Žiniasklaidos tyrimai – tarpdisciplininė mokslų sritis, todėl žiniasklaidos problemos, jos kaitos procesai, žiniasklaidos pranešimų poveikis bendruomenės viešosios erdvės formavimui domina ne tik komunikacijos, bet ir sociologijos, politikos, edukologijos ir kitų mokslų šakų tyrėjus. Šiuo metu viešojoje erdvėje netylančios kalbos apie žiniasklaidos transformacijas, jos pateikiamo turinio „komercialėjimo“, žiniasklaidos organizacijų vis didėjančio priklausymo nuo politikos ir verslo asociacijų problemas, paskatino atlikti dar vieną tyrimą, kurio pagrindinis tikslas buvo ištirti regioninės žiniasklaidos organizacijų veiklą ir nustatyti, kokią įtaką vietinės bendruomenės viešosios nuomonės formavimui daro vis labiau „komercialėjanti“, nuo politinių ir verslo organizacijų priklausoma žiniasklaida. Empirinis darbo tyrimas buvo orientuotas į gana nedidelio Lietuvos regiono – Alytaus miesto žiniasklaidą, gautus rezultatus lyginant su kitų regionų patirtimis. Tyrimo metu buvo atlikti 22 giluminiai kokybiniai interviu su žiniasklaidos organizacijų, jų auditorijos, žiniasklaidos stebėtojų atstovais. Buvo siekiama patikrinti, kiek žiniasklaidos tyrėjų anksčiau padarytos įžvalgos yra teisingos praktinėje nedidelio regiono žiniasklaidos veikloje bei išsiaiškinti, kokios galimos naujos problemos, grėsmės visuomenei slepiasi šiandieninėje regioninėje žiniasklaidoje. Gauti rezultatai parodė, kad regioninė žiniasklaida būdama geografiškai arčiausiai savo auditorijos gali daryti didelę įtaką... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Media studies is interdisciplinary science, so media problems, changes, influence to society is discussed between many researchers, who are specializing in Communication, Sociology, Politics, Education and many other sciences. There are a lot of talks about recent changes in media, media commercialization, growing influence by political and business organizations. This is research is yet another try to find out, how media is changing, how these changes affect society, what kind of influence businesses and political organizations have in media, how that influence changed in recent slow down in global economy. Empirical research object was media in Alytus, small region in Lithuania, and results were compared with similar regions. 22 follow-up qualitative interviews were carried out between members of media organizations, audience and experts. The main point was to check how theories and predictions, which were made by media experts earlier, work in practice in small regional media nowadays, what new problems are growing and what kind of damage they can do to local communities in near future. The results show, that regional media is very close to its audience geographically and can have a huge impact in formation of public sphere in local community, so the main problems are unclear connections between media and political, business organizations, which has influence in media reports, and media’s manipulation with ‘weakest’ audience in order to get a better sales and profit. A... [to full text]

In this thesis, Lisa Figge analyzes the political space of ecological citizenship by theorizing her art practice. Beginning with an Arendtian lens, Figge creates projects in the vein of New Genre Public Art, to trace the qualitatively-distinct activities of the public sphere, in which ecological citizens appear. The art practices of Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Colette Urban, Pat Aylesworth, Helen and Newton Harrison help move this critique along. Then, taking Judith Butler’s thinking on the bond between speech and action, or speech acts, Figge situates her art practice and thesis writing as an account of herself as an ecological citizen. Figge is interested in finding ways to multiply opportunities, for her and others, to perform concerned engagement with the world. In order to begin this process Figge acts out and analyses her three art interventions: Madame E and her suit of environmentally conscious a(r)mour, Ecological Citizen in Training, and 86 Hands on Wolfe Island. In giving an account of herself, she shows how our aptitude for sorting things should not be used to override our capacity to make a meaningful life. The art exhibition Dust to Dust, 2010 is the twin of this accounting, which was held at Queen’s University’s Union Gallery. / Thesis (Master, Environmental Studies) -- Queen's University, 2010-09-06 18:48:33.277

