The Status of Journalistic Routines within Reporter-Run Political Blogs

The present research explores the relationships between newspaper circulation size (small vs. large), blog post focus (national vs. local/state), and blog post topic (political vs. government) and whether reporters who blog produce posts that break with journalistic routines or include references to the author. Analysis of 960 blog posts from nine newspapers suggests that smaller newspapers were more likely to produce posts that break with journalistic routines and include self-references than larger newspapers. Posts that focused on national news were more likely to break with journalistic routines but were not more likely to include self-references. Posts about political news were more likely to both break with journalistic routines and to include self-references. place in most newsrooms: blogging (Robinson, 2006). Yet the nature of the journalist-run blog, dubbed “j-blog,” is still a matter of some debate among researchers. Journalism traditions and newsroom practices, in essence, the routines of the profession, hold significant sway over how journalists approach new situations (Lowrey, 2006a; Tuchman, 1978). Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that such routines would be applied to the Internet and its many facets as journalists transition towards its adoption. In fact, research has shown that journalists are carrying over many of their professional routines into the blogosphere (Cassidy, 2006; Singer, 2005). However, other researchers have suggested that j-blogs are changing the profession and the status quo (Robinson, 2006). Therefore, quesDOI: 10.4018/ijicst.2011070104 International Journal of Interactive Communication Systems and Technologies, 1(2), 46-55, July-December 2011 47 Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. tions remain as to whether this relatively new, Internet-based arm of newspapers is truly an innovation or another example of doing things the way they have always been done. “Dissecting each blog for its compliance to professional norms and values provides an answer to whether these blogs could be called journalism, or if they are assuming a new form to meet the needs and desires of a new, postmodern society” (Robinson, 2006, p. 66). The present paper attempts to answer this question by analyzing political j-blogs to determine how closely the journalist bloggers adhere to the routines of their profession in terms of news content.