Social Media Impact on Tech Journalism

Some have said that social media like blogs, Wikis and RSS pose a threat to traditional journalists and publications, especially in the tech sector. 

For example, an article in Forbes (see "Tech Boom, Media Bust") reported that tech media is reeling because of blogs.  SlashDot’s ensuing post was the focus of much heated debate, both online and off.

At Fusion PR, we wanted to go beyond the simple storyline and heated debate and find out specifically how social media is changing traditional tech journalism, amidst some very obvious trends – the growth of blogging, the shrinking or print media, and surge in online advertising and traffic. 

So we launched a survey of tech journalists last month.   Our goal in conducting this anonymous survey was to find out directly from actual journalists how their jobs have changed since the advent and rapid ascent of new and social media.

We wanted to determine to what extent traditional media are taking advantage of social media tools. Has this changed how they research, write and deliver their stories, and follow the technologies they cover?

The hope was to get a better understanding of the profession, leading to better ways of communicating with our journalist contacts.

You can find out more about the results by visiting the Fusion blog today.