The Source Cycle

Abstract Research has established that sources have the power to influence the news agenda of the media and that media can under certain circumstances act as sources for each other. This study examined the use of weblogs as sources in the traditional media and the use of sources in weblogs in general. A content analysis of 2059 articles over a six-year period from the New York Times and the Washington Post found that the newspapers increasingly legitimized weblogs as credible sources. A separate content analysis of 120 weblogs found that they heavily relied on the traditional media as sources. By allowing each other to influence their news agendas, there is indication that the traditional media and weblogs create what the researchers introduce and define as a news source cycle, in which news content can be passed back and forth from media to media. Keywords: agenda-settingjournalistspoliticssourcestraditional mediaweblogs Notes 1. The sample included the following weblogs: Ace of Spades HQ, Ace of Trump, Action Institute PowerBlog, Agitator, All things Jen(nifer), All this chittah chattah, Althaus, American Blog, Andrew Sullivan, Angry Bear, Anti Idiotarian Rottweiler, Argghhh!, Austin Bay Blog, A Small Victory, A Thought Over Coffee, Baghdad Burning, BeConnected, Belgravia Dispatch, Below the Beltway, Betsy's Page, Bitch Ph.D., BizzBangBuzz, Bloggers Blog, blogging help, Blogs for Bush, Blogs of War, Brad Blog, Bring It On, Bull Moose, Bull Trader, BuzzMachine, Carpetbagger Report, Cherryflava, ChrisCam, Collecting my Thoughts, Coolz0r Marketing Thoughts, Corner, Cox & Forkum, Creating Passionate Users, Crooks and Liars, Cursor, Daily Pundit, Darren Barefoot, Dave's Not Here, Dean's World, Decision '08, EconLog, Education Wonks, Eschaton, Ezra Klein, Fausta's Blog, firedoglake, gapingvoid, Homeland Stupidity, Hullabloo, IFTF's Future Now, Independent Sources, Indepundit, Informed Consent, Instapundit, Internet Marketing for Small Business, Iowa Voice, Joi It's Web, Jordon Cooper, Junto Boyz, L.A. Observed, La Shawn Barber's Corner, LiberalOasis, lifehack, Little Green Footballs, Majikthise, MaxSpeak, Michelle Malkin, Moderate Voice, Mover Mike, ninme, Ogre's Politics & Views, On An Overgrowth Path, onegoodmove, Pandagon, Part Time Pundit, Payments News, Power Line, PoliPundit, Politburo Diktat, Political Satire, Politics1, Preemptive Karma, PressThink, ProfessorBainbridge, Radio Blogger, Radio Equalizer, Relocate, Rhymes With Right, Right Wing Nuthouse, Roger L. Simon, Say Anything, Science and Politics, Security Blog, Seeing the Forest, Signaleer, Skype Journal, Small Business Trends, Spark It Up!!!, Stalwart, Talking Points Memo, Tattered Coat, ThePublishingSpot, Think Process, 3rd World View, This Modern World, TomDispatch, Trader Mike, Translucence, Vantage Point, War and Piece, Washington Note, Where the Dolphins Play, Wizbang, YesButNoButYes.