Whale Oil is New Zealand's most popular blog

Blogger Cameron Slater. Photo / David White

Cameron Slater's Whale Oil Beef Hooked is New Zealand's most popular blog, according to a new report.

The report by Auckland University of Technology's Journalism, Media and Democracy centre found the right-leaning blog, which broke the Len Brown sex scandal, had doubled its monthly visitor numbers since September 2012.

Latest figures showed more than 760,000 people clicked into the blog each month.

David Farrar's Kiwiblog was the second most popular blog this year, with 397,034 visitors each month.

For blogs to be ranked in the report, they must have a publicly accessible site meter which tracks visitor numbers.

Report author and AUT communication studies lecturer Merja Myllylahti said more people were turning to New Zealand's "blogoshpere"for information.

"It is not surprising that citizen journalists and bloggers have started to take a more active role. The blogosphere is thriving right now because it provides an alternative to commercially focused media," Ms Myllylahti said.

Controversial stories this year like Mr Brown's affair, the release of Fairfax reporter Andrea Vance's phone records to a ministerial inquiry, and the passage of legislation expanding the powers of the GCSB had also contributed to a more active blogging culture, she said.

Ms Myllylahti said several actions by the Government recently, such as increasing the power of the GCSB, could be perceived as a threat to media freedom.

"Therefore it is good to see that the New Zealand media is looking for new ways to raise issues, and bloggers are gaining in prominence."

The fact that financial institutions had grown their stakes in media ownership in the past three years was another worrying trend, she said.

"This is worrying because the main objective of financial owners is to maximise their returns. And in the current economic climate that often means the loss of thousands of journalism and editorial jobs, exacerbating the trend towards more commercial content."