The Rise of Non-Traditional Site Use for Online Political Information

Abstract

This article updates and clarifies what is known about where political information is gathered online. Some studies have found that the online sites of traditional media companies dominate online interest and marginalize non-traditional sites that present independent views, which damages the Internet's ability to provide diverse viewpoints (Blevins, 2001; Dahlberg, 2005; Introna & Nissenbaum, 2000). Other research shows a trend toward more non-traditional site use (Pew Research Center, 2009). This study uses survey data from political information gatherers during the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign to measure how much traditional and non-traditional media sites dominated their attention and whether factors such as demographics, political interest, social ties, and use of offline media limited or contributed to that domination. The survey found that non-traditional sites controlled respondents' online attention as much as traditional media sites in terms of political information, and several factors contributed to accessing traditional and non-traditional media online.