Ce mémoire porte sur les raisons qu’ont de jeunes adultes québécois de discuter ou non de politique sur Internet. Il s’inscrit dans le contexte général de l’avènement du Web 2.0 et dans le contexte particulier des élections canadiennes de mai 2011. Au niveau théorique, nous avons mobilisé la théorie de l’agir communicationnel du philosophe allemand Jürgen Habermas ainsi que sa conception de la sphère publique. Du point de vue méthodologique, nous avons étudié un échantillon composé de jeunes adultes québécois, hommes et femmes, âgés de 19 à 30 ans, qui habitent à Montréal et dans ses environs. Ces jeunes citoyens ont été interrogés dans le cadre de quatre focus groups. Les données recueillies ont été analysées selon une méthode d’extraction des arguments en accord avec la méthodologie de la reconstruction rationnelle. Les résultats ont permis d’exposer plusieurs raisons qu’ont avancées les jeunes adultes interrogés pour expliquer leur degré de participation à des discussions politiques sur Internet. Celles-­‐ci ont été regroupées en quatre thèmes: le manque de connaissances et l’aspect public; la conscientisation et l’obtention de feedback; la réaction par rapport au contenu, la composition du réseau et la valeur de l’information; le face à face, l’anonymat et les sujets controversés. Ces résultats ont été discutés en considérant ceux obtenus par d’autres chercheurs afin de faire ressortir les apports de cette étude au domaine de la communication. La discussion a également permis d’adopter un point de vue théorique critique pour explorer ce que les résultats de ce mémoire révèlent sur l’état de la sphère publique québécoise. / This master thesis deals with the reasons some young adult Quebecers have to be or not to be involved in political discussions on the Internet. It was written within the general context of the rise of Web 2.0 and within the specific context of the Canadian elections of May 2011. At the theoretical level, we have worked with German philosopher Jürgen Habermas' Theory of Communicative Action along with his conception of the Public Sphere. From a methodological standpoint, we have studied a sample made up of young adult Quebecers, both men and women, aged between 19 and 30, living in Montreal and its surroundings. These young citizens were questioned throughout four focus group sessions. The collected data was analysed with an argument extraction method in accordance with the rational reconstruction methodology. The results allowed us to expose many reasons that could explain the questioned young adults' level of involvement in online political discussion. These reasons were regrouped in four themes: the lack of knowledge and the public aspect; awareness and feedback; reaction based on content, the nature of the network and the value of information; face-­‐to-­‐face conversation, anonymity and controversial topics. In order to highlight the contributions of this study to the field of communication, the results were discussed while considering those obtained by other researchers. The discussion also allowed us to adopt a critical and theoretical point of view to explore what the results of this thesis reveal on the state of the Public Sphere in Quebec.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

This study tries to understand the internal dynamics of the civil society organizations in Turkey on the experiences of three CSOs: the Ankara Branches of KADER, MAZLUMDER and IMO by focusing on the intra&ndash / organizational practices (the decision making processes, elections, general meetings, division of labor, basic conflicts and divergences, the disagreements, the way of deliberation and consensus). It tries to shed light on the transformative potential of the CSO&rsquo / s in public sphere as civil organizations themselves in time both in the sense of their political stances and organizational structure. The research was designed in the form of a case study including both the depth interwiews and participant observations. In this framework, ten depth-interviews were made with members having different qualities for each of these CSOs and participant observations were realized in the general meetings, elections and activities of these organizations. Since the aim of this study is to understand the contribution of the CSOs to the public sphere, the research findings were interpreted and considered basically in the light of the two main theoretical positions: the deliberative (Habermas) and agonistic (Laclau and Mouffe) democracy. The study espoused a post-structuralist conception of democracy combined with a weakened model of deliberation and dialogue pointing out the requirement of the existential publicity of man (Arendt) in the world. In this context, this study tries to discuss the following questions within the framework of the public sphere experience of the three CSOs throughout the thesis. Is the concept of civil society a proper concept for understanding the peculiar experience of Turkey (with reference to the historical context of civil associational life in Turkey and the recent civil resurrection)? Do civil organizations have the capacity to serve for deepening and consolidation of democracy in public sphere? Are these civil organizations democratic and participatory with regard to their intra-organizational structures and decision-making processes? And, more importantly, do they have any capacity to influence the process of democratic transformation in Turkey?

