media war and conflict

7/30/2019 media war and conflict

1/21

http://mwc.sagepub.com/Media, War & Conflict

http://mwc.sagepub.com/content/3/3/315

The online version of this article can be found at:

DOI: 10.1177/17506352103765912010 3: 315Media, War & Conflict

Thomas J. Johnson and Barbara K. Kayecharacteristics in 2003 and 2007

Believing the blogs of war? How blog users compare on credibility and

Published by:

http://www.sagepublications.com

On behalf of:

Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

can be found at:Media, War & ConflictAdditional services and information for

http://mwc.sagepub.com/cgi/alertsEmail Alerts:

http://mwc.sagepub.com/subscriptionsSubscriptions:

http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.navReprints:

http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.navPermissions:

http://mwc.sagepub.com/content/3/3/315.refs.htmlCitations:

by Angela Bunea on January 15, 2013mwc.sagepub.comDownloaded from
http://mwc.sagepub.com/http://mwc.sagepub.com/http://mwc.sagepub.com/content/3/3/315http://mwc.sagepub.com/content/3/3/315http://mwc.sagepub.com/content/3/3/315http://www.sagepublications.com/http://annenberg.usc.edu/http://mwc.sagepub.com/cgi/alertshttp://mwc.sagepub.com/cgi/alertshttp://mwc.sagepub.com/subscriptionshttp://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.navhttp://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.navhttp://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.navhttp://mwc.sagepub.com/content/3/3/315.refs.htmlhttp://mwc.sagepub.com/http://mwc.sagepub.com/content/3/3/315.refs.htmlhttp://mwc.sagepub.com/content/3/3/315.refs.htmlhttp://mwc.sagepub.com/http://mwc.sagepub.com/http://mwc.sagepub.com/http://mwc.sagepub.com/http://mwc.sagepub.com/content/3/3/315.refs.htmlhttp://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.navhttp://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.navhttp://mwc.sagepub.com/subscriptionshttp://mwc.sagepub.com/cgi/alertshttp://annenberg.usc.edu/http://www.sagepublications.com/http://mwc.sagepub.com/content/3/3/315http://mwc.sagepub.com/


2/21

What is This?

- Dec 9, 2010Version of Record>>

http://online.sagepub.com/site/sphelp/vorhelp.xhtmlhttp://online.sagepub.com/site/sphelp/vorhelp.xhtmlhttp://online.sagepub.com/site/sphelp/vorhelp.xhtmlhttp://mwc.sagepub.com/content/3/3/315.full.pdfhttp://mwc.sagepub.com/http://mwc.sagepub.com/http://mwc.sagepub.com/http://online.sagepub.com/site/sphelp/vorhelp.xhtmlhttp://mwc.sagepub.com/content/3/3/315.full.pdf


3/21

Article

Media, War & Conflict

3(3) 315333 The Author(s) 2010

Reprints and permission: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav

DOI: 10.1177/1750635210376591

http://mwc.sagepub.com

Corresponding author:

Barbara K. Kaye, Associate Program Chair, Master of Arts Degree in Communication, The Johns Hopkins

University, 1717 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 104, Washington, DC 20026, USA.

Email: [email protected]

MWC

Believing the blogs of war?How blog users compare oncredibility and characteristicsin 2003 and 2007

Thomas J. JohnsonSchool of Journalism, University of Texas at Austin, USA

Barbara K. KayeJohns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA

AbstractThis study surveyed those who used blogs for information about the war in Iraq to investigate the

degree to which judgements of credibility, reliance, demographics, and political characteristics of

war blog users have changed between 2003 and 2007. In both 2003 and 2007, blog users judgedblogs as more credible sources for war news than traditional media and their online counterparts.

This study also found that different types of blogs were rated differently in terms of credibility in

2007 with military and war blogs rated the most credible and media blogs being judged the lowest

in credibility. Additionally, parallels are drawn between the findings and possible roles for blogs

in the escalating war in Afghanistan. Results are also discussed in terms of the changing roles

of the military in Iraq as well as the changing role of blogs in the Iraq War.

Keywords

blog credibility, blog use, blogs, credibility, milblogs, war in Iraq

The war in Iraq provided a huge boost to the fledgling blogging community (Hastings,

2003; Kaye and Johnson, 2004) because users found that blogs provided more personal

insight and more thoughtful analysis of the war than the traditional media (Haigh and

Pfau, 2007; Hebert, 2004). In 2003, bloggers were largely dismissed as small terriers

who nipped at the ankles of traditional journalists but, by 2007, blogging had become

commonplace as the number of blogs created by journalists and those hosted by

http://mwc.sagepub.com/http://mwc.sagepub.com/http://mwc.sagepub.com/


4/21

316 Media, War & Conict 3(3)

traditional media had grown considerably (Eveland and Dylko, 2007; Singer, 2006). War

blogs1 and milblogs, which are written by soldiers or others on the frontlines and focus

solely on the war, also received considerable attention during the combat stage of the war

in Iraq because they presented close-up and unvarnished views of military culture andmilitary life (Haigh and Pfau, 2007). Despite being initially viewed with skepticism,

blogs were later touted as a genuine alternative to mainstream news outlets (Johnson

and Kaye, 2007; Kaye and Johnson, 2004).

At first, the war enjoyed enormous support as three-quarters of Americans applauded

the decision to send troops to Iraq (Jones, 2007). But much has changed since the initial

invasion. As the mission shifted from toppling Saddam Hussein to maintaining a fragile

peace and propping up the Iraqi Government, support for the war plummeted, with only

about one-third of the public supporting the war effort after the first three years (CNN.

com, 2008). Also, attention to the war from the traditional media had dropped (Project

for Excellence in Journalism, 2007a).

Although several studies have examined the characteristics of individuals who seek

out war information from blogs (Kaye and Johnson, 2004; Johnson et al., 2007;

Perlmutter, 2008), how much they use blogs for war information (Smith and Rainie,

2008; Project for Excellence in Journalism, 2005), how credible they find blog war infor-

mation (Johnson and Kaye, 2004, 2008) and the perceived influence of blogs on war

attitudes (Graf, 2006; Kaye and Johnson, 2004; Johnson and Kaye, 2007), these studies

examined blog users at a single point in time, typically during the first months of the

conflict. Studies have not investigated whether perceptions of credibility and use of

blogs have changed as support for, and the nature of, the war in Iraq have changed.This study is based on two online surveys of politically interested internet users who

visited blogs to get news about the Iraq War. The first was conducted from 23 April to 22

May 2003, and the second exactly four years later. The purpose of this study is to com-

pare changes from 2003 to 2007 in blog credibility and blog use for information about

the war in Iraq. Moreover, military commanders were given the authority in 2005 to

order service members to stop blogging or to submit their entries for review because of

the belief that some content violated military regulations or security (Haigh and Pfau,

2007; Strupp, 2005). Because milblog content may have become more constrained,

users perceptions may have changed and these shifts may have been captured by thisstudys analysis.

