What roles do e-mail and website play in the way today's journalist chooses, develops and produces a story? Is the Internet an effective way to get their attention? How exactly should the Internet be used in financial communications today, and in the future?

These and other questions were addressed recently in a study entitled, "How the Business and Finance Media Use E-mail and the Internet." GFC/Net, a multi-national network linking leading PR consultancies in major worldwide capital markets, polled 117 journalists from the world's leading financial centers - Brussels, Paris, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Zurich, London and New York.

E-MAIL

Of the journalists surveyed, 89% have e-mail access at work, with 28% reporting that e-mail accounts for most of their communications and 3% using it exclusively. Surprisingly, over 25% of the journalists polled in Germany still do no have access to e-mail. The majority of journalists said e-mail is not yet their primary form of communication at work. Thirty-two percent said they hardly use it, and another 40% said only one quarter of their communications takes place via e-mail.

The journalists were also asked to rank e-mail, fax and mail in order of preference for receiving information. Overall, fax was most popular, ranking first on 60% of ballots and last on only 8%. E-mail was the first choice of 33% of respondents, with another 60% raking it second. Traditional mail was the least-favored, with only 10% of journalists preferring it to fax and e-mail.

The majority of journalists interviewed (76%) intend to use e-mail more in the future, citing speed as its main advantage. Those in Hong Kong and Japan, and a large majority in Belgium and the U.K., said they were happy to provide PR reps with their e-mail address. In Germany and the U.S., only half are willing to do so.

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INTERNET

All the journalists surveyed use the Internet, and most of them (80%) use it for research at least once a day. Nearly 60% reported using the Internet several times a day. Journalists in Belgium use the Internet most

frequently, followed by Hong Kong. Japanese and British journalists are less likely to use it.

Nearly 80% of the journalists surveyed say their work is published on the Internet, but the frequency varies between countries. Germany leads the way at 93%, with the U.K. and U.S. next at 90%. Belgium falls significantly below the norm, at less than 60%.

When it comes to surfing the web, three-quarters of those surveyed say they regularly visit foreign language websites for research, with English language websites being the most popular.

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NATIONAL SUMMARIES

BELGIUM - Belgian journalists tend to be more active on the Internet than in e-mail communications. While the vast majority are open to PR contact via e-mail, the numbers suggest fax communications would be equally - or even more - effective.

FRANCE - While e-mail usage is low, every French journalist said they plan to use e-mail more in the future. However, most do not give their e-mail address to PR reps and don't appreciate receiving e-mailed releases.

GERMANY - While almost all German journalists surveyed plan to use e-mail more next year, they split 50/50 on providing their e-mail addresses to PR reps. Fax was still favored as a means to receive news releases.

HONG KONG - Without exception, Hong Kong respondents will provide their e-mail addresses to PR execs, and prefer e-mail to fax when receiving releases.

JAPAN - Japanese journalists reported receiving over 75% of their communications via e-mail, but a slight majority favor fax communications. However, a significant majority plan to increase their use of e-mail in the coming year.

SWITZERLAND - Swiss respondents use both the Internet and e-mail, but prefer receiving information via fax. Only two-thirds are willing to supply their e-mail addresses to PR reps.

U.K. - British journalists are comfortable with both e-mail and the Internet, and are willing to make e-mail contact with PR pros. A slight majority prefer receiving press releases via e-mail.

U.S. - The vast majority of U.S. respondents already make significant use of both e-mail and the Internet in their work. While they communicate effectively via e-mail, not all of them welcome PR contacts in that medium.

The above is only a summary of the results of the study and we suggest you visit GFC/Net's web site at www.gfcnet.com/news.html. For a copy of the full report, available in English, French, Dutch and German, send an e-mail to info@gfcnet.com. All copyrights with respect to this survey belong to GFC/Net and we have just reproduced the summary to highlight the trend.

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