Journalists seem to be more receptive to pitches this year, according to the latest annual State of Journalism study [download page] from Muck Rack. Some 29% of those surveyed said they’re more likely to respond to pitches compared to a year ago, versus 19% who said they’re less likely to do so.
Overall, almost 8 in 10 report that at least some of the stories they publish originate from pitches, most commonly about one-quarter (as cited by 55% of respondents). As for ignoring pitches, the leading reason for immediately rejecting otherwise relevant pitches continues to be a lack of personalization.
The study also notes that some sources of information are considered more credible than others. Academic subject matter experts (SMEs) are perceived to be the most credible, with 8 in 10 believing them to be a good source. The only other source that a majority (62%) believe to be credible are CEOs, though this is down slightly from last year (66%). Interestingly enough, consumers around the world believe CEOs are more credible than journalists…
Beyond academic SMEs and CEOs, about half (49%) of journalists consider company PR professionals to be credible sources for their reporting. To that end, company PR pros are perceived to be more credible than agency PR professionals, who were cited by only about 1 in 3 (35% of) respondents.
As for social media personalities/influencers, just 19% of journalists surveyed feel that they’re credible enough to be trusted sources for reporting. Celebrity spokespeople (15%) and bloggers (14%) followed.
These spokespeople also aren’t essential to making a story shareable: when asked what makes a story shareable, only 1 in 8 (12%) pointed to the involvement of a relevant social media influencer.
Instead, a subject connected to a trending story (69%), the story containing an image or infographic (63%) and exclusive and/or surprising data (54%) are the most apt to make a story more shareable, per the report.
For more, download the report here.
About the Data: The results are based on a January-February global survey of 2,226 journalists.
