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Panama Papers: The online impact of a global scandal
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Foreword
Today,thepubliceyeisinescapable:nobrandorpublicfigureiseversafefromascandal.Informationcanbeeasily fact-checkedor leaked, andhackshavebecomecommonplace.Oncenewshasbeenreleased,socialmediahasmadeiteasierthanevertoamplifyandaccelerateitsreach.
VisibrainobservesthehundredsofPRcrisesthatroutinelyeruptacrossthewebeveryyear.Manyaresimply one-minute wonders caused by a small mistake, such as a social media faux pas. Whileembarrassingforthebrandorpersonconcerned,thesetypesofcrisistendtohaveonlyveryminorconsequences,fizzlingoutasquicklyastheyappear.However,thenumberoffull-onglobaldisastersis on the rise. These crisis situations, such as the Volkswagen #Dieselgate debacle, can generatemillions of online mentions and press coverage that lasts for weeks or even months, leaving apermanentblotonabrandorperson’sreputation.
Butwhattrulydefinesaglobalcrisis?Thelevelsofengagementandpresscoverageitachieves?Itsgeographicalreach?Orsimplytheamountoftimeitstaysintheheadlinesfor?Andhowmuchofalastingimpactdosuchscandalstrulyhave?
Thisdocumentdiscussestherise,spreadandimpactofonesuchscandal,thenowinfamousPanamaPapers.
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Summary
5 I. THE FIRST 24 HOURS OF #PANAMAPAPERS
9 II. PANAMA PAPERS: A GLOBAL, FAST-MOVING CRISIS 1. A scandal driven by social media 2. Panama Papers in the press 17 III. THE MAIN TARGETS OF #PANAMAPAPERS 1. The most-mentioned: Mauricio Macri 2. The first casualty: Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson 3. David Cameron’s family investments 4. Vladimir Putin’s hidden fortune 5. The source: Mossack Fonseca 27 IV. KEY FINDINGS FROM THE PANAMA PAPERS SO FAR
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Panama Papers: the online impact of a global scandal
It has been called the biggest leak in the history of data journalism. On April 3rd 2016, the pressexplodedwiththenewsthatmillionsofdocumentsfromPanamanianlawfirmMossackFonsecahadbeenleakedtotheGermannewspaperSüddeutscheZeitung,exposingthesecretfinancialdealingsofsomeoftheworld’smostrichandpowerfulpeople.
Thescandalistheresultofyear-longinvestigationbySüddeutscheZeitung,whopartneredwithnewsorganisationsfromaroundtheworldtogettothebottomoftheleak.Over400journalistsfromtheICIJ(InternationalConsortiumofInvestigativeJournalists),TheGuardian,theBBC,LeMonde(France)and LaNación (Argentina) andmanyothersworkedonunravelling the2.6 terabytesof data, 11.5milliondocuments,and214,000shell companiesobtainedfromMossackFonsecadatabases.
Its effectshavebeendevastating, causing scandal on amassive scale thathas affectedpoliticians,majorcorporationsandpublicfiguresalike.ThiscasestudybyVisibrainaimstolookbackonthefirstmoments of crisis to see how it unfolded across the web and in the media, along with the keyindividualswhoweremakingtheheadlines.
METHODOLOGY:
ThePanamaPapersscandalwasanalysedusingVisibrain,anonlinemediamonitoringplatformforbrandimageprotectionandcrisismanagement.VisibraincapturedallonlineactivityaroundPanamaPapers:frompressarticlestotweets,photosandvideo,givingusadetailedviewofitsoverallimpact.
ThetimeframesconcernedinthisstudycoverthePanamaPaperscrisisfromitsbeginning,onApril3rd,toApril8th,unlessdeclaredotherwise.TimesstatedareinGMT.
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The first 24 hours of #PanamaPapers
The#PanamaPaperscrisisbrokeontheeveningofApril3rd,whenSüddeutscheZeitung’sreportwasfirstpublished.
Thefirstmomentsofthecrisisshowjusthowquicklythescandalwentviral.ThetimelineofactivityaroundPanamaPapersshowsthatthenumberofmentionsonlinestartedbuildingataround6pm,explodingfrom6.48pm:
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ThePanamaPaperswereaglobalcrisisfromtheverybeginning.IfwelookatTwitterdataaround6.48pm,wecanseethattheriseinvolumeswascausedbyanincreasingnumberof“teaser”tweetsin amultitude of languages from locations across the globe, such as Süddeutsche Zeitung, thenewspaperbehindthePanamaPapers,andWikileaks:
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SüddeutscheZeitung’sofficialPanamaPaperswebsitewasthefirstnewssitetopublishthestory,anditdidn’ttakelongforittogoviral.Thelinktothesitewassharedforthefirsttimeat6.44pm:
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Just24hoursafterthePanamaPapersweremadepublic,thewebsiteurlhadalreadybeenshared58,019times.
