[Air-l] blogs & politics research

[Emily Metzgar]

Dear Colleagues,

I am a doctoral student in media and public affairs at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and my research focuses on the impact of blogs on state politics around the country.

A quick profile of my research is available here: http://governing.typepad.com/13thfloor/2007/04/queen_of_the_st.html

As you may know, a lot of research has focused on the impact of the nation’s big-name, A-list blogs on American politics.  Stories about the impact of those blogs range from the downfall of Trent Lott to Dan Rather’s memo-gate to George Allen’s more recent Macaca moment.  But to date, no one has considered the impact of blogs at the state level.

My observations about the impact of bloggers on state policy and politics in Louisiana have triggered my interest in looking at that dynamic in states around the country.  To that end, I am requesting your help in compiling data for my research.  I have prepared an online survey for both bloggers and blog readers to complete.

The survey is available online from today through June 30 at the following link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=mb2MRtsLhdFv5NW9LLmdiA%3d%3d

I would be grateful if you would:

First, take a few minutes to complete the survey yourself, whether you are a die-hard blogger or a casual blog reader;

Second, forward this email to your colleagues urging them to both complete the survey and forward the link to others;

Third, contact me if you have any questions, concerns or input regarding this research endeavor.

I have created a blog (http://stateblogresearch.blogspot.com) that will track this research as it progresses and I would be happy to keep you posted on this project as it moves forward.  All feedback should be directed to stateblog at gmail.com. 

Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.

Best regards,

Emily Metzgar
Doctoral student
Manship School of Mass Communication
Louisiana State University
emetzg1 at lsu.edu
318.572.0531 -- phone
866.319.8460 -- fax