Also examined is the degree to which ideology and other characteristics of war blog

users have changed from 2003 to 2007. The results identify factors that influence

perceptions of credibility of blog war reports. Further, as the war in Afghanistan inten-

sifies, the findings provide insight into the role blogs continue to play as providers of

war information

Media and foreign policy

While the media may preach the philosophy ofdetachmentfrom story topics and their

sources, they practice the policy ofattachmentin foreign policy coverage, in general, and

war coverage, in particular. In the practice of attachment, journalists abandon the notion

of neutrality and cover the war in terms of good guys/bad guys and good versus evil



5/21

Johnson and Kaye 317

(Ruigrok, 2008) and, since the media rely heavy on government sources, that coverage

typically reflects the governments policies (De Beer and Merrill, 1994; Fahmy and

Johnson, 2010; Vultee, 2009), especially during wartime when the media are expected to

take sides and support the government war policy through favorable coverage (Bell,2008; Bennett et al., 2006; Ruigrok, 2008). During the ground war in Iraq, US media

coverage was overwhelmingly positive (Haigh et al., 2006; Pfau et al., 2005), with reporters

acting as cheerleaders in support of the governments war effort rather than maintaining

a critical distance. Bell (2008) lamented that war coverage signaled the death of news,

because it promoted the governments efforts with reporters crossing the line from being

detached observers to acting as if they were government representatives.

Blogs and credibility during the war in Iraq

Blogs gained credibility and popularity during the Iraq War for several reasons. First,

many blogs were written by soldiers on the battlefield. These accounts provided more

detail and insight than those penned by correspondents for the traditional media (Hebert,

2004; Johnson and Kaye, 2008), and expertise is a major influence on whether a source

is considered credible (Hovland, Janis and Kelley, 1953; Hovland, Lumsdaine and

Sheffield, 1949; Metzger et al., 2003).

Next, because bloggers do not need to adhere to standards of traditional journalistic

values, such as objectivity, fairness and balance, they are free to interject their own

views, experiences and insights into their reports (Johnson and Kaye, 2004; Park, 2009).

For example, they often show images that might not meet media standards of goodtaste, such as bloodied soldiers or injured civilians (Haigh and Pfau, 2007; Park, 2009;

Perlmutter, 2008).

Lastly, users are drawn to the interactive nature of blogs. On most blogs, readers can

respond to postings by the blogger or other users. These interactions promote debate

about the wars progress (Hastings, 2003). Additionally, users often visit blogs to read

other perspectives about the war and to become a part of a community of like-minded

individuals (Kaye, 2007; Kaye and Johnson, 2004; Perlmutter, 2008; Wall, 2006).

Credibility changes over time

Media credibility fluctuates over time both in response to social and cultural events and

to ethical lapses and criticisms of the media. For instance, media credibility rose along

with the credibility of other government institutions in the wake of seminal events such

as the Iran/Contra affair (Johnson, 1993), September 11th (Pew Research Center, 2001)

and the war in Iraq (Pew Research Center, 2003). On the other hand, credibility ratings

of information sources dropped after criticism of coverage of high-profile events such as

the O. J. Simpson trial and Princess Dianas death (Johnson and Kaye, 2000) as well

as more recent ethical lapses such as the Jayson Blair plagiarism debacle (Project forExcellence in Journalism, 2006).

The percentage of individuals who asserted confidence in the press to present an

accurate picture of the war in Iraq had dropped by nearly a half from 2003 to 2007 (81%

to 42%), as had their confidence in the military to present a true picture of the war



6/21


(Kohut, 2007). These decreases reflected the publics diminished support for the war.

Further, as the war shifted from an attempt to oust Saddam Hussein to an attempt to

maintain peace amid sectarian violence, even reporters expressed less support for the war

effort (Into the Abyss, 2006; Fahmy and Johnson, 2007), which, in part, may have ledto flagging media attention and major shifts in themes of coverage of the war during

2007 (Project for Excellence in Journalism, 2007a).

But what is not clear is whether shifts in public and journalistic opinion about the war

affected war coverage on the blogosphere. Most leading military and war blogs sup-

ported the war effort (Haigh and Pfau, 2007), although political blogs2 that frequently

discussed the war cut across political ideologies and thus expressed varying support of

the war (Perlmutter, 2008).

Characteristics of blog usersWhen blogs were first emerging as the new online hot spots, users were young, well-

educated males with high incomes (Eveland and Dylko, 2007; Graf, 2006; Johnson et al.,

2007; Perlmutter, 2008). Although these males are still frequent blog visitors, the typical

blog reader is middle-aged, and the number of women and less educated users has

increased (Kaye, in press).

Further, some reports assert that blog users are generally Republican and conservative

(Kaye and Johnson, 2004; Johnson et al., 2007), some claim they are equally liberal and

conservative (Eveland and Dylko, 2007; Project for Excellence in Journalism, 2007b)

and others find that blog users are more likely to be liberal (Blog Reader, 2007).These discrepancies may reflect some true ideological swings in the blogosphere.

Blogs gained popularity with conservatives in the wake of September 11th and the war,

especially with those who were upset with the traditional media that they perceived as

being too sympathetic towards Muslims (Hamdy and Mobarak, 2004; Kaye and Johnson,

2004). Liberals discovered blogging a few years later when Howard Dean used his blog

to become an early frontrunner in the 2004 presidential election race (Stromer-Galley

and Baker, 2006). The blogs people choose to visit is largely determined by ideology

and, not surprisingly, individuals tend to seek out blogs that support their point of view

(Choi et al., 2006; Johnson et al., 2007; Johnson et al., 2009).Other personal characteristics also influence which blogs are read most often.

Individuals who are very interested in, and knowledgeable about, the war and politics, in

general, actively search out specialized information such as that found on political and

war blogs. Moreover, blog users are generally distrusting of the government but they

believe they have the ability to bring about political change (Kaye and Johnson, 2004;

Johnson and Kaye, 2007). Blog users distrust of the government extends to a distrust of

the traditional media, thus they rely on blogs for political information (Graf, 2006; Kaye

and Johnson, 2004; Johnson and Kaye, 2007).

Blog use, reliance and participation

As users became more reliant on blogs for information about the war, their blog usage

patterns also changed. Experienced users spent more time online than newer users



7/21


(Howard et al., 2001) because successfully negotiating internet components, such as

blogs, requires expertise, and expertise is gained through increased use (Papacharissi and

Rubin, 2000). Experienced users, then, may be less frustrated because they have devel-

oped strategies for finding information and thus have become more reliant on blogs.In addition, experienced users know which blogs share their own views and therefore

which ones post information they deem as credible (Johnson and Kaye 2004, Johnson

et al., 2007). Conversely, infrequent, less experienced, blog users may be put off by the

opinionated, diary-like nature of blogs and therefore judge them as not very credible.

