Bloggers around the world produce material for local, national and international audiences, yet they are developing in ways that are distinct from the U.S. model. Through case studies of blogs written in English, Chinese, Arab, French, Russian, and Hebrew, this book explores the way blogging is being conceptualized in different cultural contexts. The authors move beyond the most highly trafficked sites to shed light on larger developments taking place online, calling into question assumptions that form the foundation of much of what we read on blogging and, by extension, on global amateur or do-it-yourself media. This book suggests a more nuanced approach to understanding how blogospheres serve communication needs, how they exist in relation to one another, where they exist apart as well as where they overlap, and how they interact with other forms of communication in the larger media landscape.


The Editors: Adrienne Russell is Assistant Professor of digital media studies at the University of Denver and was a fellow at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Center for Communication from 2005 to 2007. Her recent work has appeared in Critical Studies in Media Communication, New Media and Society, and Journalism: Theory, Practice, and Criticism. Nabil Echchaibi is Assistant Professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Colorado-Boulder. His most recent work has appeared in international journals including Javnost-The Public, Gazette: Journal of International Communication and The Journal of Intercultural Communication. He is the author of Voicing Diaspora: Ethnic Radio in Paris and Berlin between Cultural Renewal and Retention (forthcoming).