The Panama Papers scandal exploded into the onlinecommunityinspectacularfashion:thefirst24hoursofthecrisisgenerated1,901,209mentions.Bytheendofthefirstweek, that number had risen to an incredible 5,260,582mentions,ascandaloftrulyglobalproportions.
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Panama Papers: a global, fast-moving crisis
1. A SCANDAL DRIVEN BY SOCIAL MEDIA
SocialMediawasakeyfactorinspreadingthePanamaPapersstory,andTwitterplayedaparticularlyimportantrole.NotonlyisTwittertheworld’sfastestmovinginformationnetwork,itishometosomeoftheweb’smostpowerfulinfluencers.VisibraindataforthePanamaPapersclearlyshowsthatonesuchinfluencerwasattheheartofonlineactivityaroundthecrisis:EdwardSnowden.
Theworld-famouswhistleblowerhasbeenthetopinfluencerofthecrisisbyfar,gainingimpressiveamountsofengagementanddrivingconversationsaroundthetopic.
HehasbeenaconstantpresenceonTwittersincetheveryfirstmomentsofthescandal:at6.48pmonApril3rd,justminutesafterSüddeutscheZeitung’sPanamaPaperswebsitewentonline,hepostedthetweetbelow:
Withinjust10minutes,@Snowden’stweethadbeenshared1,404times.
Fromthatpointonward,Snowdenachievedimpressiveimpactwitheverysingletweet:overthefirstweekofthePanamaPapersscandal,hetweetedjust10timesusingthe#PanamaPapershashtag,andhispostswereretweetedatotalof93,742times.
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A comparison of the number of engagements obtained by Snowden compared to thenumberobtainedbythekeymediaorganisationsinvolvedinPanamaPapersclearlyshowsjusthowmuchimpacthehad:
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SüddeutscheZeitung,theBBC,TheGuardianandLeMondeallachievedbetween11,000and15,000retweetseachduringthefirstweekofthecrisis.Inspiteofthefactthattheseaccountshavemillionsoffollowersbetweenthem,theyachievedafarlesserimpact.
SnowdenisstilltweetingregularlyaboutdevelopmentsofthePanamaPapersinvestigation.Hehascertainlygainedadditionalnotoriety fromhis involvement inpropagatingthescandal,gainingover80,000followerssinceApril3rd.
2. PANAMA PAPERS IN THE PRESS
OncethePanamaPaperswerereleasedtheywentviralveryquickly,attractingmassmediacoverageworldwide: 335,948 press articles, news videos and blog posts about the topic were publishedbetweenApril3rdandApril8th.
Thepublicationscamefromallovertheworld:themapbelowshowswhichcountrieswerecreatingthemostonlineactivityaroundthePanamaPapers.Interestingly,thehighestamountofonlinepresscoveragewasgeneratedbytheUnitedStates,oneofthecountriesthathasbeentheleastimpactedbythescandal.
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ArticlesweremostcommonlypublishedinEnglish,Spanish,FrenchandPortuguese.ThegraphbelowdemonstratesjusthowquicklythenumberofpublicationsaroundPanamaPapersgrew:
PresscoveragepeakedsharplyonApril4thasthehugequantitiesofinformationinitiallyreleasedwereprocessed,beforegraduallydroppingdowntomoremoderatelevels.
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
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April3rd April4th April5th April6th April7th April8th
Numbe
rofarticles
Date
NumberofPanamaPapersarticlesinthepress
ArticlesinEnglish ArticlesinSpanish ArticlesinFrench ArticlesinPortuguese
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In theEnglish-speakingmedia, themostsharedarticleswereSüddeutscheZeitung’soriginalarticleaboutthePanamaPapers,apiecefromtheICIJ,andavideofromTheGuardian,showingtheIcelandicPrimeMinisterwalkingoutofaninterviewafterbeingquestionedabouthisinvolvementwithMossackFonseca.
ENGLISH
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IntheSpanish-speakingmedia,themost-sharedpublicationsareavideofromLaSexta,andarticlesfromAresteguiNoticiasandProceso:
SPANISH
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In the French-speakingmedia, themost-shared articleswere all from LeMonde, one of the newsorganisationsthatpartneredwithSüddeutscheZeitung:
FRENCH
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Interestingly,twooutofthethreemost-sharedarticlesinPortuguesewerecolumnsandblogposts:
PORTUGUESE
OncethePanamaPapersscandalhadbrokenitwasinconstantevolution:eachdayoftheweekbroughtnewdevelopmentsinthestory.Moreandmorepeoplewerepulledintothescandal, includingcurrentandformerworld leaders.WeusedVisibraintofindoutwhowasthemostheavilytargetedbythepressduringthefirstweekofthescandal,andhowithasimpactedthemsofar.
