Logically, it had to be true. A new survey on reporters' online activities shows that our efforts in the new media space are indeed reaching reporters in healthy numbers.

According to the study by Bulldog Reporter and TEK Group, called the 2007 Journalist Survey on Media Relations Practices:

• 16% of journalists subscribe to 5 or more RSS feeds
• more than a quarter of journalists regularly read 5 or more blogs
• nearly 70% follow at least one blog

Here are some additional details, as reported by A Feed is Born:

Elizabeth Spiers, a web luminary who has served as a blog editor, publisher and journalist, isn't terribly impressed with the online efforts of the establishment media.

She explains in a Marketwatch interview with Jon Friedman:

Old media have suffered self-inflicted wounds, Spiers contends, because they prefer to jump on a trend instead of trying to come up with something wholly original. Their mentality seems to be to throw money at a problem, rather than daring to be different.

"Their idea of doing experimental launches isn't experimental," she said. "The establishment media interest me if they're doing innovative things."

Her thoughts about specific outlets are interesting as well:

PRWeb, the online press release distributor, continues to press into the social media space. Yesterday, it announced the availability of a "Blog This" link in its press releases.

This is a nice addition. Basically, if you are reading a PRWeb release, you can click the link and directly post to your blog. (You need to set up an account with PRWeb, as it holds your blog login info.)

Personally, I've always been a big fan of PRWeb. Its releases do very well with search engines and provide a nice, clean presentation with all the bells and whistles you could want. And it is a very, very good value for the dollar.

As the blogosphere progresses and becomes increasingly influential, communicators will need to find ways to reach out to bloggers just as we do to traditional journalists. This will become an integral part of media relations.

However, bloggers are not traditional reporters. Sending them press releases via a blast email will not turn out well.

The Lorelle on Wordpress blog has an interesting post titled "Promoting Your Wares to Bloggers." Here's one of her points:

Don't Waste The Time of a Blogger

If you want a bloggers attention, don't waste their time. Do not put a blogger on a mailing list they never asked to be on. Know the blogger and the blog you are approaching. Read their blog and their policies. If they clearly state, like I do, that they will not accept any requests for commercial link exchanges, don't even ask.

Here's a use of blogging I'd never heard of before.

Bijan Sabet, general partner at Spark Capital, wrote a post on BijanBlog about a business presentation he'd received ... in the form of a blog.

That's right. Read on:

Since we started Spark, I've received business plans & presentations in a variety of formats - online demos, powerpoint, word docs, webex, online videos, games and even a cd-rom. I'm not a big fan of these types of presentations especially if it's early stage idea/company. I'd rather just talk in person and use the product (if available.)

But today I received my first business presentation in a wordpress blog.

I launched a new blog this week called .farrell, which I'll be using to discuss issues outside the purview of fkcblog.

The .farrell URL is: www.farrellkramer.net.

By way of introduction, I've just put up a post looking at My 10 Favorite Things in Tech. Some of them may be of interest to fkcblog readers, as they include website software, Google Apps, podcasting software and hardware, and other items.

Here's my top item:

Today, we launched a new version of the fkcblog site. If you are reading this through a feedreader, I urge you to come visit.

There are a number of new features on the site in addition to a new, more modern look. Here are a few:

• fkcblog is now fully integrated with all the main sites of our firm, including farrell kramer communications, the talking communications with farrell kramer podcast and the fkc newsmaker interviews podcasting service. This means you can search all of our combined posts and episodes on communications together!
• tags have been introduced in a new way, with a tag cloud on the sidebar of the blog. You can see what's been written about and, of course, click on a category and read all the relevant entries.

I wanted to share a story I just had published in the February issue of PR Tactics titled "Blog basics: Writing online is much easier -- and enjoyable -- than you might imagine."

In it, I address the concern of many businesspeople that blogging sounds like a great idea ... but they're worried about the writing process. Here's an except:

The point these folks are missing is that blog posts are not newspaper articles, magazine pieces or essays. Blogging is its own medium, less demanding in terms of the written word, yet perhaps more powerful in the conversations it can create. It's worth examining the differences.

You can read the whole story here (PDF).

The sale of a business is something that is usually done in private, with communications typically beginning when the transaction is ready to be announced. With the advent and advances of Web 2.0, however, there's ample room to experiment with new approaches.

In the most recent episode of my Talking Communications with Farrell Kramer podcast, I talk to Ryan Carson, Director of Carson Systems, who is doing just that. Ryan's company is in the midst of selling DropSend, a Web application that allows individuals and businesses to send large files via e-mail. To communicate that fact, Ryan decided to cover the sale via blog, posting on everything from the sale announcement to financial/operating metrics and negotiations.

Microsoft, it seems, has found a way to compound the PR problem it created by offering free laptops running its new Windows Vista operating system to influential bloggers.

It asked for them back!

Blogger Joey deVilla, one of those who got the laptops, explains on Global Nerdy: