The global economic crisis is having a significant impact on how journalists across the Middle East are operating, according to the results MediaSource/Insight Middle East Journalist Survey 2009.

According to the survey released yesterday, both the Arabic- and English-language media report a greater increase in pressure from advertisers over their editorial content than they did in 2007.

The greatest impact of the crisis is a "significant drop" in advertising revenues, said 52 per cent of Arabic- and 62 per cent of English-language respondents, along with title closures, redundancies and recruitment freezes.

However, most journalists in the survey cited "government rules and regulations" as the top factor most hindering the way they are able to write stories.

The MediaSource/Insight Middle East Journalist Survey 2009 conducted an online poll to study the opinions of 219 journalists working for Arabic- and English-language print, broadcast and online media.

The survey included Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the UAE and Yemen.

James Mullan, joint managing partner of media training consultancy, Insight, said: "One of the most significant differences revealed by the 2009 survey is that journalists are receiving, and using, more press releases than they did two years ago. This would appear to signify that more Middle East businesses have adopted public relations and the region has become more PR-savvy." The journalists, however, complained about the quality, relevance and timing of some of the information received from PR agencies and in-house communications teams.

Journalists also complained about failure to respect deadlines and an inability to provide information when requested, while 81 per cent of the Arabic press and 90 per cent of the English-language press believe PR agencies and their clients hold unnecessary press conferences either "often" or "sometimes".

The survey found that 62 per cent of Arabic and 74 per cent of English-language journalists viewed the importance of social media as a source of information in a neutral or negative light.

A number of media organisations are already using social media to interact, 55 per cent of Arabic and 37 per cent of English-language respondents say their media organisations are not using it.

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