How blogs are used and the reasons why they are used can be attributed to their inter-

active nature. Blog users can choose just to read posts on a blog (i.e. lurkers), post their

analysis, or send comments to the blogger (Trammell et al., 2006). Therefore, blog use

measures should go beyond asking users how long they have been accessing blogs or

their level of reliance on them, but should also include their actual participation. For

example, those who choose only to observe rather than participate in online communities

do so to find out more about the community, fear that the group will be a poor fit or tend

to not like the group dynamics (Van Uden-Kraan et al., 2008). Not surprisingly, then,

people shift from being lurkers to participants the more often they visit an online com-

munity and the more comfortable they become with the group and its members (Rafaeli

et al., 2004).

Research questions and hypotheses

This study compares how blogs were used for information about the war in Iraq in 2003and in 2007 by addressing the following questions and hypothesis:

RQ1: To what degree have blog users demographic characteristics (gender, age,

education and income), war and general news interest, war knowledge and

support, political characteristics, trust in the government and self-efficacy

changed from 2003 to 2007?

RQ2: To what degree have blog users perceptions of the influence of blogs on their

attitudes and opinions about general issues and about the war changed from

2003 to 2007?RQ3: To what degree have blog users perceptions of the credibility of blogs as

sources of war information changed from 2003 to 2007?

H1: War blog usage as measured by (a) hours per week, (b) reliance, and (c) par-

ticipation significantly increased from 2003 to 2007.

Method

This study compares the results of two online surveys. The first survey was posted

online from 23 April to 22 May 2003 (N= 3,747), and the second exactly four yearslater (N= 1,989). For both surveys, an announcement accompanied by a request to fill

out the survey was placed on blogs of diverse ideologies and varying types of blogs, such

as general information, media, political, war and military.3 In 2003, the survey was linked

from 131 blogs (see note 2) and 14 blog-oriented bulletin boards/electronic mailing lists



8/21


(see note 3). In 2007, the survey URL was posted on 70 blogs.4 From both survey years,

the linked blogs were of diverse ideologies ranging from the progressiveHuffington Post

to the conservativeBoortz News. Additionally, in both years, once a respondent completed

the survey he or she was encouraged to snowball it to fellow blog readers by clicking ona link that automatically forwarded the survey.

Blog credibility

This study examined the changes in the perceptions of credibility of blogs from 2003 to

2007. A multidimensional construct consisting of believability, fairness, accuracy and

depth of information (Gaziano and McGrath, 1986; Johnson and Kaye, 2000) measured

the credibility of blogs using a 15 point scale ranging from 1 = not very believable/fair/

accurate/in-depth to 5 = very believable/fair/accurate/in-depth. In 2003, respondents were

asked their judgements of credibility of blogs in general whereas, in 2007, blogs were

categorized into five types: general information, media, political, war and military.

Use, reliance and participation on blogs for war information (2003 and 2007)

Respondents estimated the number of hours per week they spend on blogs. How much

respondents rely on blogs was rated on a 5-point scale: 1 = never rely, 2 = rarely rely,

3 = sometimes rely, 4 = rely, and 5 = heavily rely. Further, previous studies of uses of the

internet and its components typically have defined use in terms of amount and length of

time online but this study taps into how much people interact with blogs as an additionaluse measure. Respondents assessed their participation on blogs by marking whether

they: (1) never participate (just read, never send in comments/links); (2) have low

participation (mostly read, rarely send in comments/links); (3) sometimes participate

(sometimes send in comments/links); (4) have high participation (often send in

comments/links); or (5) have very high participation (very often send in comments/links).

Political characteristics (2003 and 2007)

War interest and knowledge, and blog influence.Respondents marked their level of interestand knowledge about the war in Iraq and the influence of blogs on their attitudes towards

the war on a 0 to 10 scale (0 = no interest to 10 = extremely interested). They were

also asked about their support for the war on a 5-point scale that ranged from 1 = not

supportive at all to 5 = highly supportive.

Interest in general news and blog influence. Respondents indicated their degree of inter-

est in general news and current events on a 0 to 10 scale (0 = no interest to 10 = extremely

interested). Similarly, respondents were asked about influence of blogs on their attitudes

and opinions in general and on the war on a 0 to 10 scale (0 = no influence to 10 = absoluteinfluence).

Trust and Self-Efficacy.Trust in the Government and Self-Efficacy were measured by

items previously used in the National Election Studies conducted by the University of



9/21


Michigan: Trust: Most of our leaders are devoted to service, Politicians never tell us

what they really think and I dont think public officials care much about what people

like me think; Self-Efficacy: People like me dont have any say about what the govern-

ment does and Every vote counts in an election, including yours and mine. Theresponse options for each attitude index ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly

agree. The polarity was reversed on the second and third statements of the Trustindex

and the firstEfficacy item.Summated indices for the Trustand for the Self-Efficacy itemswere then created. The reliability for the Trustindex is .74, and theEfficacy index is .54.5

Political Party Ties and Ideology, 2007.Respondents were asked to indicate the political

party with which they were registered: Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, Green,

Other, Independent. A 0 to 10 scale (0 = weak party ties to 10 = very strong party ties)

was used to assess degree of association with a political party. Respondents were

also asked to indicate whether they consider themselves (1) very liberal, (2) liberal,

(3) moderate, (4) conservative, or (5) very conservative.

Political Party Ties and Ideology, 2003.Respondents were asked to select the option that

most closely described their political preference: Strong Republican, Lean Toward

Republican, Strong Democrat, Lean Toward Democrat, Independent, Other.

Demographics

Respondents indicated their gender, age at their last birthday, and selected their highestlevel of education from among seven options that ranged from less than high school, to

PhD degree and other. In 2007, respondents entered their estimated income for the

survey year. In 2003, respondents were asked to mark an income range: less than $10,000,

$10,001$25,000, $25,001$40,000, $40,001$65,000, $65,001$80,000, $80,001

$95,000, more than $95,000.

Data analysis (2007 and 2003 data)

Frequencies and mean scores were run on blog credibility, reliance, use and influence,war interest, knowledge and support, interest in general news, strength of party ties,

political ideology, trust, self-efficacy, and demographic variables (gender, age, educa-

tion and income). Mean scores were also calculated for each of the credibility measures

(believability, fairness, accuracy, depth) of blogs. The four measures were then com-

bined into a credibility index for each blog type. Cronbachs alpha and mean scores

were calculated for each credibility index (Table 2).

A data file that combined the responses from 2003 and 2007 was created to run

independent sample t-tests to ascertain significant differences of mean scores of the

credibility indices. Additionally, because statistical significance may be influenced bysample size, practical significance was tested using Cohens dmethod of determining

effect size the strength of a relationship in terms of units of standard deviation

(Stevens, 1986; Vogt, 1993), Cohen deemed an effect large ifd= .8, moderate ifd= .5

and small ifd = .2 (Valentine and Cooper, 2003).

http://mwc.sagepub.com/http://mwc.sagepub.com/http://mwc.sagepub.com/http://mwc.sagepub.com/


10/21


At the time of data collection in 2003, blogs were largely general information blogs

that covered many different subjects. As blogging became more popular and individuals

with specific expertise and purposes set up their own blogs, and as media and other types

of corporate enterprises hired individuals to set up blogs, blogs have become moretopically focused. Therefore, for this particular study, comparisons between general

blogs in 2003 and general blogs in 2007 are appropriate, and analysis of 2007 blog types

is limited to within-year analysis.

