impact of social media in news

#SMING14IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON NEWS

AN INTERNATIONAL STUDY INTO THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE ACTIVITIES OF PR PROFESSIONALS & JOURNALISTS, NEWS & NEWS DISSEMINATION

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ABOUT THIS STUDY WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT? KEY TERMS

Both news and the way in which it is disseminated have

been strongly infl uenced by social media. Social media have

changed the way PR professionals and journalists operate.

Last year ING conducted a study into the role of social media

in PR and journalism. It concluded that social media have

revolutionised the media landscape.

This year the study into the role of social media among PR

professionals and journalists has been repeated with the aim

of gaining an insight into the impact of social media on the

activities of PR professionals and journalists and how they

have infl uenced the news and the way news is disseminated.

Both Dutch and international PR professionals and journalists

were involved in the study in order to ascertain to what extent

there are differences in the way countries use and make use

of social media.

The report contains various terms, which are explained below:This report provides an insight into the following questions:

To what extent are social media seen as reliable?

To what extent is public opinion via social media

used in publishing news?

To what extent do journalists undertake

fact-checking and crowd-checking?

To what extent do journalists act differently in

traditional media and social media?

To what extent do Dutch PR professionals use

social media differently from international

PR professionals?

What are the expectations of PR professionals

and journalists with regard to social media?

The ‘Journalists’ group comprises journalists, editors

and bloggers/experts who write about a specifi c subject.

Where the term journalists is used, it refers to both Dutch

and international respondents, unless stated otherwise.

The ‘PR professionals’ group comprises PR professio-

nals, spokespeople and corporate communication pro-

fessionals. Where the term PR professionals is used,

it refers to both Dutch and international respondents,

unless stated otherwise.

Fact-checking is defi ned as the checking of facts, for

example by applying the principle of hearing both sides

of the argument. Crowd-checking means using public

opinion to establish whether or not something is true.

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Journalists

PR professionals

Fact- & Crowd Checking

INTRODUCTION

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THE 5 MAIN INSIGHTS AT A GLANCE

One-third of journalists said social media posts are not

a reliable source of information. Despite this half of

journalists said social media were their main source of

information.

Remarkably, half of journalists said they consider con-

sumer opinion to be more reliable than a statement by

an organisation. Journalists use social media to find out

what people are talking about and when writing articles,

but do not always check whether public opinion is based

on fact.

Fact-checking has become less thorough; ‘publish first,

correct if necessary’ is the order of the day. Only one-

fifth of journalists always check their facts before publi-

shing. Almost half of journalists said they published as

quickly as possible with most of what they put out and

correct later if necessary. PR professionals also noted

that since the arrival of social media journalists are get-

ting in contact less frequently to check facts.

Journalists (60%) said they feel less bound by journa-

listic rules on social media than with traditional media

such as a newspaper article. They act differently on

social media than in traditional media, sharing their

personal opinion more openly on social media. This

despite the fact that journalists are seen as being

objective and reporters of news facts relating to events

of general importance.

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SUMMARY

Dutch PR professionals are lagging behind their interna-

tional counterparts. In the Netherlands the focus lies on

sending out news, while internationally more attention

is devoted to dialogue and direct contact with journalists

and consumers via social media.

5MAIN INSIGHTS

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Journalists expect less fact-checking to be done in the

future. Conversely the role of crowd-checking, whereby

the public’s opinion is used and accepted as being true,

will grow in importance.

User-generated content, such as tweets and pictures or

videos from bystanders, is already widely used in news

and is expected to grow further.

Dutch PR professionals will stage a catch-up as they

reduce their focus on sending out releases and concen-

trate more on engaging in dialogue and building relations.

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THE 5 MAIN EXPECTATIONS AT A GLANCE

SUMMARY

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Journalists expect journalism to be driven by clicks and

views more than by content.

54 PR professionals expect their contact with consumers to

intensify with increasingly less involvement of journalists,

now that they have the ability to approach the target group

directly and engage in dialogue with them.

