Ebook Understanding the Political Influence of Blogs
While a very new field of research, most of the academic studies of blogging and politics conducted thus far have looked at the budding relationship through a media-based lens. In these studies, blogs are seen to affect politics only insofar as they are able to refocus the media's attention and re-frame policy debates. While this way of seeing the emergent association between blogs and politics makes a great deal of sense, the blogosphere also seems to be playing an increasingly powerful role in framing ideas and issues for legislators and leaders directly.
Using a survey of congressional offices conducted between January and March 2006, I attempt to gain a picture of the readership, usage, and opinion of blogs and blogging on Capital Hill, in order to make the case for blogging’s direct effect on the modern legislative process. I conclude that, although more study is needed to know how blog readership and usage directly impact policy decisions, the high levels of blog readership and the widely held view that blogs function as the “watchdog” of the mainstream media clearly suggest that the blogosphere has a much stronger voice being heard by legislators than previously considered.
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Ebook Understanding the Political Influence of Blogs
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