Survey shows social media's growing influence on business journalists as a source for stories

Social media is the most increasingly influential source of information on stories published by business journalists, according to an online survey conducted by the Brunswick Group.

But, the survey says, social media does not influence journalists to the extent of their own research or more traditional information sources.

Twitter provides the most valuable sources of information, yet blogs are the most likely to be the foundation of a published article.

The survey concluded that: "On balance social media is seen to have a positive effect on the quality of journalism, and will be increasingly important to the angle and content of published stories"

Other findings were:

• Nine in ten journalists, who responded to the survey, claim to have investigated an issue further for their work due to information sourced from social media.
  

• Two-thirds claim to have written a story that originated via social media, giving rise to up to one in seven of all published stories.

• Journalists based in North America are more likely to use and believe in the importance of social media than those elsewhere.

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