‘Social media has established itself as a regular working tool in editorial departments’, says ‘news aktuell’ in a recently published article. The service of the German Press Agency quotes the results of the survey ‘Medien-Trendmonitor 2010 – Journalismus in einem neuen Informationszeitalter’ (‘Media trend monitoring 2010 – journalism in a new information age’, available in German only) which was initiated in cooperation with the consulting firm ‘Faktenkontor’. According to this survey, more than 50 per cent of journalists rely on social media for their everyday work. When it comes to the second important topic which worries the industry – the paid content issue – opinions of the 2,700 questioned colleagues differ, though. Only 25 per cent were positive that the paid content approach will be a success model.

Twitter and Facebook instead of phone and typewriter?
Despite the fact that for almost 50 per cent of those polled, social media plays a major role in editorial work, the number of doubters is still rather high (33 per cent). When taking a closer look at the age groups and at up-and-coming editors in particular, the numbers paint a slightly different picture. 75 per cent of the trainees state that they would not want to do without social networks as a source of information. As expected, the approval of the social web was especially high among online editors. An interesting detail is the fact that YouTube came out on top of the list of the most popular channels of information. A large part of the participants of the study use Internet videos during their online search to get an idea of people or follow events and press conferences. The business network XING and Facebook, the Web2.0 application par excellence, rank on places two and three respectively. On average, less than one third of journalists use Twitter for their search and publications.

A gloomy forecast for paid content
The topic ‘paid content’ has not just been hotly discussed since Wallstreet Journal or iPad raised the issue. Basically, the discussion about the pros and cons of paid content is as old as online journalism itself. Editors paint a way gloomier picture of the model’s chances of success than web pioneers and media entrepreneurs do. Merely 25 per cent of the questioned journalists think that German publishing houses will be able to make a big haul in the future by charging a fee for their online content. The arguments behind this evaluation are well known: in the first place, the something-for-nothing mentality in the web is considered the first big hindrance. In addition, there is the imminent danger that, when introducing fees for a service which has formerly been free, readers will switch to publications which continue to be gratis or that elder citizens will be even less prone to cancel their print paper subscription and read the articles online.

There is more…
The survey showed that according to media makers, one of their greatest challenges is establishing lasting contact with young readers. They fear that younger generations will be turning away from high-quality journalism. Perhaps this is another reason for editors to get involved with new communication channels. A positive side effect in this situation is that 50 per cent of German journalists consider themselves well equipped for the future. By the way: 45 per cent of those polled think that the relation of press spokesmen and editors has improved. Apparently, old aversions can actually be the basis for a great friendship…

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