Governing at a distance - politicians in the blogosphere

Authors:
Stephen Coleman;Giles Moss
Affiliations:
Professor of Political Communication, Institute of Communications Studies, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK. E-mail: s.coleman@leeds.ac.uk;Doctoral Student, New College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Venue:
Information Polity - Political Blogs and Representative Democracy
Year:
2008

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Abstract

This paper examines blogs by three senior politicians as examples of governing at a distance. It considers how the translation of policy messages might be supported by what Scannell has called the 'for-everyone-as-someone' structure of communication. Three communicative characteristics of the blogs are considered: politicians' attempts to seem like ordinary people; their efforts to manage time and appear spontaneous; and their claims to be conversing with and listening to the public. The paper concludes by raising questions about the consequences of digitally mediated intimacy for democratic representation.