E-mail and websites shape everyday media life

(pr) A representative survey of media professionals in the German-speaking part of Switzerland
underpins the central role of the Internet for journalistic
Work. The "IAM/Bernet Study Journalists on the Internet 2005".
records a further increase in the importance of Web information sources and e-mail. Almost 92 percent of respondents use
web pages daily, e-mail is increasingly replacing telephone and
personal contacts. New applications such as blogs hardly attract any attention.
This research project was developed in the collaboration of the Institute
for Applied Media Science IAM at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences
Winterthur with Marcel Bernet Public Relations. The following were surveyed
already three years ago, the active German-speaking Swiss members of the
Journalists' Association impressum. From the 3006 questionnaires sent out
resulted in a representative sample of 617 respondents.

Usage continues to increase - Gatekeeper Google
Three years ago, less than 80 percent of the respondents used
Journalists Internet pages every day, today are
it 91.6 percent. The time budget for these visits today is
majority between one and three hours a day. The five
main content are search engines, administrative pages,
Corporate sites, news portals and newsletters. The key to this content is called Google - 97 percent of the
respondents said they used this portal. IAM project manager Guido
Keel sees this as a dangerous development: "Anyone who uses Google as their only guide will only ever get a limited
access to a topic. Media professionals should be aware,
that this quickly turns a search engine into a selection machine,
Where it is unclear what criteria are used to make the selection."

Email is most important
E-mail has established itself as a means of communication in everyday journalism.
pushed further ahead. This electronic channel is gaining strongly
importance, but it remains in third place in terms of importance - closely
behind personal conversation and the telephone. Already on the second
E-mail, on the other hand, is ranked first for contact with non-personal
known sources of information.

Communiqués please electronically
How do media professionals want to receive information?
Media releases and invitations desired by a clear majority
by e-mail. The only exception is press kits, which are sent by traditional mail.
still in first place. Nevertheless, Marcel Bernet recommends a
individual coordination: "The study shows that PR managers are
Offer media-specific content on electronic channels as well
have to. What remains decisive are the individual wishes of
Journalists."

Internet on the rise - blogs insignificant
The Internet is becoming increasingly important - where does it stand in comparison with
conventional sources? The increasing relevance of the Internet
illustrates the question of the importance of information sources.
The personal conversation is in first place, followed by
Daily newspapers and the Internet. Just three years ago, the Internet was still in
fifth place, meanwhile it has its own filing system and the
weekly newspapers as a source of research. Practically not at all
new tools such as blogs (weblogs, online diaries) are used,
Podcasts (online audio diaries) and RSS (online news tickers). Here
the supply in Switzerland is still very thin. The
The next few years will show which applications can also be used in the
journalistic work. Evaluate in general
Journalists the Internet
as a facilitator of their work and as a tool that helps their work in
will have an even greater impact in the future.

Practical tips for media and PR managersThe
Study is intended to provide a practical, scientifically based
Contribution to the work of media professionals and PR managers
offer. Therefore, in addition to all detailed analyses, it also contains
practical conclusions for the PR work and impulses for the
Media Practice. It is available free of charge via
www.iam.zhwin.ch/forschung and www.bernet.ch/index.php?studiemedien.
The findings
are freely citable with the source reference "IAM/Bernet study
Journalists on the Internet 2005".