In our paper we discuss the potential of online communication in challenging traditional mass media-elite linkages and therefore shed light on the democratization potential of online communication. We propose that the internet offers those without institutionalized access to political decision making new opportunities to be heard in political debate. However, little is known about the specific conditions under which challengers succeed to influence the agenda of traditional mass media. In our paper, we present a theoretical framework and a research design that allows us to examine the conditions of spill-overs from challengers’ online communication into traditional mass media. We expect that media agenda building depends on the strength of discourse coalitions in the online world but also on country- and issue-specific settings. Eventually we introduce a comparative project that investigates media agenda building in online and offline media with respect to the issues of climate change and food safety in public communication of Germany, Switzerland, UK and the US.
