Stuck in First Gear: The Case of German Political "Blogosphere"

Abstract

Germanyis a technologically advanced democracy with free media and high levels of literacy, yet political blogging has not developed as rapidly inGermanyas in theUnited Statesor other European democracies such asFranceandPoland. Using data obtained from in-depth interviews with 28 leading national and regional political bloggers in Germany in spring 2011, this study identifies a complex combination of factors that these bloggers say have impacted the emergence of political blogging in Germany: fears associated with Internet technologies; hostility of traditional news media toward blogs; continued trust of the population in traditional news media, notably public broadcasting; and legal challenges faced by political bloggers.