The political news environment has changed dramatically in recent years. Long gone are the days when political information was confined to a few network news channels and major national newspapers or magazines. Today, newspapers and network TV compete with 24-hour cable channels and a host of online news services—from online efforts by traditional publishers to user-generated content on blogs, personal webpages, social networking sites and elsewhere. Political news junkies can customize their news using RSS feeds or news aggregators, get updates on the topics they are specifically interested in at any time of day and in multiple formats, and then contribute their own thoughts to the discussion on their personal blog or Twitter feed.

These changes inspire a host of questions. In a world of dispersed media, where are politically engaged citizens going for their news? How do alternative outlets such as blogs fit into the overall media environment? How are mobile devices used for gathering political information, particularly with respect to the consumption of traditional media content? And as voters move down the long tail of media content, are they able to more narrowly focus in on content that fits their existing political philosophy?