This thesis examines the changing relationships between television, politics, audiences and the public sphere. Premised on the notion that mediated politics is now understood “in new ways by new voices” (Jones, 2005: 4), and appropriating what McNair (2003) calls a “chaos theory” of journalism sociology, this thesis explores how two different contemporary Australian political television programs (Sunrise and The Chaser’s War on Everything) are viewed, understood, and used by audiences. In analysing these programs from textual, industry and audience perspectives, this thesis argues that journalism has been largely thought about in overly simplistic binary terms which have failed to reflect the reality of audiences’ news consumption patterns. The findings of this thesis suggest that both ‘soft’ infotainment (Sunrise) and ‘frivolous’ satire (The Chaser’s War on Everything) are used by audiences in intricate ways as sources of political information, and thus these TV programs (and those like them) should be seen as legitimate and valuable forms of public knowledge production. It therefore might be more worthwhile for scholars to think about, research and teach journalism in the plural: as a series of complementary or antagonistic journalisms, rather than as a single coherent entity.

This paper presents a comparative analysis of hierarchical variables indicators of socioenvironmental certification from the scene. The indicators take values handled in the business to the environment. For such understanding, we begin with assumptions that each society conceives the nature of the built environment and social relations. From this perspective, it is understood that the relationship that societies construct themselves and together with the building with the building with nature, materialize in space. Hence, when we speak of production space we are considering that this is the product of the inseparability of social and natural, like a hybrid of historical processes that have developed as forms of social organization and uses of nature. Since the construction of the environmental scene take the concept of public sphere as a locus of realization spaces of argument, which echoes and integrates the policy as a whole interrelated. In both speeches that no originals of the formal resolutions (that support micro) as institutionalized make incursions into the public sphere, moving public opinion and pressure various sectors such as government and civil organizations, intent on (re) introduce the man as the subject of actions in the political scene, and environmental discourse. The methodology was qualitative, based on analysis of questionnaires between the groups: researchers associated with the National Association of Graduate Studies and Research in Environment and Society-ANPPAS, professionals working in environmental, nongovernmental organizations related to environmental issues , state environmental agencies, state sanitation companies (respondents to the questionnaire 1) and state sanitation company certified by ISO 14001 (questionnaire respondent 2). What was found was that the indicators incorporate social and environmental variables in a psychosphere originating in non-institutionalized social spheres. These variables are operationalized in the strategies and actions to generate competitive advantage, market access, and to generate confidence among the various stakeholders. Where the certificates are presented as network variables tailoring sectors, constitute and embody the company's relations with its parts. / Este trabalho apresenta a análise comparativa hierarquizada de variáveis dos indicadores das certificações da cena socioambiental. Os indicadores são tomados como valores agenciados na relação empresa- meio ambiente. Para tal entendimento, partimos de pressupostos que cada sociedade concebe natureza o ambiente construído pelas e para as relações sociais. Nessa perspectiva, compreende-se que a relação que as sociedades constroem em si e, juntamente, com a que constroem com a natureza, materializam-se no espaço. Daí que, ao falarmos de produção de espaço estamos considerando que esse é produto da indissociabilidade do social e do natural, como um híbrido de processos históricos que se desenvolveram como formas de organização social e dos usos da natureza. Sendo que na construção da cena ambiental tomamos o conceito de esfera pública como lócus de realização dos espaços de argumentação, que repercute e integra a política como um todo interrelacionada. Em que tanto os discursos não originais dos espaços formais de deliberação (que dão suporte à micropolítica) como os institucionalizados fazem incursões pela esfera pública, movimentando a opinião pública e pressionando diversos setores tais como governo, organizações e civis, na intenção de (re)introduzir o homem como sujeito das ações na cena política-discursivaambiental. A metodologia aplicada foi qualitativa, baseada em análise de questionários aplicados entre os grupos: pesquisadores associados à Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Ambiente e Sociedade- ANPPAS, profissionais liberais que trabalham na área ambiental, organizações não-governamentais ligadas à temática ambiental, órgãos ambientais estatais, empresas estaduais de saneamento (respondentes do questionário 1) e empresa estadual de saneamento certificada pela ISO 14001 ( respondente do questionário 2). O que se constatou foi que os indicadores incorporam as variáveis socioambientais de uma psicosfera originária de esferas sociais não institucionalizadas. Estas variáveis são operacionalizadas nas estratégias e ações para geração de vantagem competitiva, acesso a mercados, e para a geração de confiança entre os diversos públicos de interesse. Em que as certificações se apresentam como uma rede de variáveis que costuram setores, constituem e materializam as relações da empresa com suas partes.