Results

The first research question examined the respondents demographic characteristics, war

interest, war knowledge and support, general news interest, political characteristics, trust

in the government and self-efficacy with specific focus on changes between 2003 and

2007. The most striking demographic difference between 2003 and 2007 is that the

average age of blog users had significantly increased from 38.9 years to 47.7 years old

(t= 25.2, df = 3796,p < .001). Further, Cohens d= .70 indicates a large effect in age

between the two years. In general, the trend is for blog readers to be older and they

continue to be males who are highly educated and have high incomes.

Slight shifts occurred in interest in, and support of, the war, and interest in general

news between the two years studied. In 2007, respondents indicated a significantly stronger

interest in the war (M= 9.7, range 110) (t= 27.3, df = 4446, p < .001) and in general

news (M= 9.7) (t= 40.5, df = 4342,p < .001) than in 2003 (M= 8.4, 8.0, respectively)

but support for the war decreased significantly (2003,M= 4.0, range 15; 2007,M= 3.6)(t= 11.6, df = 3639,p = .000). Knowledge of the events had, however, stayed the same

(2003M= 4.3, 2007M= 4.2). Cohens dindicates large effects for general news interest

(d= 1.09) and war interest (d= .72), but only small effects for war support (d= .29) and

knowledge of the war (d= .00).

Significant differences were apparent in the levels of trust in the government and

feelings of self-efficacy. In 2003, one-third (32.3%) of blog users reported high/very

high trust but by 2007 only 13.2 percent was highly trusting. Further, in 2003 only 22.1

percent reported low to very low levels of trust compared to 2007 when almost four out

of ten (39.8%) reported they were not very trusting. Mean scores (range 315) indicatea significant decrease in levels of trust in government between 2003 and 2007 (2003

M= 8.9, 2007M= 7.4) (t= 20.8, df = 4181,p < .001). According to Cohens d(d= .57)

the practical significance is moderate.

The percentage of blog users who report high/very high levels of self-efficacy had

also decreased from 64.4 percent in 2003 to 51.0 percent in 2007. Independent sample

t-test demonstrates a significant decrease in mean scores (range 210) between the two

years (2003M= 7.6, 2007M= 7.1) (t= 9.3, df = 3848,p < .001), however Cohens test

indicates a small effect size (d= .24).

Comparisons of political party affiliation indicate that Republicans dominated theblogosphere, though the percentage of strong Republican supporters decreased from 48

percent to 40.0 percent from 2003 to 2007. Democrats represented about one in six blog

readers (2007 = 16.6%; 2003 = 14.5%). The study also found that an increasing number

of blog users did not identify with either major party or consider themselves independent



11/21


but rather listed themselves as Libertarian or Green. In 2007, respondents were asked

to indicate their political ideology. Almost 6 out of 10 (57.6%) asserted that they were

conservative/very conservative, one-quarter (24.4%) moderate, and the remaining 18.0

percent liberal/very liberal.

Table 1. Profile of blog users and reliance on blogs: 2003 and 2007

2007 (N= 1,989) 2003 (N= 3,747)Ind. samplest-scores

Cohens dEffects size

GenderMale 77.3% 76.5%

Female 22.7% 23.5%Age (mean) 47.7 (SD 12.8) 38.9 (SD 12.5) t= 25.2* .70

Income (mean) $90,475 N/ALess than $25,000 N/A 16.5%$25,0001$80,000 N/A 54.3%$80,001+ N/A 29.2%

EducationLess than high school/grad 2.5% 3.4%Some college/degree 58.0% 59.3%Graduate 31.6% 33.3%

Political Attitudes(mean score)War Interest (range 110) 9.7 (SD 1.6) 8.4 (SD 1.8) t= 27.3* .72Knowledge of War (range15)

4.2 (SD .78) 4.3 (SD .74) t=-1.6 .00

War Support (range 15) 3.6 (SD 1.5) 4.0 (SD 1.3) t=-11.6** -.29General News Interest(range 110)

9.7 (SD 1.5) 8.0 (SD 1.6) t= 40.5* 1.09

Blog Influence war opinion(range 010)

6.8 (SD 2.5) 5.7 (SD 2.5) t= 16.1* .44

Blog Influence in general

(range 010)

6.7 (SD 2.3) 5.8 (SD 2.1) t= 8.2* .42

Hours per week on blogs 11.4 (SD 8.3) 9.1 (SD 7.7) t= 10.2* .29Blog Participation(range 15)

2.4 (SD .91) 3.0 (SD 1.1) t=-25.1* -.58

Trust in the GovernmentVery high/high Trust 13.2% 32.3%Moderate Trust 47.0% 45.6%Very low/low Trust 39.8% 22.1%Mean (range 315) 7.4 (SD 2.5) 8.9 (SD 2.7) t=-20.8* -.57

Self-Efficacy

Very high/high Efficacy 51.0% 64.4%Moderate Efficacy 37.1% 29.3%Very low/low Efficacy 11.9% 7.3%Mean (range 210) 7.1 (SD 1.9) 7.6 (SD 1.8) t=-9.3* -.24

(Continued)



12/21


The second research question concerns changes in the influence of blogs. Between

2003 and 2007, blogs became more influential in shaping attitudes towards the war and

other issues in general. In 2003, respondents rated blogs as moderately influential regard-

ing the war (M= 5.7, range 110) and general news (M= 5.8) but, four years later, their

influence significantly increased (war,M= 6.8, general issues,M= 6.7) (war influence

t= 16.1, df = 552,p < .001; general news influence t= 8.2, df = 4048,p < .001). Further,

Cohens dindicates only a moderate increase in the influence of blogs on opinions about

the war (d= .44) and about other news issues (d= .42).The first hypothesis states that the number of hours per week on blogs, reliance on

blogs and blog participation will have significantly increased between 2003 and 2007.

The hypothesis was partially supported as the number of hours spent per week on

blogs (2003 M= 9.1 hours; 2007 M= 11.4 hours) significantly increased (t= 10.2,

df = 3606, p < .001), but levels of participation significantly decreased (range 15;

2003M= 3.0, 2007M= 2.4) (t= 25.1, df = 4753,p < .001) as did reliance (t= 8.2,

df = 4753, p < .001). Moreover, the statistically significant difference in hours on

blogs may be largely due to the sample size rather than to a true increase in time spent

on blogs (Cohens d= .29). However, Cohens ddoes show a moderate effect for thedecrease in blog participation (d= .58) (Table 1).

