1. Beyond Agenda Setting: The Role of Political Blogs as Sources in Newspaper Coverage
Kevin Wallsten
Department of Political Science
California State University, Long Beach

2. 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)

3. Survey Evidence

4. Survey Evidence

5. Other Survey Evidence Loechner (2007) Brodeur & MarketWire (2008)
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.

6. Issue Specific, Non-Survey Evidence
Downing Street Memo
Schiffer (2006)
War in Iraq
Heim (2008)
35 Issues from 2004 Campaign
Wallsten (2007)

7. 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?

8. Measuring Print Media References
What time frame?
January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2008

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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”

12. 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?

13. Print Media References to Popular Political Blogs

14. Print Media Mentions by Blog

15. Print Media References to Blogs by Type

16. Print Media References to Blogs by Issue

17. 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 cited
Daily Kos, Huffington Post and Wonkette are most popular
Particularly important for election coverage

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