How influential are blogs?

Blogs are having an ever more noticeable impact on the daily news cycle in the US as they move towards the presidential election later this year, according to a survey of journalists conducted by Brodeur and reported by Marketing charts.

Over 70% of journalists surveyed said blogs have increased the speed of the news cycle, while 61% said blogs were affecting the tone and 51% the editorial direction of news reporting.

It’s not surprising that blogs are having an impact, because it appears journalists are spending a lot of time reading them – just over 20% of journalists said they spend more than one hour a day reading blogs. More than three quarters of journalists surveyed said blogs were a source they consulted regularly for ideas or angles for their stories, and 70% said they have a list of blogs they consult regularly.

Of course, the line between bloggist and journalist is itself becoming increasingly blurred. Over a quarter of journalists said they maintained their own blog and 16% have their own social networking page.