How US state tourism offices use online newsrooms and social media in media relations

This study examined the use of online newsrooms on U.S. state tourism websites. A content analysis of 50 state tourism websites was conducted to investigate the availability of online newsrooms as well as their contents and overall usability. The social media availability on the state tourism websites was also analyzed. The results revealed that most state tourism websites provide online newsrooms to media but many of them do not meet the needs of journalists in terms of usability, content availability, and information distribution. All of the websites integrated at least one type of social media; the most commonly used were Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr. The detailed results by state and implications are discussed. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.