Business journalists: The Internet helps us do our job

Business journalists increasingly use blogs and instant messaging to communicate with sources and performing reporting functions, according to a survey released Monday.

The 2007 Arketi Web Watch Survey found that more than four out of five business journalists said they would use a blog as a primary or secondary source.

In addition, the survey found that more than three out of four journalists (79 percent) report finding story ideas on newswires, while 74 percent say from Web sites, 72 percent say from other media outlets and 54 percent report blogs spark story ideas.

All journalists surveyed said they prefer working with known sources via e-mail, while 91 percent prefer telephone and 77 percent say in-person. Interestingly one-quarter (25 percent) say they prefer instant messaging with known sources. When it comes to working with unknown sources, nearly all journalists surveyed (98 percent) say they prefer e-mails.

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