CorpComms Magazine

Nearly every blog written is prompted by a news report in traditional mainstream media and fewer than one per cent are prompted by stories in social media, according to a new report.

The report by American thinktank Pew Research Center appears to dispel a growing belief that blogs are becoming increasingly influential and, in some cases, dictating the news agenda.

Pew's 'Project for Excellence in Journalism' analysed a year of data on the top American news stories discussed and linked to in blogs and social media pages and seven months of data from Twitter.

It found that the top news agenda in the blogosphere coincides with that of traditional media, with politics and foreign affairs leading the pack.

Indeed, 12 per cent of all blogs discussed foreign affairs, with subjects ranging from the protests in Iran to the Christmas number one in the UK.

This focus on foreign affairs meant that BBC News was the site most often linked to by bloggers. Nearly one in four, 23 per cent, linked to the BBC, while 21 per cent cited CNN.com. Together with the New York Times and the Washington Post, these accounted for 80 per cent of all links.

In just 13 of the 49 weeks analysed did the blogosphere and traditional media share the same top story. Bloggers tend to gravitate towards events that affect personal rights and cultural norms, while traditional media news agendas are more event-driven and institutional.

Just one story - the controversy over emails relating to global research that became known as Climategate - became a major item in the blogosphere before being picked up by traditional media one week later.

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