Social Media Use on the Rise in TV Newsrooms [STATS]

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Earlier today, we discussed how it is becoming common practice for news outlets to crowdsource pictures uploaded to Twitter after the occurrence of natural disasters and phenomena. After last night's possible meteor shower in Wisconsin, reporters gathered pictures on Twitter and shared them with their audience.

Although Facebook and Twitter are popular with TV stations, only 27% of radio newsrooms use Twitter and 1% have a Facebook page. The survey's conductor, Robert Papper of Hofstra University, said the contrast in usage is due to staff size. "If you had a staff of three or more, you were involved in a number of social networking things. If you did not hit that magic number you were not involved." He explains why radio stations do not participate more in social media in the video clip below:

Beyond social media, 90% of TV stations say they publish text, stills and video on their website, while another 60% post blogs, live cameras and audio, and 30% stream audio and recorded newscasts.

The study also revealed that TV stations are increasingly utilizing mobile devices to deliver content. About 2/3rds of TV stations now deliver news to computers, TVs and mobile devices.

Do these numbers surprise you? What other trends have you noticed in television media? Let us know in the comments.

[via: PoynterOnline and @lavrusik]