting for me:

Data from an August 2008 survey of Web merchants, sponsored by Internet Retailer, found that, of the 39.3% of retail respondents that use social networks, 32% have a page on Facebook, 27% on MySpace and 26% on YouTube.

So a significant proportion of retailers are moving into social media, consumers want more, and the trend continues.

Now, what should news organisations be doing again?

How successful bloggers become bureaucratized too

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Making Online NewsI’ve recently been reading ‘Making Online News‘ a book of ethnographic studies of online news production. Tucked towards the back of the book is a chapter called The Routines of Blogging by Wilson Lowrey and John Latta. It is one of the few studies I’ve read to look not at journalists, but at the work practices of bloggers – specifically, political bloggers.

And their findings support what I’ve increasingly suspected: “the more relevant bloggers become in terms of audience and influence, the more their production routines resemble those of professional journalists.” Continue reading →

Content ‘biggest-growing online activity’ – OPA

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Online Publishing Insider reports on the rise of people’s use of content online:

“In the last four years, the share of time devoted to viewing Content online has experienced the greatest growth, increasing from 34% to 47% of time spent, outpacing all other activities. There are a number of factors contributing to Content’s rapid rise. Continue reading →

Future of Newspapers: Thursday roundup

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The following was written for Press Gazette last week – in between the last presentation on Thursday and a drinks evening. The edited (and probably better) version that appeared in print is here. The original draft which led with Jane Singer’s paper is below: 

The future of news is more free newspapers, more ‘viewspapers’ – and less money, according to a leading academic. Continue reading →