EXPECTATIONS

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53%

40%

PR professionals

RELIABILITY OF SOCIAL MEDIA POSTSSOCIAL MEDIA ARE WIDELY USED FOR PUBLICATIONS, DESPITE THEIR LOW DEGREE OF RELIABILITY

40% of journalists consider social media posts to be reliable.

PR professionals judge social media to be somewhat more

reliable, with 53% in this group saying they agree with the

statement.

It is noteworthy that social media posts are the most

important source of information for 50% of journalists

despite their relatively low reliability.

Moreover 59% of journalists said public opinion on social

media played an important role in what they publish.

51% of PR professionals said news is becoming less re-

liable because fact-checking has declined as a result of

social media.

CHAPTER

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51%

16%

23%

Social media posts are a reliable source of information

Journalism

Percentage of respondents who agreed

with this statement

PR

Social media make news less reliable because journalists do less/no fact-checking

Agree

Disagree

Neutral

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It is noteworthy that 50% of journalists consider consumer

opinion to be more reliable than a statement by an orga-

nisation. 19% of journalists do not see consumer opinion

as being more reliable.

68% of journalists use social media to fi nd out what

people are talking about.

Nearly three-quarters of journalists stated that the impact

of public opinion on publications has increased as a result

of social media.

50% 31% 19%

Journalists

Journalists

RELIABILITY OF SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS50% OF JOURNALISTS CONSIDER CONSUMER OPINION MORE RELIABLE THAN A STATEMENT BY AN ORGANISATION

CHAPTER

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73% 19% 8%

Agree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Disagree

Neutral

I consider consumer opinion on social media more reliable than a statement by an organisation

The impact of public opinion on publicationshas increased as a result of social media

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45% of journalists put out 60% to 100% of what they

publish as soon as possible – without checking facts –

and correct later if necessary.

Only 20% always check the facts before publishing.

52% of PR professionals said that since the arrival of

social media journalists get in contact less frequently to

check facts.

FACT & CROWD CHECKING

‘PUBLISH FIRST, CORRECT IF NECESSARY’ IS THE ORDER OF THE DAY

45%

14%

21%

20%

Journalists

Journalists said checks as to whether public opinion is

correct are carried out; 53% of journalists said they do so

with 60-100% of what they publish.

17% of journalists said they never check whether public

opinion is true.

HALF OF JOURNALISTS CHECK WHETHER PUBLIC OPINION ON SOCIAL MEDIA IS BASED ON FACT

53%

16%

15%

17%

Journalists

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For a minority of publications(1 - 39%)

Never (0%)

For around half of publications (40 - 59%)

For most publications(60 - 100%)

For a minority of publications(1 - 39%)

Never (0%)

For around half of publications (40 - 59%)

For most publications(60 - 100%)

I publish as soon as possible and correct later

I check whether public opinion is correct

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CHAPTER

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Journalists

Journalists

HOW JOURNALISTS ACT ON SOCIAL MEDIAJOURNALISTS FEEL LESS BOUND BY JOURNALISTIC RULES ON SOCIAL MEDIA

As many as 60% of journalists agreed with the statement

‘On social media I am less bound by journalistic rules than

in traditional media’.

Journalists act differently on social media from when they

report through traditional news channels. 67% of journa-

lists said they express themselves differently on social

media.

59% of journalists said they share their personal opinion

more openly via social media.

17%

66% 17%

Journalists

Agree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Disagree

Neutral

On social media I am less bound by journalisticrules than in traditional media

I express myself differently on social mediathan in traditional media

22%

18%

60%

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CHAPTER

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Dutch PR professionals attach significantly more impor-

tance to social media for PR purposes than international

PR professionals.

86% of Dutch respondents said that PR can no longer

function without social media, compared to 71% in the

United States and 79% in the United Kingdom.

However, in the Netherlands social media receive less atten-

tion within the PR media mix than in other countries.

19% of Dutch PR professionals devote more attention to

social media than to other media.

