Only 29% of Journalists Read Five or More Blogs

I came across an interesting finding from Steve Rubel while surfing Twitter. He links to an article on Social Media Today stating that only 29% of journalists read five or more blogs to keep up with their specific topics and issues. The positive side of this is that 75% read one blog or more. One year ago, about 26% read 5 or more blogs.

The posting on Social Media Today concludes by saying, "newspapers are still a key source of news for them (so will all those newspapers-are-dead promoters stop making it seem worse than it is?), and a large number of them are big on Electronic News Kits." There may be some validity to this. I don't feel newspapers are dead. Instead, I see blogs and newspapers living symbiotically. Newspapers and other sources (e.g. RSS feeds, other blog sources, board discussion, inside information) are key sources of information for many bloggers. Likewise, more journalists are starting to keep up with blogs to help develop their stories.

Bloggers and journalists may not realize it, but they need each other to survive this day in age.