BLOGS, PUBLIC SPHERE AND JOURNALISM AS CONVERSATION: Tree essays about the blogging phenomena and its relation with journalism

UMI number: 1444067

http://www.proquest.umi.com

copyright 2007 by

ADRIANA GUTIERREZ PACHECO

all rights reserved

Presented to the Faculty of the Communications Graduate School

Of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus

In Partial Fullfillment

of the Requirements for the

Degree of

Master of Arts in Journalism

May, 2007

Summary

This project contents three investigative essays that explore the new variants of interactive journalism. Blogs are seen as innovative computer communication interfaces. Blogs play a vital role in the conformation of new public spheres. Blogs provide a new media for the public expression. Furthermore, telling about blogs, and these new emerging public spheres that allow the conversation between users, these essays illustrate how the news industry is nowadays challenged and its going through a worldwide mediamorphosis process . These essays provide an insight of the historical background that leads us to the understanding of the blog phenomena. In Puerto Rico the main and biggest newspaper enterprise has already introduced blogging and it is starting to experiment with the creative and communicative potential that characterizes this phenomena. So far, in this investigative work we can appreciate this moves to a better understanding between audiences and journalists.