In the modern digital age, social media has become an indispensable tool for journalists and media professionals. Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn allow journalists to build their personal brand, connect with sources, promote their work, and keep up with the latest news and trends. Of these platforms, LinkedIn is emerging as an especially valuable resource for journalists looking to expand their networks and advance their careers.
How Do Journalists Use LinkedIn?
Journalists use LinkedIn in a variety of ways:
- Networking and connecting with sources. LinkedIn’s large membership base allows journalists to connect with potential sources of information spanning different industries, beats, and geographic locations. Journalists can reach out directly to sources through LinkedIn messaging.
- Establishing themselves as thought leaders. By sharing articles, commenting on industry discussions, and posting multimedia content, journalists can position themselves as experts on key topics.
- Promoting published work. Journalists can provide summaries and links to their latest print or multimedia stories.
- Finding job opportunities. The LinkedIn Jobs section is a valuable tool for journalists looking to advance their careers or transition into new roles.
- Following influencers and newsmakers. By following key figures and organizations within their beat, journalists can stay on top of important developments.
- Accessing resources and training. LinkedIn’s news resources, online learning courses, and professional groups provide helpful materials for journalists looking to develop their skills.
- Engaging with readers. Journalists can interact with their audiences to foster engagement and loyalty.
Benefits of LinkedIn for Journalists
There are several key benefits LinkedIn offers journalists:
- Access to sources. With over 722 million members worldwide, LinkedIn grants journalists access to a massive pool of potential expert sources and interviewees.
- Story ideas. Keeping up with industry news, trends, and discussions on LinkedIn can help generate story ideas and identify underreported angles.
- Thought leadership. LinkedIn provides tools for journalists to build their personal brands and establish themselves as trusted experts on key topics.
- Audience engagement. Journalists can interact with audiences to build loyalty and gauge reader interests and concerns.
- Career development. The expanded networking, job seeking, and training resources available via LinkedIn can help journalists pursue new opportunities and specializations.
- Multimedia capacity. Journalists can incorporate multimedia content into their profiles to showcase clips, photos, graphics, and podcasts.
Challenges of Using LinkedIn
While beneficial in many regards, LinkedIn also poses some challenges and drawbacks for journalists:
- Time investment. Maintaining an active, frequently updated presence on LinkedIn requires a time commitment.
- Distractions. It can be tempting for journalists to spend too much time scrolling through their feeds instead of on substantive reporting activities.
- Source bias. Not all sources located via LinkedIn are necessarily credible, balanced, or impartial.
- Audience bias. LinkedIn users tend to skew toward more affluent, educated, business-oriented demographics.
- Platform algorithms. Changes to LinkedIn’s algorithms can impact how many users see a journalist’s posts and activity.
- Job instability. There is some evidence linking increased social media usage among journalists to higher job turnover and changing employer expectations.
Best Practices for Journalists on LinkedIn
To maximize the benefits and avoid potential pitfalls of LinkedIn, experts recommend several best practices for journalists using the platform:
- Keep posts focused on your beats, specializations, skills, and published work. Don’t overload connections with personal minutiae.
- Prioritize quality over quantity in your network. Seek connections with sources, researchers, and professionals who can provide real value.
- Customize connection requests with a note highlighting shared interests or explaining why you want to connect.
- Follow up with new connections periodically to foster relationships, not just when you need something.
- Use LinkedIn messaging thoughtfully and sparingly. Don’t barrage contacts with constant pitches and requests.
- Vary your content between short-form thoughts, article links, multimedia, event listings, and advice oriented toward your target audience.
- Leverage LinkedIn’s capacity for long-form blogging to showcase your writing chops.
- Monitor notifications and respond promptly to comments and messages from your connections.
- Evaluate the platform’s role in your overall business and career objectives realistically.
The Growth of LinkedIn Usage Among Journalists
Evidence suggests that increasing numbers of journalists and media professionals are recognizing the benefits of LinkedIn and integrating it into their workflows:
- One industry survey found that 69% of journalists consider LinkedIn “very important” or “somewhat important” for their jobs.
- Between 2012 and 2015, LinkedIn membership among journalists increased by over 50% according to Pew Research Center data.
- Journalism job postings on LinkedIn increased 16% year over year as of 2019.
- High-profile journalists from outlets like the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, and NBC News have cultivated large followings on the platform.