In the United Kingdom and the United States social media

receives respectively more attention with 65% and 45% of

the PR professionals.

DUTCH PR PROFESSIONALS ARE LAGGING BEHIND THE UNITED STATES AND UNITED KINGDOM

DUTCH VS. INTERNATIONAL PR PROFESSIONALS

45% 48%

65% 28% 7%

7%

11%

18%19% 63%

51% 38%

NL

INT

76%

86%

71%

79%

NL

INT

PR professionals

PR can no longer function without social media

Percentage of respondents who agreed with this statement

What is the share of social media withinthe PR mix compared to traditional resources?

Greater Equal Smaller

US

UK

US

UK

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CHAPTER

4DUTCH PR PROFESSIONALS ENGAGE LESS WITH JOURNALISTS AND CONSUMERS

DUTCH VS. INTERNATIONAL PR PROFESSIONALS PR professionals

In the Netherlands 24% of PR professionals talk to jour-

nalists on a daily basis, compared to 63% in the United

States. In the UK almost three-quarters of PR professio-

nals (72%) have daily talks.

It is noteworthy that PR professionals in all countries

engage in dialogue with consumers more often than with

journalists.

Dutch PR professionals engage less with consumers com-

pared to other countries.

45% of Dutch PR professionals engage with consumers

on a daily basis, compared to 73% in the US and 81% in

the UK.

PR professionals

45%

80% 78%

91%

73%

87%81%

93%

NL INT

PR professionals

24%

85%

65%

92%

63%

87%

72%

96%

NL INT

I engage with journalists via social media

Weekly

Daily

Daily

yeeklW

I engage directly with consumers via social media

US

US

UK

UK

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CHAPTER

4DIALOGUE VIA SOCIAL MEDIA STRENGTHENS RELATIONS WITH JOURNALISTS

DUTCH VS. INTERNATIONAL PR PROFESSIONALS PR professionals

The frequency with which PR professionals engage with

media relations would appear to determine the degree to

which ties with journalists have strengthened.

PR professionals in the United States and the United King-

dom engage with journalists more frequently and experience

improved relations with this target group more strongly (65%

and 72%, respectively) than Dutch PR professionals (49%).

PR professionals

65%

72%

49%

66%

NL

INT

Social media have strengthenedmy relations with journalists


US

UK

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Both journalists and PR professionals are convinced that

the role of social media within their industry will continue

to grow; 85% of PR professionals and 80% of journalists

agreed with this statement.

PR

80%

0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

85%

EXPECTATIONS

ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA TO KEEP ON GROWING

CHAPTER

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PR professionals

Journalists

Journalism


The role of social media within journalism, PR, corporatecommunications and crisis management will only increase

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Is the ‘real’ journalist set to become a gatekeeper &

research journalist?

In 2014 anyone can be a journalist or pretend to be one.

Moreover social media enable far more rapid dissemi-

nation of news, regardless of whether it is true or not.

Although this discussion has been ongoing for quite some

time, expectations are that the ‘real’ (professional) journa-

list will indeed increasingly assume the role of gatekeeper:

someone who selects the nuggets, who is able to fi lter out

the news that really matters, who checks the facts and

shares reliable news. It is also expected that journalists

will increasingly develop in the direction of research jour-

nalism. These journalists are less focused on spreading

scoops and more on providing background information.

Is journalism more driven by clicks and views?

Are clicks and views becoming more important than quality

and content? One journalist called it ‘click bait journalism’

whereby the number of views an article gets – whether or

not because of the advertising revenue – is more important

than for example achieving knowledge of developments or

raising awareness of a certain social issue. Which could

lead to news becoming more sensation-driven with a lesser

focus on quality and content.

More user-generated content?

Tweets are already regularly cited in articles or headlines,

and pictures and videos made by bystanders are used for

news items. Expectations are that user-generated content

as input for news will continue to increase in the future

(73%). Around half of respondents believe that the role of

tools such as Scoopshot will become more important in

journalism, with user-generated content being purchased,

for example for use in news articles.

