The Internet and the contemporary public sphere: In search of 'accessibility,' 'traversability,' and 'heterogeneity' at the nexus of news use and political discussion

The increasing presence of the Internet across the spectrum of political communication has fed debates about news media use, political discussion, and exposure to political difference in the contemporary public sphere. This dissertation explores the intersection of these topics through a two-part focus on: (1) citizen interface with online news and political discussion and (2) the contribution of Internet use to the heterogeneity of people's political discussion networks. The first area of focus is directed toward general questions about the accessibility of politically relevant online discourse (news and political discussion) and about the extent to which these forms of discourse are meaningfully connected. The second area of focus is on the question of how Internet use affects people's overall exposure to political difference, either by providing the means for high selectivity in online discussion partners, which could narrow overall experiences with political difference, or by weakening various social boundaries, which could potentially broaden the heterogeneity of people's political discussion networks. Toward answering these questions and related hypotheses, a total of three data sources are employed and combined into a unified dataset. The primary data source is derived from a 2003 dataset collected at Cornell University (N=781). Added to these data, are then measures of heterogeneity at the macro-structural-level from 2 sources: the Center for Congressional and President Studies at American University and the 2000 U.S. Census. Overall, findings suggest: (1) when compared to offline counterparts, SES and political knowledge are equally, if not more relevant to frequent use of online news and engagement in online political discussion, suggesting that Internet use has contributed to a slightly less accessible contemporary public sphere; (2) when compared to offline counterparts, the relationship between online news and online discussion is the strongest, suggesting an especially intimate and important connection between the two forms of discourse; (3) beyond the influence of "face-to-face" discussion, traditional news media use mechanisms, macro-level geographic population constraints on heterogeneity, and other traditional predictors of political behavior, online political discussion (directly) and online hard news (directly and indirectly) contribute; albeit in a minor way; to the heterogeneity of political discussion networks.