[pt] O trabalho intitulado Do Discurso à Cidade: Políticas de Patrimônio e a Construção do Espaço Público no Centro Histórico de Manaus discute a concepção de patrimônio em Manaus no final do século XX e início do século XXI, especificamente o período de 1997 a 2012. Tal discussão se dá a partir dos discursos centrados nas Leis, decretos e projetos que compõem as políticas de patrimônio na cidade, amparadas nos discursos veiculados nos periódicos e materiais de divulgação das instituições envolvidas (Iphan, Secretaria de Cultura do Estado do Amazonas e Secretaria Municipal de Cultura). A questão que se buscou responder foi: como e até que ponto os discursos do patrimônio interferem na construção do espaço público no Centro Histórico de Manaus? Para desenvolver tal questão, optou-se por pesquisa documental e pesquisa de campo com análise e interpretação dos dados, seguindo a linha de análise intertextual do historiador das ideias Quentin Skinner, que está centrada na intertextualidade, com destaque para o vocabulário normativo. No percurso da pesquisa, observou-se que no período em questão, delimitado por dois marcos – 1997, período da instalação da nova política cultural com a criação da Secretaria de Cultura do Estado e 2012, com o tombamento do Centro Histórico de Manaus pelo Iphan - cinco espaços do Centro Histórico passaram por um processo denominado de revitalização. Este processo de revitalização apontou para princípios formais e estéticos presentes na Manaus da Belle Époque, cujos espaços foram construídos na passagem do século XIX para o século XX, inspirados em padrões europeus e se mantiveram gravados na cidade até os anos 1960, quando estes padrões arquitetônicos foram substituídos por espaços necessários à implementação da Zona Franca de Manaus. Dessa forma, o projeto modelo foi o Largo de São Sebastião, que teve ruas fechadas para o trânsito e a revitalização da praça e do entorno do Teatro Amazonas. Este foi o primeiro espaço revitalizado e aberto para o olhar dos passantes, em 2004, sendo reproduzido em mais quatro espaços nos anos seguintes, sugerindo a ideia de cidade-postal. Por esse caminho, a pesquisa levou a refletir que os discursos podem ter contribuído para a construção do espaço público e que esta construção teve dois caminhos que se desdobram: a revitalização do espaço físico e a revitalização da memória afetiva sobre esses mesmos espaços, trazendo para o espaço presente, a Manaus de Antigamente. Ao buscar identificar os possíveis discursos que constroem as muitas cidades que habitam o Centro Histórico de Manaus, indicou-se o que poderia constituir patrimônio nas vozes locais. / [en] The paper entitled From Discourse to the City: Estate Policies and the Construction of Public Space in the Historical Center in Manaus argues the conception of estate in Manaus in the end of the XXTH century and beginning of the XXIST century, specifically the period between 1997 and 2012. Such reasoning takes place parting from Law-centered discourses, decrees and projects which make up the city s estate policies, supported in the discourses provided by newspapers and advertising materials from institutions involved (Iphan, Secretaria de Cultura do Estado do Amazonas e Secretaria Municipal de Cultura). The matter sought to be answered was: how and how far in have the estate discourses interfered with the construction of public space in the Historical Center of Manaus? To develop such matter, file and field research with analysis and interpretation of data were chosen, following the line of intertextual analysis from Ideas Historian Quentin Skinner, which is centered in intertextuality, with highlights for its normative vocabulary. Throughout the research, it was observed that along the range given, set out by two limits – 1997, new cultural policy with the creation of the State Cultural Office and 2012, tipping of the Historical Center of Manaus by Iphan -, five areas of the Historical Center went through a process called revitalization. This process of revitalization pointed out formal and aesthetic principles present at Manaus back in the Belle Epóque, whose spaces were built in the turn of the XXTH century to the XXIST, inspired by European patterns, and which have kept themselves inscribed in the city until the 60s, when such architectonic patterns were substituted with spaces required to the implementation of the Duty-free Zone in Manaus. Then, the model project was São Sebastião Square, which had its streets closed to traffic and the revitalization of the square around the Amazon Opera House. This was the first space revitalized and open to public visiting, in 2004, being later reproduced in other 4 spaces in the following years, suggesting the idea of postal-city. This way, this research led to be reflected that the discourses may have contributed to the construction of public space and that such construction unfolded into two paths: the revitalization of physical space and the revitalization of affective memory about these same spaces, bringing to the present space the Manaus of old. At pursuing the identification of the possible discourses which build the many cities that inhabit Manaus s Historical Center, it was hinted what could constitute estate in the local voices.

