Melissa Tyndall October 23, 2005 Research Proposal Corporate Communications Research Proposal: Does the Blogosphere Affects

Political News Coverage? I. Problem Many news-savvy Americans may have heard that bloggers were credited for the resignation of news and political figures such as Dan Rather and Trent Lott. Considering recent discussions in society and in the media over how web logs, or blogs, affect media coverage, especially when concerning political issues, it is pertinent that there is an examination on whether or not blogs hold various forms of media accountable for what is or is not covered in the news. According to the cultural studies theory, forms of media are perceived as the powerful tools of the dominant ideology (Littlejohn, 2002), and with much of the public feeling that news outlets are mostly politically affiliated, one must question whether bloggers have the capability of changing what content is newsworthy, or whether blogs in general will eventually be considered a part of journalism. The examination of this topic would require answering the following research questions: RQ1: Is the blogosphere considered a source of newsworthy, journalistic information? RQ2: How many blog viewers exist presently, and do these media users read blogs based upon his or her existing beliefs or in order to acquire additional information that traditional news mediums lack? RQ3: What is the likelihood that blogs will develop into a professional and respected form (become a method of authority) of media/journalism when concerning political news? RQ4: Based on the cultural studies theory that media represents the dominant social class, will blogs assist in eliminating the Spiral of Silence and represent the minority by holding other forms of media accountable for failing to cover pertinent news stories, especially when concerning political issues? II. Method The research design will take on the form of a content analysis of qualitative research pertaining to the subject. This is an appropriate method of research considering that the study will probably likely lack much quantitative information and contain a great deal of existing qualitative research on blogs. Tools such as critical paradigm will be used to examine how blogs relate to media coverage and the aforementioned mass communication theory. Most of the variables in this research will be dependent, antecedent variables. To ensure validity, research and commentary written by bloggers, journalists, and mass

Melissa Tyndall October 23, 2005 Research Proposal Corporate Communications communication professionals will be gathered. The information provided by mass communication professionals will serve as the control (considering that the information provided by bloggers and journalists could be biased in order to serve their own opinions and beliefs). By gathering research from these differing professions, a larger sampling size will be available, thereby making all conclusions valid. Confounding effects of the information will also be noted, and it will be determined whether or not the gathered materials will reflect a replication of opinions, statistics and evidence throughout the investigation. The plan and method for constructing this research will be to collect data through the Austin Peay State University library from varying sources and studies that have already been conducted. Information collected will first define the term blog. Additional information provided will include whether or not blogs have already affected media coverage in the political realm, will determine what number of Internet users read and write blogs, the positive aspects of blogs, the negative aspects of blog, professional studies on the pertinence of blogs and the likelihood of blogs being adapted as a part of professional journalism. Since the subject and questions surrounding this project are narrative rather than numerical, descriptive, inferential and interpretive tools will be utilized. In particular, once gathered, all texts will be analyzed with the analytical induction technique. The theory of cultural studies will again be scrutinized in conjunction with the positive and negative aspects of the subject found in the research. References Adamic, L. and Glance, N. (2005). The Political Blogosphere and the 2004 U.S. Election: Divided They Blog [Electronic Version]. Retrieved October 28, 2005 from http://www.hpl.hp.com/research/idl/papers/politicalblogs/AdamicGlanceBlogWWW.pdf Alterman, Eric (Fall 2003). Determining the Value of Blogs. Nieman Reports 57, 3, 85-86. Burka, Paul. (March 2005). That blog won't hunt: my counterparts on the Internet think they're so clever and so cutting-edge--and they are. But that doesn't mean they can't learn a thing or two from the mainstream media. (Behind the Lines) [Electronic Version]. Texas Monthly 33, 12-14. Retrieved October 28, 2005, from InfoTrac OneFile via Thomson Gale: http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.apsu.edu/itx/infomark.do?&type=retrieve&tabID= T002&prodId=ITOF&docId=A130136736&source=gale&userGroupName=tel_a_apsu& version=1.0 Drezner, Daniel W., & Farrell, Henry. (August 2004). The Power and Politics of Weblogs. Retrieved October 28, 2005, from http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~farrell/blogpaperfinal.pdf Drezner, Daniel W., & Farrell, Henry. (Nov-Dec 2004).Web of

