Blogging from the fourth estate: a grounded theory approach and the rise of experimental journalism

This essay asks one central research question: How are professional journalists adopting the blog format and what implications do these practices have on the current and future state of their profession? To answer this question, this study uses the grounded theory method. This method is designed to help develop a theoretical model that arises from interviews and documents. This study uses a sample size of 10 journalists from elite newspapers in America. The resulting theoretical model derived in this study explains the causes and consequences of what is described as experimental journalism. In short, this is the practice of advancing traditional journalism norms through the application of new technologies. This study identified two key causes of experimental journalism: the new potential introduced by the blog format and the lack of oversight given to journalists when using this new technology. After developing a theoretical model for describing this phenomenon, this study offers six testable propositions that follow from this theoretical model. Key terms used in this study includes journalism, Hogging, j-blogging, Internet, new media, grounded theory, open coding, axial coding, selective coding, qualitative methods, mass communication, postmodernism, and public sphere.