La politique vietnamienne de promotion de l’héritage culturel, mise en œuvre depuis le « Renouveau » (1986) conformément aux objectifs de valorisation et de sauvegarde des sites du Patrimoine mondial classés par l’UNESCO, a occasionné ces dernières décennies une floraison inouïe de fêtes rituelles, festivals folkloriques et cérémonies cultuelles témoignant d’un phénomène qui, sans être nouveau, demeure significatif dans le Vietnam contemporain : le retour aux sources et aux valeurs traditionnelles. Cette « retraditionalisation idéologique » (C. Geertz) vise à exalter le nationalisme culturel à l’aune du modèle de l’État-nation moderne dans l’optique de renouveler et renforcer la légitimité du Parti communiste vietnamien (PCV). Le projet nationaliste s’impose dès les premiers jours de la libération nationale et de la construction du nouvel État : la République démocratique du Vietnam (en 1945). Il puise sa force motrice dans les « mytho-moteurs » (J. Armstrong) de la tradition pérenne de la nation et révèle ainsi une continuité, et non une rupture, de la politique du PCV avec l’Histoire de longue durée. Or, loin d’être une continuité naturelle, ce retour aux sources relève bel et bien d’une stratégie symbolique du régime actuel, consistant à revaloriser l’héritage du passé ainsi qu’à retravailler et inventer la tradition (E. Hobsbawm). La présente étude s’efforce d’éprouver l’hypothèse selon laquelle, les informations du JT de 19 heures de la Télévision nationale sont le révélateur de la construction de mythes essentialistes qui, au-delà des images mentales et typifiées, constituent une force conductrice, une forme sensible et un processus d’appartenance communautaire. Le recours à une anthropologie des médias comme cadre explicatif et conceptuel est incontournable dans la mesure où les médias ˗ un faiseur de mythe de l’ère moderne ˗ sont inséparables de la culture et de l’histoire nationale. À l’instar de L. Quéré, nous considérons l’espace médiatique comme un « tiers symbolisant » ou un espace référentiel plutôt qu’un espace de représentations. Cette approche permet d’examiner, dans une perspective phénoménologique et pragmatique, l’apparition, la publicisation et la transformation des mythes en problèmes publics et actions collectives. Nous avons construit trois modèles heuristiques afin d’examiner les aspects performatifs et générateurs de sens de la production télévisuelle des mythes : l’espace public de communion (analyse discursive) ; le mode mythificalisant (analyse sémio-pragmatique du dispositif télévisé) et le récit identificatoire (analyse narratologique de la temporalisation du récit mythique). La narrativité de la propagande communiste qui reste prégnante dans le journal, opère quant à elle un glissement progressif du discours propagandiste vers l’univers du mythe national : elle se situe au niveau du métalangage barthésien, sans être pour autant dénuée de pragmatisme. Loin de l’approche instrumentale de la manipulation, nous adhérons à l’approche culturaliste de l’ethno-nationalisme, en avançant que le recours aux idées ethno-nationalistes relèverait de facto d’une croyance effective du manipulateur en tant que membre de la communauté ethnique : le ressort culturel mobilisé pour manipuler autrui s’incorpore à son propre système de croyance. Cependant, puisque son « programme de vérité » correspond à des « régimes de croyance » (P. Veyne) différents, le mythe possède autant de force de structuration que de déstructuration et, par conséquent, rend fragile et incertain l’avenir de toute idéologie nationaliste. / Since the ʺRenovationʺ era (1986), Vietnam has been promoting its cultural heritage in full compliance with UNESCO’s objective of cultural renewal and protection through its World Heritage programme. Over the past decades, this policy has brought about an unheard-of blossoming of ritual celebrations, folk festivals and cult ceremonies. Such a nationwide phenomenon of revisiting its origins and traditional values, though not new, is quite significant in contemporary Vietnam, where this type of ʺideological re-traditionalizationʺ (C. Geertz) aims at exalting cultural nationalism in the light of the modern Nation-State with a view to renewing and strengthening the legitimacy of its Communist Party (VCP). This nationalist undertaking, which has proved vital from the early days of the National Liberation and the establishment of the new State ‒ the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945) ‒ draws its driving force from the ʺmythomoteursʺ (J. Armstrong) of the perennial national tradition, thus revealing a continuity, not a breach, of the VCP policy within the long-term history. However, far from being inherent, this continuity is indeed a symbolic strategy developed by the regime in order to renew the country’s heritage, redraft