Biz reporters still look at corporate sites, increase social media usage

A survey released Monday shows that 81 percent of journalists turn to corporate websites when looking for story ideas, reporting on breaking news or seeking a corporate representative.

According to the business journalists surveyed, the most useful information on a corporate website includes: Contact information (98 percent); search capabilities (94 percent); text documents (87 percent); PDFs (84 percent) and publication-quality graphics or photos (79 percent).

“Despite the growth of social media, the survey shows that journalists still frequently turn to corporate websites for information,” said Mike Neumeier, principal of Arketi Group, in a statement. “Companies should continue to devote resources to their websites, along with other online communication channels.”

This year’s survey found that 92 percent of journalists have a LinkedIn account, an increase from 85 percent in 2009. In addition to LinkedIn, 85 percent of journalists are on Facebook (up from 55 percent in 2009) and 84 percent use Twitter (24 percent in 2009).

The 2011 Arketi Web Watch Survey seeks to understand the opinions of business journalists and their use of technology. Seventy-five percent of respondents have been in the field of journalism for 10 or more years, with almost half stating they have been a journalist for more than 20 years. The online survey with 98 journalists responding was conducted in the spring of 2011.

Download a copy of the survey here.