New Media in the Newsroom: A Survey of Local Journalists and Their Managers on the use of Social Media as Reporting Tools

A survey of news reporters and their managers was conducted to determine whether their audiences' media-consumption habits have affected newsroom routines. The findings suggest that journalists are adopting social media (Facebook and Twitter) at a high rate, but TV reporters are more likely use social media as tools to pitch stories to news managers, to produce news stories and to deliver news stories. The findings suggest that journalists primarily use social media as promotional tools that the most likely predictors of journalists' social media use are perceptions of the "competition's" use of social media followed by the news manager's social media expectations. Additionally, news managers perceive their reporters use social media at a significantly higher rate than the reporters indicated. It also appears that several news organizations do not have clearly stated social media guidelines. This raises questions about whether news organizations have a clear social media strategy.