Blogs and China correspondence: lessons about global information flows

Abstract

Recent research points to the evolution of a symbiotic relationship between bloggers and the professional news media, in which blogs influence and supplement the work of journalists but do not appear to be replacing it entirely. Such relationships are developing not only on a country‐by‐country basis but also on a global scale, assisted by the phenomenon of “bridge blogs”. Will this lead to a more democratic global information order? This paper examines the China case, and the emerging relationship between blogs, bridge blogs, and foreign correspondents who cover China. It concludes that if blogs and citizen media are contributing to a more democratic global information order, it is more of a “representative” form of democracy – not a pure “many to many” global discourse that many Internet idealists had hoped.

Keywords:

• China correspondence
• journalism
• Internet
• blogging
• bridge blogs
• global information flows