A slightly smaller percentage (68.4%) of respondents reported high/very high reliance

in 2007 compared to 2003 (76.9%), while the percentage of those who moderately rely

on blogs increased to 21.6% from 13.7% in 2003. In general, these findings suggest that

Table 1. (Continued)

2007 (N= 1,989) 2003 (N= 3,747)Ind. samplest-scores

Cohens dEffects size

Political IdeologyVery Conservative/Conservative

57.6% N/A

Moderate 24.4% N/AVery Liberal/Liberal 18.0% N/AMean score (15) 3.4 N/A

Political PartyRepublican 40.0% N/ADemocrat 16.6% N/AIndependent 17.7% N/A

Strong/Lean Republican N/A 48.0%Strong/Lean Democrat N/A 14.5%Independent N/A 21.4%

Reliance on BlogsVery high/high Reliance 68.4% 76.9%Moderate Reliance 21.6% 13.7%Very low/low Reliance 10.1% 9.5%Mean (range 15) 3.8 (SD 1.1) 4.1 (SD 1.1) t=-8.2* -.27

*p< .001; **p = .000.



13/21


blog users may have shifted from high to more moderate reliance on blogs, although the

effect is small (Cohens d= .27) (Table 1).

The third research question examined how credibility scores for blogs for war infor-

mation in 2003 compared to 2007. For the 2007 survey, respondents were asked to ratethe believability, fairness, accuracy and depth of five blog types: general information,

media, political, war and military, whereas in 2003 they were asked about blogs in general.

In both 2003 and 2007, blogs were rated as only moderately credible.

In 2003, general information blogs were seen as more believable (range 15,M= 3.6),

accurate (M= 3.5) and in-depth (M= 4.0) than in 2007. In 2003 and 2007, general infor-

mation blogs were rated the same in terms of fairness (M= 3.2). Independent samples

t-scores indicate that credibility index ratings of general information had decreased in

four years. The comparison of general information blogs showed that overall credibility

significantly dropped from a mean of 14.3 (range 420) in 2003 to a mean of 12.9 in

2007 (t= 16.9; df = 5494;p < .001), but practical significance (Cohens d= .51) shows

only a moderate effect.

When analyzing different types of blogs in 2007, military blogs rated highest in believ-

ability (M= 3.8), fairness (M= 3.5), accuracy (M= 3.6) and depth (M= 3.8) than any

other blog type. War blogs were judged as the second most credible blog type (Table 2).

Overall, between 2003 and 2007, blog users became more interested in general news

and the war, and less supportive of the governments war efforts. They spent more time

on blogs but participated at a lower level and they felt that blogs had become more influ-

ential. They were less trusting of the government and were not as self-efficacious as

four years earlier. Blog users tended to be conservative and affiliated with the Republicanparty. Additionally, the average age of blog users increased by 9 years.

Table 2. Perceptions of believability, fairness, accuracy and depth of different blog types

Mean scores (scale 15)

Believability Fairness Accuracy Depth CredibilityIndex (420)

War blogs 2007 3.4 3.1 3.3 3.6 13.5 (N= 1796)= .89 (SD 3.3)

Military blogs 2007 3.8 3.5 3.6 3.8 14.7 (N= 1799)= .90 (SD 3.5)

Political blogs 2007 3.1 2.6 2.9 3.4 12.0 (N= 1811)= .84 (SD 3.1)

Media journalism blogs 2007 2.9 2.5 2.8 2.9 11.0 (N= 1806)= .85 (SD 3.0)

General info. blogs 2007 3.4 3.2 3.2 3.1 12.9 (N= 1838)

=

.80 (SD 2.4)General info. blogs 2003 3.6 3.2 3.5 4.0 14.3 (N= 3659)= .79 (SD 2.9)

t-score =-16.9*.Cohens d=-.51

*p < .001.



14/21


Discussion

This study surveyed individuals who used blogs for information about the war in Iraq to

discover the degree to which reliance, demographics and political characteristics of warblog users changed between 2003 and 2007. This study also examined whether blog

users judgements of credibility of blogs as sources of war information had changed

amidst a huge increase in the number of blogs and a decrease in support for the war.

Although this studys findings are limited to the time period of 2003 to 2007, they are

especially pertinent in 2010 as the war in Iraq is winding down but the war in Afghanistan

is heating up. As this study shows, blogs were very influential in setting perceptions at the

onset of the war in Iraq and had become even more influential in shaping these attitudes as

the war continued. As blogs had the power to sway public opinion about the war in Iraq from

2003 to 2007, presumably they still have the power to do so regarding the war in Afghanistan.

While this studys respondents claimed that blogs had more of an influence on them

in 2007 than they did in 2003, it is not clear just how much of an influence blog use had

on the respondents support for the war, which had weakened since 2003. Regardless, the

decline in war support may have produced other political consequences such as a drop in

trust in government and a decreased sense that an individual can influence what happens

in Washington. Yet, despite these findings, this study indicated that interest in the war

had intensified.

Although blogs became more influential between 2003 and 2007, and the amount of

time users spent on blogs looking for war information increased, reliance on blogs for

war information decreased. These findings are an interesting contradiction. At the time,reliance on non-traditional online sources, such as blogs, was increasing as people

learned which sources were reliable and which ones were not (Johnson and Kaye, 2004;

Johnson et al., 2007). As both blog use and interest in the war increased, support for the

war weakened, yet many blogs remained supportive. Blog users, therefore, may have

been looking for other more balanced sources of war information and thus became less

reliant on blogs. The heightened war interest came at a time when the mainstream press

had reduced both its presence in Iraq and the amount of space it devoted to it (Project for

Excellence in Journalism, 2007a). While the number of dramatic events that highlighted

the initial ground war had dwindled, there had been a surge in the number of troops whowere fighting the war and were still in harms way, which may account for the stepped-up

interest in the war among blog users.

In particular, the period from 2003 to 2007 had seen the rise of the milblogs. Milbloggers

provided photos and videos of their experiences in Iraq and gave their readers a glimpse

into military life and culture. As the media curtailed their coverage, more people turned to

war and military blogs for in-depth information, analysis and opinions of the war missing

from traditional media (Cioppa, 2009; Johnson and Kaye 2004; Kaye and Johnson, 2004).

The rise of milblogs may explain why blog participation had decreased. Rather than going

to political or war blogs that encouraged users to share their views about the war, usersvisited milblogs where they were more likely to learn about military life rather than argue

a point of view.

It will be interesting to see if the same blog usage patterns follow as the war in

Afghanistan continues. War and military blogs could become the primary sources of war



15/21


news if consumers believe that mainstream media are downplaying the events in

Afghanistan. If the mainstream media are seen as unreliable and not very credible, then

perhaps their online counterparts will be viewed as such as well, and blogs will further

surpass them as sources of war information.This study also assessed the perceptions of blog credibility. General information blogs

declined in credibility from 2003 to 2007. This change may signify that those who still

relied on blogs were shifting from more general blogs to ones specifically devoted to war

information. Indeed, war and military blogs were deemed the most credible blog types

and media blogs were judged the lowest.

