Online U.S. newspapers and the presence of blogosphere characteristics.

by LeBel, Anne M.

The purpose of this study is to research if online U.S. newspapers are employing key characteristics distinctively associated with the blogging community, and whether or not implementation can be predicted by a newspaper’s market size or if the newspaper is a national paper.

A content analysis of 105 online U.S. daily newspaper websites found that online newspapers are not implementing a majority of blog-based features; they are however, implementing some of the most important ? specifically free archives and permalink. The research also proved that there are statistical differences between circulation size, national status and the extent of implementation. The findings show that larger and national based newspapers implement a greater number of blogosphere characteristics.