Less fact-checking, more crowd-checking?

This study has already established that fact-checking is no

longer universal practice and that the speed of social me-

dia creates a preference for ‘publish fi rst, correct if neces-

sary’. 44% of journalists expect to see a further decline

in fact-checking in the future. Crowd-checking, conversely,

whereby the public’s opinion is used and accepted as fact,

will grow in importance, said 55%.

WHAT DO JOURNALISTS EXPECT?

CHAPTER

5PR professionals

EXPECTATIONS

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Will increasing numbers of pr professionals be active on

social media?

PR professionals expect an increasing number of colleagues

to be active on social media, with 90% of respondents

agreeing with this statement. The industry has a growing

need for people with knowledge and experience of social

media. In addition to PR professionals and spokespeople

expectations are that employees will play a bigger role in

PR. Not everyone views this as a positive development, as

it means PR departments will have less control over their

message. Moreover some journalists said that it is getting

harder to find the right person within an organisation.

Greater attention to social media & online resources

within the pr mix?

83% of PR professionals expect organisations to make more

use of online news and pressrooms to disseminate news. In

principle anything can be shared in these online newsrooms

that facilitates a journalist in writing or developing news

articles, think for example of images, infographics, video

material, etc. As a result 79% of respondents expect to need

a larger budget for the development of PR resources.

Closer contact with consumers?

One of the conclusions of last year’s study was that the

PR model has changed. PR professionals expect the in-

volvement of journalists to diminish given that they now

have the ability to approach the target group directly and

engage with them. This trend would appear to be happe-

ning already, given that PR professionals say they are more

likely to engage with consumers than with journalists.

Less sending, more dialogue?

Many PR professionals, especially in the Netherlands,

are focusing on using social media to expand their reach.

Expectations are that the focus will indeed shift to engaging

in permanent dialogue and building relations, rather than

simply sending out messages to various target groups.

WHAT DO PR PROFESSIONALS EXPECT?

CHAPTER

5PR professionals

PR expectations

EXPECTATIONS

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85% of PR professionals use social media on a daily basis.

The Dutch are most active, with 90% of respondents saying

they use social media every day.

Like journalists, PR professionals are active on social

media throughout the day, mainly from 8:30 am to 8:00 pm.

Activity levels are lower in late evenings and early mornings.

78% of PR professionals consider social media to be

important to the performance of their daily work.

55% of PR professionals are unable to perform their duties

without social media. A quarter of respondents said they

can work without social media.

81% of PR professionals believe that PR can no longer

operate without social media.

64% of PR professionals consider social media to be more

superficial, with traditional media offering more scope for

depth.

81% of PR professionals consider that social media have

a more rapid impact than traditional media.

56% of PR professionals consider that social media have

reduced the importance of traditional media.

56%consider that traditional media is reduced in its importance

PR professionals are active on social media throughout the day

OTHER FACTS & FIGURES

PR PROFESSIONALS & SOCIAL MEDIA

CHAPTER

6PR professionals

2 am 6 am 10 am 2 pm 6 pm 10 pm

0 am 4 am 8 am 12 pm 4 pm 8 pm 0 pm

high activity

low activity

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Social media have a positive impact on reach, with 83% of

PR professionals reporting a strong increase in reach as a

result of using social media for PR purposes. Around half

(49%) consider that the quality of the reach has improved.

Twitter (79%) and Facebook (71%) are used the most

for the dissemination of news. 51% use a social media

release for this, while 36% use an online newsroom.

66% of PR professionals consider social media to be ideal

for contacting journalists.

58% of PR professionals use social media on a weekly basis

to maintain relations with relevant stakeholders.

72% of PR professionals measure the impact of their

social media activities on a weekly basis (such as buzz

volume, traffic, etc.), 12% never measure the impact.