War and military blogs may be perceived as more credible sources for war news than

other blog types and traditional media because they were created by citizens in Iraq who

directly observed the war, or by soldiers fighting in the conflict. These war and military

bloggers may be perceived as having more expertise than the reporters covering the war

because they provided in-depth eyewitness accounts of the war and personal perspec-

tives on events, and they were more familiar with military and Iraqi culture than US

reporters covering the war. Depth of information, expertise and trustworthiness are the

major factors people use in assessing credibility (Cioppa, 2009; Hovland, Lumsdaine

and Sheffield, 1949; Hovland Janis and Kelley, 1953; Johnson and Kaye, 2004, 2009).

This studys findings could portend that war and military blogs will be viewed as the

most credible blog sources of news and information from Afghanistan, with media blogs,

political blogs and traditional media taking a lesser role.

This study also examined the political and demographic characteristics of those who

use blogs for war information. Between 2003 and 2007, blog users continued to be well-educated males with high incomes. The average age of blog users in 2007 was signifi-

cantly older, which may reflect overall changes in the blogosphere. Blogs have evolved

from being online diaries posted mainly by young people to keep in touch with family

and friends to being content-driven venues that contain news and perspective of events

such as war, that appeal to an older audience.

Regarding political ideology, this study found that those who sought out blog informa-

tion about the war in Iraq were still predominantly Republican, although the percentage

of Republicans decreased slightly from 2003 to 2007. Additionally, conservatives greatly

outnumbered liberals by more than three to one in 2007. This dominance of conservativeRepublicans supports studies that have found that war and military blog users are largely

conservative (Kaye and Johnson, 2004; Johnson et al., 2007).

Overall, with the war in Iraq winding down, support for the intensifying war in

Afghanistan could very well have an effect on the use of blogs and on other media for

war information and on perceptions of credibility. The public is not as supportive of

the war in Afghanistan as it was at the beginning of the war in Iraq. Further, support is

slipping very quickly (ABC News/Washington Post Poll, 2009). By October 2009, only

about 45 percent of Americans favored the war, down from 63 percent six months earlier

(Polling Report, 2009). Using this study as an indicator, if support for the war inAfghanistan continues to drop, reliance on blogs for war information could be weak

depending on whether they remain supportive of war in general. Since blog users tend to

gravitate to information they already support, it is likely that conservative males, who

identify with the Republican party will be the most likely to use blogs to monitor the war.



16/21


Further, perceptions of credibility could suffer among moderates and liberals if blogs

are viewed as pushing a pro-war agenda or taking stances that run contrary to public

opinion in general. If blogs are seen as too one-sided, more demographically and politi-

cally mainstream blog users could turn to other online sources or even back to traditionalmedia for their war news.

Limitations and suggestions for future study

This study relied on self-selected respondents who visit blogs for war information.

Therefore, results reported here cannot be generalized to all blog users. The internet does

not provide a reliable mechanism to randomly sample the entire online population or

smaller subgroups such as blog users (Kaye and Johnson, 1999). Non-probability sampling

is appropriate for posting a survey when random samples are not possible (Babbie,1990). Similarly, snowball sampling is especially useful for reaching populations that are

inaccessible or hard to find (Web Center for Social Research Methods, 2008; Atkinson

and Flint, 2001) and has been used in other published internet and blog studies (Johnson

and Kaye, 2004, 2009; Kaye, 2005, 2007).

This study compared blog use for war information in 2003 and 2007. A third wave

should be conducted while Barack Obama is in office, and the war in Afghanistan is

again escalating to see if credibility changes under the war policies of a different admin-

istration and a different war. A content analysis could be conducted of major general

information/citizen blogs, media/journalism blogs, war blogs and milblogs to see how they

cover the war changes over time. Finally, the bloggers themselves could be surveyed todiscover how, if at all, their coverage of the Iraq War has changed over time and what

factors led to changes in that coverage.

Notes

1. General information/citizen blogs are those in which citizens play an active role in the process

of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information. Media/journal-

ism blogs encompass those that report news and option and those that are about journalism.

Bloggers are usually, but not always, journalists. A warblog is concerned with terrorism, war

and conflict, often with a pro-military stance. A military blog (milblog) is a blog written bymembers or veterans of any branch of the US armed services, posting directly from the front

lines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Political blogs primarily comment on politics, and they often

have a clearly stated political bias.

2. Links to the survey were posted on the following weblogs in 2003: 2020hindsight,

Ackackackcom, Across Atlantic, Africapundit, Agonist, Alphecca, Altercation, Alternet,

Amish Tech Support, Amishblogmo, AndrewOlmsted, AndrewSullivan, Apostablog,

Atlanticblogcom, Atriosblogspotcom, Bag and Baggage, Balloon Juice, Baseball Musings,

Behold, blogspot, Biasblogfodder, BlissfulKnowledge, Blogdex, Bloglogic, Blogosphere,

Blogs Of War, Blogtporg/K, Boingboingnet, BryonScott, Buck Stops Here, Cnn.com, ColdFury, ComeOn, CoranteOnBlogging, Corantec, Corner On NRO, Counterrevolutionary,

CraigsChamp, Crblogspot, Critical Mass, Cut On Bias, Daily Dish, Daily Pundit, Daniel

Drezner, Davespickscom, Daypopcom, Dead Parrot Society, Dean Esmay, Doc Searls,

Docweblogs, DrudgeReport, Erablognet, Erin OConnor, Ever Changing Select, Eyndenloo,



17/21


Fark, Fat Guy, FreeRepublic, Geek-Chick, Give Blogs4god, Glenn Reynolds, Goatsec,

Greenfield, HanlonVision, Hierogrammate, HighClear, Hoder, HomelessGuy, Hoosier

Review, HPANA, Hunnet, IdleType, Ihodercom, Instapundit, J.D. Lasica New Media

Musings, Jeff Cooper, JessicasWell, JoanneJacobs, JonahGoldberg, Josh Claybourne,Journalsp, Jsnotesblogs, LA Livejournal, Leftcoastblog, Leuschke, LGF, Light Of Reason, Like

A Hooligans, Lucianne, Matwyglesias.com, Mediaticblog, Melblogger, Metafilter, Metapop,

Midwest Conservative, MouseMusings, MSNBC, National Review, Newsweek.com, No. 2.

