Similarities and differences between bloggers & journalists

What differentiates a blogger from a journalist can be confusing. There is an overlap, but also several fundamental differences, which are important for businesses to know.

Here is a quick guide to a few similarities and differences businesses should expect when working with and building relationships with bloggers and journalists who put out a media request.

The Similarities between Bloggers and Journalists

They both provide coverage

Both types of writers can be great for small businesses to gain valuable exposure. Whether it is an article, a quote or a product feature, bloggers and journalists can provide coverage of your business, and enhance your PR campaign, helping you reach new markets.

For example: JournoLink’s listing for small business Stand4Socks was picked up by blogger Kate Tattersfield from Search Office Space for a quote for an article on the company’s blog.

The role of social media

Social media giant Twitter has essentially become a search engine for bloggers and journalists looking for businesses to interact with. Hashtags such as #journorequest play a significant part in helping writers find content they’re looking for.

Know your audience

If you look at the blogger and journalist communities, the audiences can be completely different, depending on the topics that are written about, as well as the personality of the writer.  If you want to build a relationship with a blogger or writer, first have a look at their audience, do the research.

Writers will only be interested in your story if it will fit in with their readership’s interests and values.

For example: For a blogger listed on JournoLink, if a company contacts them regarding something not related to topics that they cover, it implies that no research was done on the target audience, meaning that there is little point in developing a blogger-business relationship.

The Differences between Bloggers and Journalists

Context for Content

For the most part, journalists will already have a topic in mind for an article. Bloggers on the other hand need a clear idea of what a business wants from the relationship, and then they can make an informed decision if the idea or product fits in with their blog.

Journalists also report on the facts of the matter, whereas bloggers include their personal opinion. Journalism is about objectivity whereas blogging is more personal and can be subjective.

Type of Coverage

The type of content written by journalists and bloggers can be quite different.

Bloggers give out information based a lot of the time on their own perspective whereas journalists do it according to the news media that they work for.

Bloggers are likely to write a product or service review, whereas journalists tend to cover news and press releases as well as more in-depth coverage such as interviews. With no accountability & no responsibility, bloggers are not journalists and are able to share more of their own opinion and values in a piece.

For example: A press release from Oddbox, a ‘wonky veg box scheme’, featured on JournoLink was used by journalist Isabel Finch to publish an article containing details of the scheme in the news section of eatoutmagazine.co.uk.

The platform

By definition, a blogger’s platform is online, however, there is still variation within this, as some bloggers prefer particular social media channels or write only for their own blog. A journalist can be involved with multiple media platforms, including TV, print, or radio.

The team at JournoLink feels that the best way to foster a strong relationship with a writer is to get to know them, and how they like to work.

If you sign up for our PR software, we can help with every aspect of sharing your press release with the right journalists and bloggers.

If you have a blog or are a journalist sign up here to search for opportunities.