Auteur: Daniel W. Drezner & Henry Farrell

Datum: Juli 2004

Titel: The Power and Politics of Blogs

Url: http://www.danieldrezner.com/research/blogpaperfinal.pdf

Abstract: Weblogs occupy an increasingly important place in American politics. Their
influence presents a puzzle: given the disparity in resources and organization vis-à-vis
other actors, how can a collection of decentralized, nonprofit, contrarian, and discordant
websites exercise any influence over political and policy outputs? This paper answers
that question by focusing on two important aspects of the “blogosphere”: the distribution
of readers across the array of blogs, and the interactions between significant blogs and
traditional media outlets. Under specific circumstances – when key weblogs focus on a
new or neglected issue – blogs can socially construct an agenda or interpretive frame that
acts as a focal point for mainstream media, shaping and constraining the larger political
debate. These arguments receive support from a network analysis of blog links, as well as
a survey of media professionals about their blog preferences.