Pencil, Ogloboc, OnBias, Parduedur, Pattern Recognition, Popdex, Post-Atomic, Powerline,

RachaelLucas, RealClearPolitics, Rebecca Blood, Resurrections, Ritingonwall, Rjwest.com,

Sassafrass, Seaofkitt, Shellen.com, Silflay, Hraka, Slate, Slings and Arrows, SouthKnoxBubba,

Suzanna Cornett, Tacitus, Tapped, Tim Blair, Uncorrelated.com, Unqualified Offering, Volokh

Conspiracy, Warblogs, Winds Of Change, Zogbyblogspot.com

3. Links to the survey were posted on the following bulletin boards/electronic mailing lists:

Bloggingcommunity@Yahoo, Colorado Bloggers, Comp.Dcom.Telecom, Dfwblogs, Lds-Poll@

Yahoogroups.Com, Pinoybloggers, Salon Blogs Group, Telecomdigest, Theblosxom,Val-L,

weblogdeveloperusergroup, weblogemailgroup, weblogusersgroup,Yahoogroups-Syndic8

4. Links to the survey were posted on the following blogs in 2007: A Family in Baghdad,

A Family in Iraq, Ace of Spades HQ, Ann Althouse, AOL, Appalachian Scribe, Betseys

Page, Blogometer, Boortz News, brianhornback.blogspot, Brians Blog, Center for Citizen

Media, Citizen Journalism, CNN, Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos, Dan Gillmor, DC Metblogs,

Democratic Underground, edwardwillett.blogspot, Fark, Firedoglake, Hassenpfeffer,

Highclearing, Hotline Blogometer, Joanne Jacobs, journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/

pressthink, Huffington Post, Hullabaloo, Infomaniac, Instapolit, Instapundit, Jay Rosens

Press Think, Jesus General, Journalism.co.uk, Khalid Jarrar, Knox News, KnoxViews,

Mike the Mad Biologist, Mindy McAdams, Moderate Voice, MoveOn.org, NewsBusters,

NewsDissector, NewsHounds, No Silence Here, Nofishnonuts, Obsidian Wings,

Oraculations, Outside the Beltway, Poliblogger, Political Mavens-Steven Taylor, Politics

in the Zeros, Power of Narrative, PowerLine, Poynter.org/Romenesko, Pressthink.org, Raw

Story, Secrets In Baghdad, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, Slate, Teaching Online Journalism

(UNC), Tell Me a Secret, tojou.blogspot, Unqualified Offerings, Wake Up America, www.

wakeupamericans-spree.blogspot

5. The efficacy index is below the normal .70 standard for internal reliability. However, low reli-ability scores are not unusual for an index of only two items. One of the main ways to ensure

reliability is to use measures that have proven reliable in previous research (Babbie, 1990).

Therefore, the authors combined the two items into an index because these two items from the

National Election Studies have proven reliable in past studies.

References

ABC News/Washington Post Poll (2009). URL (consulted 27 Feb. 2010): http://www.pollingreport.

com/iraq.htm

Atkinson, R. and J. Flint (2001) Accessing Hidden and Hard-to-Reach Populations: SnowballResearch Strategies, Social Research Update. URL (consulted 26 May 2008): http://sru.soc.surrey.ac.uk/SRU33.html

Babbie, E. (1990) Survey Research Methods. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Bell, M. (2008) The Death of News,Media, War & Conflict1(2): 22131.



18/21


Bennett, W. L., R. G. Lawrence and S. Livingston (2006) None Dare Call it Torture: Indexing and

the Limits of Press Independence in the Abu Ghraib Scandal,Journal of Communication 56:

46785.

Blog Reader (2007) Blog reader project. URL (consulted 8 May 2008): http://www.blogreader-project.com/

Choi, J. H., J. H. Watt and M. Lynch (2006) Perceptions of News Credibility about the War in

Iraq; Why War Opponents Perceived the Internet as the Most Credible Medium,Journal of

Computer Mediated Communication 12, article 11. URL (consulted 13 April 2007): http://

jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue1.choi.html

Cioppa, T. M. (2009) Operation Iraqi Freedom Strategic Communication Analysis and

Assessment,Media, War & Conflict2(1): 2545.

CNN.com (2008) CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll August 2324, 2008. URL (consulted

1 Sept. 2008): http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm

De Beer, A. S. and J. C. Merrill (1994) Global Journalism: Topical Issues and Media Systems,

4th edn. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Eveland, W. P. and I. Dylko (2007) Reading Political Blogs during the 2004 Election Campaign:

Correlates and Political Consequences, in M. Tremayne (ed.) Blogging, Citizenship, and the

Future of Media,pp. 10525. New York: Routledge.

Fahmy, S. and T. J. Johnson (2007) On Second Thought: A Re-assessment of How Embeds

Performed in the Iraq War, paper presented at the Association in Journalism and Mass

Communication, Washington, DC, August.

Fahmy, S. and T. J. Johnson (2010) How Embedded Journalists in Iraq Viewed the Arrest of

Al-Jazeera Reporter Taysir Alouni,Media War & Conflict2(1): 4765.

Gaziano, C. and K. McGrath (1986) Measuring the Concept of Credibility,Journalism Quarterly

63: 45162.

Graf, J. (2006) The Audience for Political Blogs: New Research on Blog Readership. Washington,

DC: Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet.

Haigh, M. and M. Pfau (2007) Dont Tread on My Blog: A Study of Military Web Logs,

paper presented to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication,

Washington, DC, August.

Haigh, M. M. et al.(2006) A Comparison of Embedded and Non-embedded Print Coverage of the

U.S. Invasion and Occupation of Iraq, The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics11(2): 13953.

Hamdy, N. and R. Mobarak (2004) Iraq War Ushers in Web-based Era, in R. D. Berenger (ed.)

Global Media Goes to War: Role of News and Entertainment Media during the 2003 Iraq War,

pp. 24554. Spokane, WA: Marquette Books.

Hastings, M. (2003,) Bloggers over Baghdad, Newsweek141, 7 April: 489.

Hebert, J. (2004) Troop Blogs Offer Voices, Visions from Iraq, Copley News Service, August: 2

Hovland, C. I., I. L Janis and H. H. Kelley (1953) Communication and Persuasion. New Haven,

CT: Yale University Press.

Hovland, C. I., A. Lumsdaine and F. D. Sheffield (1949) Experiments on Mass Communication:Studies in Social Psychology in World War II. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Howard, P. E. N., L. Rainie and S. Jones (2001) Days and Nights on the Internet: The Impact of a

Diffusing Technology, The American Behavioral Scientist, 45: 382404.



19/21


Into the Abyss (2006) Columbia Journalism Review 45, Nov/Dec: 1478.

Johnson, T. J. (1993) Exploring Media Credibility: How Media and Nonmedia Personnel Judged

Media Performance in Iran/Contra,Journalism Quarterly 70: 8797.

Johnson, T. J. and B. K. Kaye (2000). Using is Believing: The Influence of Reliance on theCredibility of Online Political Information among Politically Interested Internet Users,

Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 77: 86579.

Johnson, T. J. and B. K. Kaye (2004) Wag the Blog: How Reliance on Traditional Media and the

Internet Influence Perceptions of Credibility of Weblogs among Blog Users,Journalism and

Mass Communication Quarterly 81(3): 62242.

Johnson, T. J. and B. K. Kaye (2007) Blogs of War: Reliance on Weblogs for Information About the

Iraqi War, in M. Tremayne (ed.)Blogging, Citizenship, and the Future of Media,pp. 16584.

New York: Routledge.

Johnson, T. J. and B. K. Kaye (2008) Can You Teach a New Blog Old Tricks? How Blog Users

Judge Credibility of Different Types of Blogs for Information about the Iraq War, paper

presented to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual

conference, August. Chicago.

Johnson, T. J. and B. K. Kaye (2009) In Blog We Trust: Deciphering Credibility of Components of

the Internet among Politically Interested Internet Users, Computers in Human Communication

25: 17582.

