A month ago, a survey was carried out and information was published on how much the journalists in Latvia read blogs and are affected by them. (7 guru article in Latvian)

Main findings:

• 82% of the surveyed journalists read blogs regularly
• Every fourth media worker reads blogs for entertainment
• More than half (58%) of the respondents claim that they rarely use blogs in their work
• 32% have never used blogs in their work
• 41% of the respondents read blogs several times per week
• 32% of the respondents read blogs at least once a day
• 55% of the surveyed journalists say that they are merely passive observers of the blogosphere, only reading blogs, but never commenting
• 20% of the surveyed journalists are considering the possibility of creating their own internet journal

Source data

Their article and the published press release contained nothing more than percentages. I was not only dissatisfied, but also worried by that, so I turned to the authors of the survey with questions. I did not find out everything I wanted, but at least some of my inquiries were answered:

• In the beginning of June, 50 journalists were surveyed, representing all types of media (TV, radio, press, portals)
• Regional journalists were also among the respondents
• The survey was carried out by phone (some also replied by e-mail)

Technical conclusions

If we look past the absolute numbers, this type of survey is interesting, as it shows the attitude of authors of news towards the ‘’internet citizens’’ – bloggers. It must be pointed out right away that these data are only an approximation (5 journalists make up 10%). The number of respondents is somewhat low, which means that each journalist represents a large amount of people. I’m also not clear on the distribution; how many journalists were surveyed from each type of media? However, I hope that the research was carried out in accordance with all required standards.

Conclusions

It is impossible to read blogs and not get affected by them. Journalists easily notice what the prevailing opinions are in internet portal comments and blogs. And now we have obtained information that 82% of the surveyed journalists read blogs. It means that it’s important to present your idea in a professional manner, so that when a journalist notices it, the information has a chance to continue its way to the ”serious” media as well.

When information begins its circulation in blogs and is met with considerable feedback, a journalist won’t find it hard to make a few calls on which to base a more serious article.

In Latvia, more and more niche blogs written by experts are appearing, where you can read objective news about the happenings of their specific field – it’s a great source of background information, which would facilitate journalists’ work, if only they knew how to utilize this information.