Blogging the Ballot

Title: Blogging the Ballot: A Textual Analysis of Blogwatch.ph and How it Covered the 2010 Philippine National Elections

Abstract: Halili, K.T. (2010). Blogging the Ballot: A textual analysis of Blogwatch.ph and how it covered the campaign period of the 2010 Philippine National Elections, Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines Diliman College of Mass Communication.

This thesis is a textual analysis of Blog Watch, a citizen journalism website established by citizen journalists or bloggers to monitor the 2010 Philippine national elections. Citizen journalism is a steadily growing phenomenon that empowers ordinary citizens to shape the opinion of the masses. As such, this thesis sought to find out how citizen journalists operate when faced with current issues by determining the intrinsic factors which influenced the content of their articles written during the campaign period, the dominant topics which they discussed, and the messages they tried to convey. From textual analysis of 49 out of 135 articles (36%) published between February 9 to May 9, 2010 using the answers from the focus interview of the bloggers and the application of the theories presented in this study, the researcher found out that the personal background, professional background, personal beliefs and values, professional roles and ethics, and power within the organization of the bloggers affect what topics are dominant in their articles, such as voter’s education and the profile of a certain presidential candidate. In conclusion, the messages conveyed by the articles are affected by the intrinsic factors of the bloggers more than anything else.

Keywords: blogging, 2010 national elections, blogwatch.ph