Johnson, T. J., S. L. Bichard and W. Zhang (2009) Communication Communities or Cyberghettos:

A Path Analysis Model Examining Factors that Explain Selective Exposure to Blogs,Journal

of Computer-Mediated Communication 15(1): 6082.

Johnson, T. J., B. K. Kaye, S. L. Bichard, and J. W. Wong (2007) Every Blog Has Its Day: Politically

Interested Internet Users Perceptions of Blog Credibility, Journal of Computer-Mediated

Communication 13, Article 6. URL (consulted 18 Oct. 2009): http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/

issue1/ johnson.html

Jones, J. M. (2007) Latest Poll Shows High Point in Opposition to Iraq War, 11 July. URL

(consulted 25 Jan. 2008): http://www.gallup.com/poll/28099/Latest-Poll-Shows-High-Point-

Opposition-Iraq-War.aspx

Kaye. B. K. (2005) Its a Blog, Blog, Blog, Blog World: Users and Uses of Weblogs,Atlantic

Journal of Communication 13(2): 7395.

Kaye, B. K. (2007) Blog Use Motivations: An Exploratory Study, in Mark Tremayne (ed.)Blogging, Citizenship, and the Future of Media.New York: Routledge.

Kaye, B. K. (in press) Between Barack and a Net Place: Users and Uses of Social Network Sites

and Blogs for Political Information, in Z. Papacharissi (ed.) The Networked Self: Identity,

Community and Culture on Social Network Sites. New York: Routledge.

Kaye, B. K. and T. J. Johnson (1999) Taming the Cyber Frontier: Techniques for Improving

Online Surveys, Social Science Computer Review 17: 32337.

Kaye, B. K. and T. J. Johnson (2004) Weblogs as a Source of Information about the 2003 Iraq

War, in R. D. Berenger (ed.) Global Media Goes to War: Role of News and Entertainment

Media during the 2003 Iraq War, pp. 291301. Spokane, WA: Marquette Books.Kohut, A. (2007) Views of Press Values and Performance: 19852007: Internet News Audiences

Highly Critical of News Organizations. URL (consulted 12 May 2008): http://www.people-

press.org/reports



20/21


Metzger, M. J. et al. (2003) Credibility for the 21st Century: Integrating Perspectives on Source,

Message and Media Credibility in the Contemporary Media Environment, in P. J. Kalfleisch

(ed.) Communication Yearbook 27, pp. 293335. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Papacharissi, Z. and Rubin, A. M. (2000) Predictors of Internet Use,Journal of Broadcasting andElectronic Media 44: 17596.

Park, D. W. (2009) Blogging with Authority: Strategic Positioning in Political Blogs,International

Journal of Communication 3: 25073.

Perlmutter, D. D. (2008)Blog Wars. New York: Oxford University Press.

Pew Research Center (2001) Terrorist Coverage Boost News Medias Image. URL (consulted

12 May 2008): http://people-press/org/reports.

Pew Research Center (2003) War Coverage Praised, but Public Hungry for Other News. URL

(consulted 12 May 2008): http://people-press/org/reports

Pfau, M. et al. (2005) Embedded Reporting during the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq: How

the Embedding of Journalists Affected News Reports,Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic

Media 49: 46887.

Polling Report (2009) ABC News/Washington Post Poll, 1518 October. URL (consulted 21

Oct. 2009): http://www.pollingreport.com/afghan.htm

Project for Excellence in Journalism (2005) The State of the News Media. URL (consulted 30

March 2005): http://www.journalism.org

Project for Excellence in Journalism (2006) The State of the News Media. URL (consulted 20

April, 2006): http://www.journalism.org

Project for Excellence in Journalism (2007a) The Portrait from Iraq How the Press Has Covered

Events on the Ground. URL (consulted 15 May 2008): http://journalism.org/node/8996

Project for Excellence in Journalism (2007b) The State of the News Media. URL (consulted 15

March 2007): http://www.journalism.org

Rafaeli, S., G. Ravid and V. Soroka (2004) De-lurking in Virtual Communities: A Social

Communication Network Approach to Measuring the Effects of Social and Cultural Capital,

Proceedings of the 37th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

Ruigrok, N. (2008) Journalism of Attachment and Objectivity: Dutch Journalists and the Bosnian

War,Media, War & Conflict1(3): 293313,

Singer, J. B. (2006) Journalists and News Bloggers: Complements, Contradictions, and Challenges,

in A. Bruns and J. Jacobs (eds) Uses of Blogs. New York: Peter Lang.Smith, A. and L. Rainie (2008) The Internet and the 2000 Election. URL (consulted 1 Sept. 2008):

http://www.pewinternet.org/reports

Stevens, J. (1986)Applied Multivariate Statistics. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Stromer-Galley, J. and A. Baker (2006) Joy and Sorrow of Interactivity on the Campaign Trail:

Blogs in the Primary Campaign of Howard Dean, in A. P. Williams and J. C. Tedesco (eds)

The Internet Election: Perspectives on the Web in Campaign 2004,pp.11131. Lanham, MD:

Rowman and Littlefield.

Strupp, J. (2005) Five Embeds Booted Out of Iraq in Recent Months, Editor & Publisher. URL

(consulted 24 Feb. 2010): http://www.editorandpublisher.comTrammell, K. D. et al. (2006) Evolution of Online Campaigning: Increasing Interactivity in

Candidate Web Sites and Blogs through Text and Technical Features,Mass Communication &

Society 9: 2144.



21/21


Valentine, J. C. and Cooper, H. (2003) Effect Size Substantive Interpretation Guidelines: Issues in

the Interpretation of Effect Sizes. Washington, DC: What Works Clearinghouse.

Van Uden-Kraan, C. F. et al. (2008) Self-Reported Differences in Empowerment between Lurkers

and Posters in Online Patient Support Groups, Journal of Medical Internet Research 10(2).URL (consulted 31 Aug. 2008): http://www.jmir.org/2008/2/e18/HTML

Vogt, W. P. (1993)Dictionary of Statistics and Methodology. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Vultee, F. (2009) The Second Casualty: Effects of Interstate Conflict and Civil War on Press

Freedom,Media, War & Conflict2(2): 11127.

Wall, M. (2006) Blogging Gulf War II,Journalism Studies 7(1): 11126.

Web Center for Social Research Methods (2008) Nonprobability Samples. URL (consulted 19

May 2008): http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/

Biographical notes

Thomas J. Johnson is the Amon G. Carter, Jr. Centennial Professor in the School ofJournalism at University of Texas at Austin. His fields of interest are public opinion

and political communication research, particularly the role of the media in presidential

elections. Address: School of Journalism, University of Texas, 2504A Whitis Avenue,

Austin, TX 78712, USA. [email: [email protected]]

Barbara K. Kaye is Associate Program Chair for the Online Master of Arts Degree inCommunication at Johns Hopkins University. (On leave as Professor in the School of

Journalism & Electronic Media, University of Tennessee-Knoxville). Research interests:

media effects and consumer uses of new communication technologies.

Documents

media war and conflict