KEVIN WALLSTENDEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LONG BEACHKWALLSTE@CSULB.EDU

Beyond Agenda Setting: The Role of Political Blogs as Sources in Newspaper

Coverage

The Influence of Political Blogs

Election campaigns (Bloom & Kerbel, 2007; Trippi, 2004; Williams et al., 2005)

Relationship between representatives and constituents (Auty, 2005; Coleman, 2005; Ferguson et al., 2006; Sroka,

2006)

International affairs (Drezner & Farrell, 2004b; McKinnon, 2007; Zuckerman,

2007)

Survey Evidence

Survey Evidence

Other Survey Evidence

Loechner (2007) 84 percent of journalists said they would or already have used

blogs as a primary or secondary source for their articles

Brodeur & MarketWire (2008) Over 75 percent of reporters regularly check in with blogs to

get story ideas, story angles and insight into the tone of an issue

Davis (2009) Reporters are familiar with a large number of popular blogs

but are more likely to read liberal blogs than conservative blogs.

Issue Specific, Non-Survey Evidence

Downing Street Memo Schiffer (2006)

War in Iraq Heim (2008)

35 Issues from 2004 Campaign Wallsten (2007)

Questions about Blog Influence Over Media

Are journalists influenced by a large number of political blogs from all sides of the political spectrum?

Do political blogs influence media coverage on a wide array of important political issues?

How do journalists incorporate the information they read on political blogs into their reporting on political events?

If bloggers are quoted or cited, how prominently are these quotes and citations featured in news reports?

Measuring Print Media References

What time frame? January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2008

Measuring Print Media References

Which print outlets to search in? National newspapers

The New York Times Washington Post Washington Times

American Wire Service Associated Press

Measuring Print Media References

Which blogs to look for? Focus on popular political blogs

Karpf’s Blogosphere Authority Index (BAI) The Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem

Measuring Print Media References

How to find references to these blogs?

Blog title, URL and the words “blog” or “website”

Examples: “instapundit” AND “blog” or “website” “Daily Kos” OR “dailykos” AND “blog” or “website”

Questions

How often are blogs used as sources?Which kinds of blogs are most used?Which specific blogs are most referenced?How prominently are blogs featured?What issues are they referenced in?

Print Media References to Popular Political Blogs

Print Media Mentions by Blog

Print Media References to Blogs by Type

Print Media References to Blogs by Issue

Summary of Findings

Most quote and/or cite information from blogs

Power-law distribution of citations 80-20 rule

More popular blogs appear to be more frequently cited

Liberal blogs far more likely to be citedDaily Kos, Huffington Post and Wonkette are

most popularParticularly important for election coverage

Future Research

Broadcast coverage?Blog popularity: cause or effect of coverage?What causes blog references?A new tune or the same old song?