68% of journalists unhappy, overworked, and producing more output than 5 years ago – despite inadequate resources.
According to a recent survey, an overwhelming number of journalists and media professionals are unhappy with how they are approached by corporate communications, resulting in working longer hours and increased frustration. The survey, conducted by ISEBOX, a PR technology company that helps distribute multimedia content, revealed that journalists are having to work harder and produce more than ever to make a living, but their needs are not being met by most PR Professionals.
According to the survey of North American journalists and media professionals, 68% of journalists feel that their job has become more difficult in the last five years. This is in stark contrast to the recent technology advancements that were intended to accelerate workflows. Of these new technologies, few have been developed to facilitate mass distribution of content in a way that is easily accessible and centralized for media professionals – resulting in scattered and often inaccessible story-related content. In spite of these obstacles, survey results show that 52% of journalists are producing at least five articles per week, with almost 20% producing over 11 articles per week. Of the articles published, 75% include multimedia content. Of the more than 20 pitches the majority of journalists receive each week, most do not include multimedia content, resulting in journalists spending additional time to source or produce for their coverage..
“There seems to be a massive gap between what journalists need, and how corporate communications are catering to these needs.” says Salvatore Salpietro, CTO of ISEBOX.com “There is increasing pressure to gain earned media coverage by corporate communications and public relations teams, yet they are still making the process very difficult for media to access content and put together a story by using tools like FTP, email, locked-down websites, and manual requests – all of these are enthusiasm-killers.”
Regarding delivery of multimedia content to journalists, the most popular method is still via e-mail, in spite of commonplace restrictions on file size attachments, followed by Dropbox and actual physical mailing of digital media – such as USB keys and hard drives. When gathering and collecting content, 80% of reporters expressed frustration in needing to spend more than 30 minutes doing so. Nonetheless, 80% of journalists feel including photos, infographics, or video is very important to creating effective and engaging content.
“If a pitch doesn’t contain graphics I can include with my article, it’s hard for me to take it on. Even better, if there is a video. I am under strict deadlines to produce at least 5-7 articles a day, and visual content is always required. Wasting hours sourcing and editing a company’s logo or media content to accompany a post is something I literally cannot afford. When a pitch comes with everything attached, no cumbersome downloads, I want to hug that PR rep. And, I’m more likely to pick up on the next release from them, too. ” said Karen Fratti, freelance writer and frequent contributor for Mediabistro and Huffington Post.
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