Newsrooms have changed dramatically in the past few years. One of the central shifts has been an increase in responsibilities related to new media. Many journalists now contribute to blogs in addition to their traditional duties. Recently, we had an opportunity to discuss these changes with Eric Benderoff, technology reporter/columnist for the Chicago Tribune who also contributes to the blog Eric 2.0. We also asked Eric a few questions about how he finds stories, what role press releases play in his work, and how he’s using social media.

Eric was a bit concerned about taking on the additional responsibilities of a blog when he first started. Now, he can’t imagine not doing it. One of the things Eric values most about the blog is that it enables him to experiment and, due to the technology, really track what is and isn’t working. Unlike his print work, the blog affords him the ability to get a handle on what people like, where traffic is coming from, and what keywords interest people. This information influences future coverage.

We also asked Eric about press releases and were pleased to find that he’s a fan and, like most reporters, wants to receive releases via email (in his words, “email is the answer”). He is always on the lookout for new products and updates and he uses releases largely as an alert. Asked about what prompts him to open one email over another, he explained that he first looks at the subject line. If it doesn’t grab his attention the email gets deleted. If it does, he’ll look at the preview pane. Although he is comfortable with HTML emails, he doesn’t want attachments or anything that clogs his inbox which is busy enough already!

Eric admits that he won’t use the majority of emails he gets. But he says he would rather get the information than not—it’s easy to hit delete after all. Eric estimates that about 10% of the releases he receives “might be worth blogging about” even if they’re not fit for print. He also regularly archives releases for future reference (something we’ve heard often from others as well). Like many reporters, Eric prefers it when the PR professionals who pitch him know a bit about what he covers. He notes, however, that he finds some of the irrelevant but “innocuous” releases that land in his inbox interesting so he doesn’t want to discourage people from sending him their news.

In addition to press releases, Eric gets story ideas from a wide range of places and is always looking for trends, surfing the net for new products and services, and simply talking to a range of people. As the paper shrinks and requirements change, the Tribune team is adopting new strategies, such as looking for new ways to present the news that makes stories more personal. “There is a bigger emphasis on talking to real people, getting more people into the paper to connect the dots between the trends and stories.” So if you’re sending a pitch to Eric, pointing him towards real people might be helpful.

Since many of our clients are considering how to use social media to communicate with the press, we asked Eric to share his thoughts on the subject. Eric has many Facebook friends who are PR professionals but he prefers that they don’t use it to send pitches. He sees Facebook as a social space, a place to stay in touch and keep on top of what friends and acquaintances are doing and prefers to keep it personal. So far, he’s resisted the temptation to join Twitter.

And finally, Eric shared a little advice for PR people. “Do your homework, get your facts right, spell my name right and get to the point.” And when in doubt about whether or not he would be interested in your story, send it his way. As long as it is a solid pitch he would rather see it than miss it.