A Model Linking Perception , Motivation , and Behavior Forthcoming in Journalism

As blogs have become a fixture in today’s media environment, growing in number and influence in political communication and (mass) media discourse, research on the subject has proliferated, often emphasizing the high-profile conflicts and controversies at the intersection of blogging and journalism. Less examined, however, is the psychology of everyday citizen bloggers in this context. In studying a randomized sample of U.S. bloggers, we attempt to puzzle out this question: To what extent do bloggers (1) perceive their work as a form of journalism, and how might such a perception influence (2) their motivations for posting and (3) the topics around which they blog? Most critically, (4) this paper constructs a model by which all these antecedents predict whether bloggers behave like professional journalists. Results indicate that bloggers who see their work as a form of journalism are more inclined to inform and influence readers, write about public affairs, and behave as a more traditional journalist.