Exploring the Connection Between Newspaper Blogs and Sense of Community

The purpose of this study was to explore the potential of newspaper blogs to foster a sense of community among readers and if so, whether this has an effect on their reading behavior. An online survey was conducted among the readers of the Houston Chronicle news blogs. The participants were asked to respond to twelve statements in order to determine their sense of community, as well as answering questions about their reading behavior and demographics. Findings suggest that blogs are a viable tool for newspapers to create a sense of community among the readers. Additionally, the results suggest some correlation between sense of community and reading behavior. However, further research is needed to determine the nature of this relationship.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mass Communication

Grantor

University of Houston

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Flensted, Sofie

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Smith, Brian G.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Xiao, Zhiwen
• Liu, Youmei

• Newspapers
• Blogs
• Sense of community

Statement dc:rights

• The author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10657/290

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/290