NEW EU Media Relations Report - Brussels journalist survey and what the findings reveal for communicators.

Mark Dober and Natalia Kurop just  launched their new report on EU Media Relations at the Brussels Press Club. At the heart of this 44 page report are the results of an in-depth survey of 80 Brussels journalists accredited with the European Commission. The report covers a number of themes of interest to communicators including; the challenges facing Brussels journalists; spokespersons and public relations; print, broadcast, online and social media trends; and journalists favourite sources of news and information.

If you would like a free digital copy of the report please email us at [email protected]

According to our research journalists love Twitter, favour personal contacts over press releases, rate NGOs highly and companies poorly, and think that PR people don’t understand their needs.  The report offers a unique insight into what journalists are looking for from communicators. Notably, the study finds that:

• Almost three-quarters of the journalists surveyed said PR people do not understand their needs. “Often industry PR people present company trumpet-blowing as wider news,” complained one.
• Twitter is by far the most important digital media for journalists, followed by blogs and Facebook. The main reason journalists use Twitter is to “see what peers are writing about,” closely followed by keeping on top of breaking news.
• NGOs are journalists’ favourite sources for news, with industry associations and companies providing the worst quality information. The European Parliament was judged the best institutional source of news.
• Journalists are under enormous time pressure, with over a quarter having less than two hours to research a story and almost 60% less than four hours.
• The top complaints about spokespeople are they are too evasive, contact journalists too late and are unable to craft a usable quote.
• In terms of which media sources they consider the most important, the Financial Times topped the list, closely followed by EUObserver. Euractiv and Politico rounded out the top five along with Twitter.
• The European Commission’s new-look Spokesman’s Service, with less spokespeople giving more political responses to journalists, got an overwhelming thumbs-down from Brussels-based correspondents. Almost three-quarters of those surveyed said the quality of information provided by the Juncker Commission was worse. “Too much spin,” said one reporter. “Introverted and journalist unfriendly,” said another.

The 44 page report features many useful quotes, anecdotes, data and charts offering insights into journalists' thinking and behaviour.  For instance, we asked journalists their top 3 sources for story ideas:

Clearly, personal contacts are the most important source of story ideas, far outranking social media or press releases.

For further information and insights please visit www.doberpartners.com