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The main targets of #PanamaPapers
ThefirstweekofPanamaPaperssetoffscandalafterscandalasthefinancialdealingsofsomeoftheworld’smostpowerfulindividualswererevealed.BylookingatthemostcommonkeywordsusedinonlineactivityaroundPanamaPapers,wecandeterminewhichcasesgotthemostattentionfromthepressandtheonlinecommunity.
1. THE MOST-MENTIONED: MAURICIO MACRI – 271,702 MENTIONS
ThehighestvolumesweregeneratedaroundArgentinianPresidentMauricioMacri.
Inspiteofhavingbasedhispresidentialcampaignonputtingastoptocorruption,Macriwasfoundtohavehadlinkstoanoffshorecompanyinthepast;afactthathehadnoteverdeclared.
His lackof transparencyhadthousandsofpeople floodingtothecapital toprotest,demandinghisresignation.ThemainhashtagsusedintweetsaboutMacriincorrelationwithPanamaPapersspeakfor themselves: #macrioffshore, #macricorrupto, #fueramacri (down with Macri) and#macriimputado(Macriimputed)allstandoutinthecloudbelow.
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Macri weathers the storm
SofarMacrihasrefusedtostepdownoverthePanamaPapersrevelations,inspiteofpublicpressure.Thebusinessmanturnedpoliticianiscertainlyusedtomakingtheheadlines:overthetwoweekspriorto the Panama Papers crisis, online activity around Mauricio Macri averaged at around 69,000mentionsperday.
However,duringthetwoweeksafterthecrisisbroke,thenumberofmentionsrosedrasticallytoanaverageofover127,000onlinementionsperday.
Macri’sTwitterfollowingwasnotimpactedbyPanamaPapers:althoughhisTwitteraccountgainedaround60,000followersafterthecrisis,thisappearstoberoutineaccountgrowth.
AddtothisthefactthatonlineactivityaroundMacrihasnowdroppedbackdowntonormallevels,anditbecomesentirelyplausiblethatMacriwillsufferfewconsequencesfromthePanamaPapersscandal.
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2. THE FIRST CASUALTY: SIGMUNDUR DAVÍÐ GUNNLAUGSSON – 248,769 MENTIONS
Asthefirsttruecasualtyofthescandal, IcelandicPrimeMinisterSigmundurDavíðGunnlaugssonisalsooneofthemost-mentionedindividualsofthePanamaPapers,with248,769mentions.
AfterhewasfoundtobeinvolvedwithMossackFonsecathroughhiswife,10,000peopletooktothestreetstoprotestonMondayApril4th.
TheprotestsandGunnlaugsson’ssubsequent resignationgota lotofcoverage in thepressandonsocial media. The most-shared articles were a video from the Guardian showing the PM’s initialreactiontotheaccusations,avideooftheprotests,andapiecefromtheBBC:
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A social media backlash that led to resignation
Gunnlaugsson was forced to step down under public pressure, although he claims that it is onlytemporary.
ThescandalcertainlyputtheIcelandicPrimeMinisterintothespotlight:inthetwoweeksrunningupto the release of the Panama Papers, online activity around Gunnlaugsson, who has no Twitteraccount,averagedatjust20tweetsperday.Duringthefirstweekofthecrisis,thisshottoover6,000mentionsperdayonaverage,onlytodropbackdowntoverylownumberssoonafter.
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3. DAVID CAMERON’S FAMILY INVESTMENTS – 170,567 MENTIONS
UKPrimeMinisterDavidCameroncomesinthirdplacewith170,567mentions.ThePMfoundhimselfinthehotseatafteritwasrevealedthathehadbenefittedfromanoffshoretrustbelongingtohislatefather.
Thediscoverysparkedpublicoutrageandprotestscalling forhis resignation,andthe tophashtagsused in tweets aboutDavidCameron reflectpublic opinion:#resigncameron,#cameronresign and#cameronmustgoareallvisibleinthewordcloudbelow.
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A PR disaster for Cameron
Cameron’sconnectiontothePanamaPapersisyetanotherdisasterinwhathasalreadybeenatermfraughtwithPRcrises.ThePanamaPaperssparkedthe#resigncameronmovementonTwitter,amassprotestattemptingtoforcethePMtoresign.
He has refused to step down, in spite of themedia storm created by the scandal: the number ofmentionsaroundtheUKPMshotfrom70,000perdayonaveragebeforethecrisistoover150,000mentionsperdayafterthePanamaPaperswerepublished.
OnTwitter,thecrisishasboostedCameron’saudience:hehasgainedover14,000followerssinceApril3rd.
