DERI launches national survey on Irish journalists’ use of social media

2 Jul 2013

As a news team, we here at Siliconrepublic.com are acutely aware of the role social media has come to play in everyday journalism. To investigate how this fairly new medium is impacting Irish journalists, the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) has launched the first formal study into the matter.

Similar studies of how media professionals use social media have been conducted in the UK, Europe and worldwide, but this will be the first comprehensive survey targeting Irish journalists.

The survey has been launched by the newly formed Digital Humanities and Journalism (HuJo) group at DERI, based in NUI Galway.

The aim of the study is to measure how social media is used by media professionals in Ireland, how often and by how many. All professional journalists working in print, television, radio and online media are invited to take part, sacrificing 10 minutes out of their busy schedules to do so.

“The ubiquity of social media is quickly changing the global media landscape, leading us to query Ireland’s contemporary journalistic practices,” said Dr Bahareh Heravi, the project manager and leader of the Digital Humanities and Journalism group at DERI.

“This survey will help to not only delineate these practices, but the data collected has the potential to ultimately result in more informed and accurate reporting,” she added.

Social media image via Cienpies Design/Shutterstock

Elaine Burke is the host of For Tech’s Sake, a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network. She was previously the editor of Silicon Republic.

editorial@siliconrepublic.com