Daily Telegraph's Robert Colvile gives further insight into blogging and media agenda-setting

The Daily Telegraph's Robert Colvile has picked up on my post about the key findings from my thesis into whether political bloggers can impact the MSM agenda. He gives his own perspective on the issues involved at the paper's Three Line Whip blog.

Robert starts by pointing out that:

"The fact is that, from the outside, the mainstream media (or 'MSM', as it is referred to in the blogosphere, often as a term of abuse) looks quite monolithic. But inside, it's made up of hundreds of editors and writers and reporters, all casting around for things to fill their pages with."

This is a very important point to bear in mind. We (bloggers and social media types) do tend to talk about the MSM as a monolithic institution  when in reality - while this is perhaps true at the organisational level -  like all vast organisms there are undoubtedly sub-layers and networks of real, human activity which are easily overlooked.

To this I would say of course MSM institutions are built up of networks in the same way the blogosphere is. The main difference is that the blogosphere is designed in a way that allows it to be open and facilitate the opportunities and benefits available to those within the network. I would argue that the reverse is generally true of institutional organisations. They tend to want to close down unchecked and living networks - whether consciously (at a personal level) or sub-consciously (the inherent bureaucracy present).

Robert also writes:

"The technology makes this process [news gathering] easier for online material, but as far as I can see the basic approach is the same as usual. Trying to theorise about it in terms of the formal influence of the blogosphere on the mainstream media might be, as the great Boris said in another context, 'like trying to pin jelly to a wall'."

Again he is raises another important point that my research hopefully makes clear, but which may well not have been made cyrstal clear in my previous post. The problem with trying to theorise formally is that most - if not all - formal media theories were created around traditional channels, whether TV, radio or print media. In fact there are plenty of journal articles that deal with online media but through the theoretical form and function of traditional media... I digress.

In my full conclusion I point to the fact that while there is some evidence to suggest agenda-setting by bloggers, the models used in the study are all fairly linear - ie. broadcast. I recommend that further study is necessary to examine the flow of information in a networked world, possibly through a revised Two-Step Flow theory which is built around the flow of information to and from the media and public via 'opinion leaders' - which in this case are be represented by bloggers.

Anyway. This is all fascinating stuff and hopefully I'll get the chance to explore some of these ideas further.

Robert also has a book coming out shortly on the internet and politics.

Technorati tags: Daily Telegraph, research, politics, media theory

Comments

[Ellee]

I'm sure David knows like myself that most MSM networking takes place in a bar. More political journalists are blogging now, and it's an equal playing field, they have to prove themselves and build up their readership like anyone else. If you bore your readers, they won't be back.

[Alex]

I like the idea of viewing MSM as a wide group of individuals, refining news through a kind of formalised 'wisdom of crowds' news selection. Where cynicism enters is when they all seem to be reporting the same 'none'news', but then isn't that just what Steve Rubel complained about with lazy blogging/tech-meme slaves this week?