博客 因特网改变政治传统 外文.doc

第二部分：外文原文 Weblogs, traditional sources online and political participation: an assessment of how the internet is changing the political environment HOMERO GIL DE Zú?IGA，EULàLIA PUIG-I-ABRIL，HERNANDO ROJAS new media society，2009，Vol 11(4): Abstract Research has shown consistently that news consumption both online and offline is related positively to interpersonal discussion, political involvement and political engagement. However, little consideration has been given to the role that new sources of information may exert on different forms of political engagement. Based on secondary analysis of data collected by the Pew Internet American Life Project, this article contrasts the influence of traditional sources of information online with that of emergent sources (blogs) in predicting further political discussion, campaigning and participation in both the online and the offline domains. The results show that the use of traditional sources online is related positively to different types of political engagement, both online and offline. Most interestingly, the article finds that blog use emerges as an equally important predictor of political engagement in the online domain. Its analyses provide support for the contention that asserts the democratic potential of the internet. Key words：blogs ? internet ? political participation ? politics INTRODUCTION Advances in computer mediated communication (CMC) continue to feed a burgeoning debate within the social sciences and the humanities over the process of technological and social change, and the implications that technology use has for social interaction as well as for community life overall. This debate has been characterized in terms of utopian versus dystopian views of CMC, and has been particularly acute for the internet and some of its applications (see for example Graber et al., 2004; Katz and Rice, 2002). Despite initial concerns with the possibility that certain communication technologies would actually increase so