35% of organisations actively monitor 24/7 what is being

said about a brand in order to be able to respond. At 34%

monitoring takes place during office hours, with 19% of

organisations saying they monitor occasionally and 2%

only doing so in crisis situations.

Monitoring the buzz surrounding a brand is mainly the pro-

vince of the Communication department (58%), followed

by Marketing (30%) and Webcare (24%).

58% 30%MARKETING

24%WEBCARE

83%

49%

Monitoring the buzz surrounding a brand

A strong increase in reach and

in quality

PR PROFESSIONALS & SOCIAL MEDIA

CHAPTER

6PR professionals

increase in reach

increase in quality

COMMUNICATION


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78% of journalists use social media on a daily basis. The

Dutch are most active, with 87% of respondents saying

they use social media every day.

Twitter (90%), Facebook (81%) and LinkedIn (64%) are

used most for business.

Like PR professionals, journalists are active on social

media throughout the day, mainly from 8:30 am to 8:00 pm.

Activity levels are lower in late evenings and early mornings.

72% of journalists consider social media to be important

to the performance of their daily work.

56% of journalists are no longer able to perform their

duties without social media. A quarter of journalists said

they are able to work without social media.

68% of journalists believe that journalism can no longer

operate without social media.

64% of journalists consider social media to be more

superfi cial, with traditional media offering more scope for

depth.

74% of journalists consider that social media have a more

rapid impact than traditional media.

Journalists are making more active use of social media to

pressure organisations or to raise issues. Last year 43%

of journalists used social media for these purposes, in

2014 this has risen to 57%.

64%

56%

are no longer able to perform their duties

without social media

consider social media to be more superfi cial,

with traditional media offering more scope for depth

JOURNALISTS & SOCIAL MEDIA

CHAPTER

6Journalists


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51% of journalists consider that social media have reduced

the importance of traditional media.

64% of journalists believe that social media have given

them greater infl uence.

62% of journalists consider that the quality of the reach

has improved.

73% of journalists approach the target group with publica-

tions on a weekly basis.

48% use social media to draw attention to 60 to 100% of

their publications over longer periods of time.

57% of journalists consider social media to be ideal for

contacting PR professionals.

63% of journalists use social media on a weekly basis to

maintain relations with relevant stakeholders.

59% are in weekly contact with employees and/or board

members of organisations.

65% 16%

65% of journalists measure the impact of their social

media activities on a weekly basis (such as buzz volume,

traffi c, etc.), 16% never measure the impact.

51%consider that the importance of traditional media is reduced

measure the impact on a weekly basis never measure the impact

JOURNALISTS & SOCIAL MEDIA

CHAPTER

6Journalists


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+APPENDIX

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About this study

This study was conducted in March and April 2014 by

Social Embassy on behalf of ING Netherlands. The purpose

of the study was to gain an insight into the impact of social

media on the activities of PR professionals and journalists

and the way they influence the news and the way news is

disseminated.

Survey

PR professionals, spokespeople and corporate communica-

tions professionals as well as journalists, editors and blog-

gers from around the world participated in an online survey

which involved answering closed questions and responding

to statements. They were questioned about such things as

the role of social media in their field of work, how they use

social media and their attitude towards certain develop-

ments in their industry. Participants in the study were also

given the opportunity to give their view on future trends and

developments.

SCOPE

HOW WAS THE STUDY CONDUCTED?

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Panel

A total of 186 PR professionals participated in the study, of

whom 100 from the Netherlands and 86 from other coun-

tries. Thirty of the international PR professionals were from

the United States (US) and 42 from the United Kingdom

(UK). The other international respondents were from various

other European countries.

In addition 165 journalists took part in the study, with 66

being from the Netherlands and 99 from other countries. Of

the international journalists 42 were from the US and 37

from the UK. The other international respondents were from

various other European countries.

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MARTIN KLOOS

[email protected]

@martinkloos

+31 (0) 6 549 844 13

HAROLD REUSKEN

[email protected]

@haroldreusken

+31 (0) 6 549 844 13

CONTACT INFORMATION

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

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