ForthemomentitisdifficulttopredictwhatthetrueconsequencesofthePanamaPaperswillbeforDavidCameron,buttheyhavemostcertainlydamagedhisalreadypoorimageevenfurther.
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4. VLADIMIR PUTIN’S HIDDEN FORTUNE – 125,868 MENTIONS
AlthoughRussianPresidentVladimirPutin’snamewasn’tdirectlyfoundinthePanamaPapers,heissuspectedtobelinkedtoanetworkofindividualsworthover2billiondollars.
Hehasbeentargetedinanumberofwidely-sharedpressarticles,thepopularofwhichbeingpiecesfromtheICIJ,Slate,andElPaís:
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Few consequences for Putin
Putinhasdismissedallallegations,butthathasn’tstoppedhimfromhittingtheheadlines:theRussianPresidenthasgonefromanaverageof27,000mentionsperdaybeforethecrisis,toalmostdoublethatat50,000mentionsperdaysincethescandalbegan.Thenumberofmentionshasdroppedbackdowntoitsusuallevelshowever,meaningthatPutinmayescapefromthisrelativelyunscathed.
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5. THE SOURCE: MOSSACK FONSECA – 107,746 MENTIONS
InspiteofbeingattheheartofthescandalandthesourceofthePanamaPapers,MossackFonsecaonlycomeinfifthplace.Thelawfirm’sethicshavebeenheavilycriticizedaftertheywerefoundtohavelinkstodictatorssuchasGaddafi,AssadandMubarak.
Ananalysisof thetopexpressionsused intweetsandpressarticlesaboutMossackFonsecashowswhichtopicstheconversationaroundthefirmisfocusingon:MossackFonseca’smoresinisterclients,thestatement issuedbythefirm inresponsetothe leak,andRamónFonseca’scomplaintthatthecompany had been the victimof a hack and a breach of privacy… forwhich he has unsurprisinglyreceivedverylittlesympathy.
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A law firm dragged into the spotlight
ThePanamaPapershavecatapultedMossackFonsecafromrelativeobscuritytoglobalnotoriety.
Inthetwoweekspriortothecrisis,thefirmboastedaround3,700mentionsperday.Oncethecrisisbegan,onlineactivityaroundMossackFonsecaincreasedelevenfold:duringthefirsttwoweeksafterthestartofthecrisis,thefirmhadanaverageof42,000mentionsperday.
The law firm’s new-found notoriety is reflected in its Twitter account: since Panama Papers,@Mossfon’sfollowershavemorethandoubled,goingfromjust1,843to4,285.
Theinvestigationintothelawformisjustnowgettingunderway,sowecanexpecttohearmoreabouttheminthenearfuture.
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Key findings from the Panama Papers so far
Twoweeks on and 6,793,956mentions later, the initial excitement around the Panama Papers isgraduallydyingdown,butthefactthatthescandalhashadsuchalastingonlinepresenceistestamenttoitsimpact.
ThePanamaPapershavebeentheperfectexampleofacrisisonaglobalscale.Someoftheworld’smostinfluentialpressorganisationshavebeendirectlyinvolvedintheinvestigationwithSüddeutscheZeitung, and the scandal has beenmassively covered in 24 languages.Once the informationwasreleaseditspreadincrediblyquickly,reachingoveramillionmentionsinunder12hours.Eachnewrevelationbroughtaboutimpressivespikesinonlineactivity.
Socialmediawasakeyfactorinhelpingtheinformationtospreadatsuchhighspeed.Twitter’sreal-timenaturewasespeciallyimportanthere,drivingthenewsworldwidewiththehelpofinfluencerssuchasEdwardSnowden,whogeneratedimpressiveamountsofengagement.
The Panama Papers have featured a shocking number of current and past world leaders. Therevelationshavesparkedseverallarge-scalesocialmediamovementsandthousandsofpressarticles,aswellassomehugereal-lifeprotests.Andyet,withonlyonepoliticianhavingsteppeddownsofar,and others suffering little more than an additional blot on their already-dubious reputations, it’sdifficulttotelliftherewilltrulybeanyconsequencesforthoseinvolved.
For the time being, Panama Papers has mostly affected political figures; few brands have beenimplicated.However,companiesshouldbemakingthemostofthistimetopreparethemselvesforpotentialbacklashfromthescandal.Astheinvestigationscontinue,wecanexpecttostarttoseemorebrandsmakingtheheadlines:FrenchbankSociétéGénéralehasalreadybeenimplicatedinoffshoreshell companies, as have HSBC and the Royal Bank of Scotland.The initial uproar around PanamaPapers may have dimmed for the time being, but it is far from over: Süddeutsche Zeitung havepromisedmorerevelationsintheweeksandmonthstocome.
Panama Papers: The online impact of a global scandal
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