The internet is seen by many as a tool that could facilitate a public debate with a much broader range of actors and argumentative perspectives on current political issues compared to traditional mass media. This could contribute to the democratization and rationalization of public discourse. This assumption is examined through the dispute over the benefits and dangers of genetically modified food using quantitative empirical methods in the German-speaking region. In addition to a conventional content analysis, a methodologically innovative analysis of hyperlinks and websites is also conducted. The results show only relatively small differences between the internet and quality newspapers, provided that the internet is not explored from the supply side, but from the perspective of those users who use Google as a search engine.