Melissa Tyndall October 23, 2005 Research Proposal Corporate Communications influence.(Essays)(weblogs). Foreign Policy 32-40. Retrieved October 28, 2005, from InfoTrac OneFile via Thomson Gale: http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.apsu.edu/itx/infomark.do?&type=retrieve&tabID= T002&prodId=ITOF&docId=A124344505&source=gale&userGroupName=tel_a_apsu& version=1.0 Dyrud, Marilyn A., & Worley, Rebecca B. (March 2005). Blogs.(Focus On Teaching). In Business Communication Quarterly, 68, 66-67. Retrieved October 28, 2005, from InfoTrac OneFile via Thomson Gale: http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.apsu.edu/itx/infomark.do?&type=retrieve&tabID= T002&prodId=ITOF&docId=A129807016&source=gale&userGroupName=tel_a_apsu& version=1.0 Fulford, Robert. (Oct 2005). Blog's age: available to anyone who has something to say, blogs have become politically powerful and culturally influential. But getting to the good stuff often means sifting through virtual reams of moronic musings.(Media). Toronto Life 39, 31-34. Retrieved October 28, 2005, from InfoTrac OneFile via Thomson Gale: http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.apsu.edu/itx/infomark.do?&type=retrieve&tabID= T002&prodId=ITOF&docId=A136847656&source=gale&userGroupName=tel_a_apsu& version=1.0 Griffiths, Mary. (Sept 2004). e-Citizens : Blogging as Democratic Practice [Electronic Version]. Journal of E-Government 2, 3, n.p. Retrieved October 25, 2005 from http://www.ejeg.com/volume-2/volume2-issue3/v2-i3-art2-griffths.pdf Heyboer, Kelly. (Dec 2003). Bloggin' in the newsroom. American Journalism Review 25, p10-11. Retrieved October 28, 2005, from InfoTrac OneFile via Thomson Gale: http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.apsu.edu/itx/infomark.do?&type=retrieve&tabID= T002&prodId=ITOF&docId=A111768021&source=gale&userGroupName=tel_a_apsu& version=1.0 \ Jensen, Mallory. (Sept-Oct 2003). A brief history of weblogs. Columbia Journalism Review, 42, 22. Retrieved October 28, 2005, from InfoTrac OneFile via Thomson Gale: http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.apsu.edu/itx/infomark.do?&type=retrieve&tabID= T002&prodId=ITOF&docId=A109264376&source=gale&userGroupName=tel_a_apsu& version=1.0 Lasica, J.D. (Fall 2003). Blogs and journalism need each other; 'the transparency of blogging has contributed to news organizations becoming a bit more accessible and interactive. Nieman Reports 57, 70-74. Retrieved October 28, 2005, from InfoTrac OneFile via Thomson Gale: http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.apsu.edu/itx/infomark.do?&type=retrieve&tabID= T002&prodId=ITOF&docId=A109668584&source=gale&userGroupName=tel_a_apsu& version=1.0 Littlejohn, S.W. (October 2001). Theories of Human Communication (with InfoTrac)(Wadsworth Series in Speech Communication). Wadsworth Publishing. Reisner, Neil. (April-May 2005).The accidental blogger: how a biotech company founder

Melissa Tyndall October 23, 2005 Research Proposal Corporate Communications went to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland and ended up costing CNN's Eason Jordan his job. American Journalism Review 27, 10-12. Retrieved October 28, 2005, from InfoTrac OneFile via Thomson Gale: http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.apsu.edu/itx/infomark.do?&type=retrieve&tabID= T002&prodId=ITOF&docId=A131858819&source=gale&userGroupName=tel_a_apsu& version=1.0 Schulman, Daniel. (Sept-Oct 2005). State of the art: their war. Columbia Journalism Review 44, 13. Retrieved October 28, 2005, from InfoTrac OneFile via Thomson Gale: http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.apsu.edu/itx/infomark.do?&type=retrieve&tabID= T002&prodId=ITOF&docId=A136709485&source=gale&userGroupName=tel_a_apsu& version=1.0 Singer, J.B. "The Political J-Blogger: `Normalizing' a New Media Form To Fit Old Norms and Practices" (Singer) Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism Vol. 6, No. 2 (May 2005): pages 173-198. Sage Publications Singer, J.B. "Who Are These Guys? The Online Challenge to the Notion of Journalistic Professionalism" (Singer) Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism Vol. 4, No. 2 (May 2003); pages 139-63 Sage Publications Smolkin, Rachel. (June-July 2004)The expanding blogosphere: political blogs--online journals featuring commentary, often highly opinionated--have rapidly become a presence in the campaign landscape. Now some established news organizations are hiring established bloggers or creating their own. How much impact does this instant punditry have on mainstream political reporting?. In American Journalism Review, 26, p38(6). Retrieved October 28, 2005, from InfoTrac OneFile via Thomson Gale: http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.apsu.edu/itx/infomark.do?&type=retrieve&tabID= T002&prodId=ITOF&docId=A118558586&source=gale&userGroupName=tel_a_apsu& version=1.0 Institute for Software Research at the 2005 Politics as Usual in the Blogosphere Norman Makoto Su, Yang Wang, Gloria MarkRetrieved from University of California, Irvine http://www.ics.uci.edu/~yangwang/papers/SID05.pdf Journalism, Vol. 6, No. 2, 153-172 (2005)DOI: 10.1177/1464884905051006 2005 SAGE Publications Blogs of war Weblogs as news Melissa Wall California State UniversityNorthridge Wimmer, R.D. and Dominick, J.R. Mass Media Research : An Introduction (with InfoTrac) (Wadsworth Series in Mass Communication and Journalism) Wadsworth Publishing; 7 edition (July 23, 2002). Woods, Julie. (Jan-Feb 2005)Digital influencers: do business communicators dare overlook the power of blogs?. In Communication World, 22, p26(5). Retrieved October 28, 2005, from InfoTrac OneFile via Thomson Gale: http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.apsu.edu/itx/infomark.do?&type=retrieve&tabID= T002&prodId=ITOF&docId=A133246871&source=gale&userGroupName=tel_a_apsu& version=1.0