How does news break in Bristol?

As a PR professional I am always fascinated to learn who really is behind an emerging story? It might be a publicity agent or a whistle blower but more than often than not it is a PR consultant or an in-house press officer.

Alistair Campbell once said that “he should never have become the story” but the shadow of PR can usually be detected somewhere. Where breaking news is concerned, however, we must not overlook the humble blogger. Many scoops originate with ‘community commentators’ who now enjoy a big following online.

Here is an example of how bloggers now influence the news media in Bristol, rather than just commenting on it (see below). Who really broke the story of the Bristol City Council DVD for recycling recently? The actual source of the story was Indymedia and a post on the Bristol Indymedia newswire.

Bristol Indymedia is a volunteer-run open access website comprising news, views, images and videos from readers/contributors. It is part of the global Indymedia movement, a project focused on grassroots non-commercial news written by ordinary people. A blogger called Katherine posted this on the site.

- (Wednesday August 06, 2008 14:22) Your Chance to Help Promote Recycling in Bristol - Indymedia

Then The Bristol Blogger picked up on the story here.

- (August the 8th) - Money down the drain…

On the 13th of August the Bristol Evening Post picked up on the story…

- (08:00 - 13-August-2008) Bristol City Council to spend £20million on a DVD regarding recycling.

So this is a graphic example of how journalists and bloggers read other blogs for story ideas. It has been calculated that 78% of journalists in the USA read blogs, so it’s no surprise that time-pressed UK journalists, with diminishing news gathering resources, turn to blogs for story ideas.

Bloggers and community journalists not only have the time to research local issues but now have influence over local and national media news content too.