and contrive its folklore (E. Hobsbawm). In this study, we attempt to test the hypothesis whereby the Vietnamese Television’s 7 pm TV newscast is a pointer of an essentialist myth-building which, beyond the formation of mental and typified images, organizes a driving force, a sensitive form and a community-belonging process. Utilizing media anthropology as an explanatory and conceptual framework is crucial insofar as the media –makers of myth in the modern era – cannot be separated from the national history and culture. Following L. Quéré, we consider the media sphere as a ʺsymbolising third-partyʺ or a referential sphere rather than one of representations. By virtue of this approach, we can examine from a phenomenological and pragmatic perspective the appearance, publicization and transformation of myths into public problems and collective actions. We have developed three heuristic models in order to examine the performative and meaning-generating aspects of televisual myth-making: the public sphere of communion (discursive analysis); the myth-making mode (semio-pragmatic analysis of the televisual apparatus); and the identificatory story (narratological analysis of the temporalization of the mythical narrative). The tale of the Communist propaganda, still prevalent in the TV newscast, is assuming a gradual shift, from the discourse of propaganda towards the realm of national myths: its level is that of the Barthesian meta-language, yet not without pragmatism. Rather than to the instrumental approach of manipulation, we adhere to the culturalistic approach of ethno-nationalism, and argue that resorting to ethno-nationalist ideas may fall de facto within the true belief of the manipulator as a member of the ethnic community: the cultural resource summoned to manipulate others is integrated into his own belief system. However, since its ʺprogramme of truthʺ matches different ʺsystems of beliefʺ (P. Veyne), myth holds a destructuring as much as a structuring force, conveying any kind of nationalist ideology frailty and unpredictability.

La thèse du présent travail est que certains blogs politiques américains sont non seulement une forme de journalisme citoyen mais aussi des atouts lors d'élections. Au vu de ce qui précède nous poursuivons un triple objectif : démontrer non seulement le pouvoir de mise en agenda de la blogosphère politico-journalistique aux États-Unis mais aussi la légitimité de celle-ci comme forme de journalisme postmoderne à la lumière du travail qu'elle effectue et de ses valeurs. Il vise en outre à prouver la capacité de mobilisation de la blogosphère politique américaine en périodes électorales notamment à travers une étude du blog de campagne de Howard Dean, candidat malheureux à l'investiture démocrate pour l'élection présidentielle de 2004. Pour mener notre recherche nous avons eu recourt à trois théories : La théorie des utilisations et satisfactions qui cherche à expliquer les raisons pour lesquelles les individus consomment un média particulier et les satisfactions qu'ils en tirent. La théorie du réseau nous a permis de saisir l'organisation et le fonctionnement de la blogosphère politico-journalistique mais aussi son pouvoir de mise en agenda. La dernière théorie qui nous a aidé dans notre travail est justement la théorie de la mise en agenda. Celle-ci a montré des similarités entre les médias sociaux comme les blogs politico-journalistiques et les médias traditionnels en terme d'influence sur respectivement la couverture médiatique et les conversations interpersonnelles. / The thesis of this work is that some American political blogs are not only aform of citizen journalism but also assets during elections. We have three objectives in the present work : demonstrating not only the agenda setting power of political and current event blogs but also its legitimacy as aform ofpost modernjournalism in light of what itproduces (news staries, reports...) and its values. This thesis also aims to show the mobilizing capabilities of political blogs via an analysis of Howard Dean's cyber campaign during the 2003 democratic primaries in anticipation of the 2004 presidential campaign. To undertake this work we will resort to three theories: the uses and gratifications theory that describes the reasons whypeople are attracted to aparticular media and the satisfaction they derive from it. Network theory that explains the formation and the functioning of networks. ltproved helpful to grasp the structure of political blogs and the way they manage to sway . the work of mainstream media. Eventually Agenda setting theory made easier the analysis of mainstream media's influence on interpersonal conversations and the transposition of this mode! on the fashion with which current events and political blogs influence mainstream media's coverage.