- Prominent journalists such as Richard Deitsch, Dylan Byers, and Ben Smith actively discuss media industry trends and developments on LinkedIn.
- Top LinkedIn hashtags used by journalists include #journalism, #media, #news, #reporting, and #writing.
This data highlights the growing centrality of LinkedIn as part of the modern journalist’s toolkit. Mastering networking, thought leadership, and personal branding on LinkedIn has become a key skill for media professionals seeking to take their careers to the next level.
Notable Journalists With Large LinkedIn Followings
The journalists with the largest LinkedIn followings as of October 2023 include:
Journalist | LinkedIn Followers |
---|---|
Arianna Huffington | 1.7 million |
Anderson Cooper | 1.6 million |
Richard Quest | 1.6 million |
Fareed Zakaria | 1.5 million |
Thomas Friedman | 1.2 million |
Andrea Mitchell | 998,000 |
Jose Diaz-Balart | 793,000 |
Kara Swisher | 782,000 |
Katie Couric | 778,000 |
Ari Melber | 771,000 |
This list reveals how top broadcast journalists spanning networks like CNN, NBC, and MSNBC have leveraged LinkedIn to build massive audiences. Major print/online journalists like Thomas Friedman and Katie Couric also boast hundreds of thousands of followers.
For journalists, having a broad LinkedIn network amplifies opportunities for story ideas, sources, exposure, thought leadership clout, and career advancement.
Journalism Skills Most in Demand According to LinkedIn
Analyzing LinkedIn Jobs data offers insights into the journalism skills and competencies employers are prioritizing in the current job market. The top skills highlighted in journalism job listings include:
- Editing
- Reporting
- Communication skills
- Creativity
- Writing
- Interviewing
- Research
- Storytelling
- Digital media
- Broadcasting
Technical skills like search engine optimization, analytics software, and audio-visual equipment operation also ranked highly.
This shows traditional journalistic skills remain in high demand, along with technical abilities to succeed in the digital era. Listing relevant skills on a LinkedIn profile and showcasing them through posts and multimedia is key for journalists seeking new opportunities.
Most Popular Types of Content Among Journalists on LinkedIn
An examination of activity and engagement patterns on 500 top journalist LinkedIn profiles in 2022 surfaced the following key trends:
- Links to published articles were the most common type of share, comprising 35% of all posts
- Industry news links and curated articles made up 25% of content
- Multimedia including graphics and embedded video represented 20% of shares
- Commentary and advice posts accounted for 10% of updates
- Personal updates, conference listings, and other content made up the remaining 10%
These findings reveal a balance of original reporting, curation of other sources, and multimedia is common among journalists active on LinkedIn. While links are prominent, text-based commentary also drives engagement.
Journalism Niches Generating the Most LinkedIn Attention
Analyzing engagements and followers gained over a 6-month period highlighted the following top journalism niches and specialty beats on LinkedIn as of 2022:
Niche | Engagement Level |
---|---|
Political journalism | Very high |
Media industry news | High |
Technology and cybersecurity | High |
Environmental journalism | Moderate-high |
Business and finance | Moderate-high |
Lifestyle and culture | Moderate |
Local news | Moderate-low |
Crime reporting | Low |
Sports journalism | Low |
These trends point to the topics most resonating with LinkedIn’s professional audience. Political news and media industry analysis tend to gain substantial traction. Journalists aiming to maximize their LinkedIn impact may want to focus on these higher-interest beats.
Countries With the Most Journalists on LinkedIn
LinkedIn membership data shows the countries with the most journalists and media professionals on the platform are:
- United States
- United Kingdom
- India
- Canada
- Australia
- France
- Brazil
- Netherlands
- Italy
- Germany
The prevalence of journalists on LinkedIn generally correlates with countries that have high overall membership totals. But certain nations, like the UK, Australia, and Canada have disproportionately large shares of journalists compared to their populations.
For international correspondents and journalists reporting abroad, tapping into relevant geographic hubs on LinkedIn can yield contacts, stories, and resources foreign bureaus can miss.
Conclusion
In summary, LinkedIn has become an essential platform within the modern journalism landscape for networking, promoting content, finding opportunities, and engaging audiences. While requiring time and thoughtfulness to use well, its tools and reach offer journalists distinct advantages for advancing their careers and coverage. The platform’s popularity among media professionals will likely only continue to grow in the coming years.