final seminar, 10 march 2011
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Mapping intermedia news flows:Topical discussions in the Australian and French political blogospheres
Final Seminar10 March 2011
Running order
Research questionsProject structureTheoretical frameworkMethodsData overviewCase studiesDiscussionFurther directions
Questions
Research questions
RQ1: What are the leading political blogs in France and Australia?
RQ2: What role do blogs play in political debates?
RQ3: How do blogs use mainstream and alternative media sources in their commentary, and how does this use vary in covering different issues and topics?
Research questions
RQ4: Does topical discussion by political bloggers take different forms in Australia and France, reflecting different network structures, range of blogs contributing, and blog roles, and do the political and media situations of the two countries contribute to this?
Project structure
Leading blogs identified through tracking activity between January and August 2009.
Three case studies used to identify topical variations, using different aspects of the theoretical framework.
Project structure
1. The Obama inauguration, 16 – 25 January 2009framing
2. HADOPI, January to August 2009agenda-setting
3. Utegate, June to August 2009opinion leaders
Framing
How news events are presented, the themes favoured in coverage, and the perspectives featured all form part of the framing of the event, highlighting what are seen as the important aspects of the story
Do bloggers favour their own perspectives in framing events? Do they maintain the same frames as journalists, not having time to reposition coverage?
Agenda-setting
Media coverage of given issues, the amount of stories dedicated to them, and the key attributes used in coverage, shape public opinion.
Do blogs set their own agenda? Is there a reliance on mainstream media coverage, and the corresponding agenda, or are the mainstream media cut out altogether? Do citations vary between blogs with different levels of engagement with the issue?
Opinion leaders
Information flows from media source to wider public via opinion leaders, acting as a filter or aggregator for important or interesting reports
Do the major hubs of the blogosphere, the most active sites overall or the A-list, fulfil an opinion leader function? Does the critiquing of media sources correspond to this role?
Blogging and themainstream media
Blogs as a fifth estate? Gathering, correcting, critiquing, responding to the work of the mainstream media? Complementing the work of journalists?
Keeping stories alive when other sources stop covering them, or overly reliant on other sources for coverage?
Data collection
A list of French and Australian political blogs prepared, with blog posts and link data collected by research associatesLars Kirchhoff and Thomas Nicolai, Sociomantic Labs, Berlin
Data collection process run between12 January and 10 August 2009
Relevant aspects of blog postsprepared for analysis by Sociomantic
sociomantic.com
Methods
Hyperlink analysis / network analysisThe popular resources for political bloggers over time and within specific contexts were identified by studying the links made within selected posts
Textual analysisBloggers’ responses to events and the dominant themes being discussed were identified by analysing the text content of selected posts
The French political blogosphere,January – August 2009
148 blogs22,939 posts
Major resources:Dailymotion, WikipediaMainstream media:Le Monde, Le Figaro, LiberationAlternative media:Rue89
The French political blogosphere,January – August 2009
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
12/01/2009
19/01/2009
26/01/2009
2/02/2009
9/02/2009
16/02/2009
23/02/2009
2/03/2009
9/03/2009
16/03/2009
23/03/2009
30/03/2009
6/04/2009
13/04/2009
20/04/2009
27/04/2009
4/05/2009
11/05/2009
18/05/2009
25/05/2009
1/06/2009
8/06/2009
15/06/2009
22/06/2009
29/06/2009
6/07/2009
13/07/2009
20/07/2009
27/07/2009
3/08/2009
10/08/2009
The Australian political blogosphere,January – August 2009
61 blogs10,530 posts
Major resources:Mainstream media:The Australian, The Age,SMH, ABCYouTube, Wikipedia, FlickrInternational media:The Guardian, New York Times
The Australian political blogosphere,January – August 2009
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
12/01/2009
16/01/2009
20/01/2009
24/01/2009
28/01/2009
1/02/2009
5/02/2009
9/02/2009
13/02/2009
17/02/2009
21/02/2009
25/02/2009
1/03/2009
5/03/2009
9/03/2009
13/03/2009
17/03/2009
21/03/2009
25/03/2009
29/03/2009
2/04/2009
6/04/2009
10/04/2009
14/04/2009
18/04/2009
22/04/2009
26/04/2009
30/04/2009
4/05/2009
8/05/2009
12/05/2009
16/05/2009
20/05/2009
24/05/2009
28/05/2009
1/06/2009
5/06/2009
9/06/2009
13/06/2009
17/06/2009
21/06/2009
25/06/2009
29/06/2009
3/07/2009
7/07/2009
11/07/2009
15/07/2009
19/07/2009
23/07/2009
27/07/2009
31/07/2009
4/08/2009
8/08/2009
Topical networks
Looking at composite data does not show any variations over time or topic. Topical networks used to study the blog discussions around events and political issues
Relevant posts located through keyword searches within a specific range of dates (inauguration) or the wider data set (HADOPI and Utegate)
Case Study 1:Framing the Obama inauguration
Source:http://www.flickr.com/photos/hourann/3214442663/
Case Study 1:Framing the Obama inauguration
0
5
10
15
20
25
16/01/2009
17/01/2009
18/01/2009
19/01/2009
20/01/2009
21/01/2009
22/01/2009
23/01/2009
24/01/2009
25/01/2009
French inauguration blog posts
Case Study 1:Framing the Obama inauguration
Frenchinaugurationthemes
Case Study 1:Framing the Obama inauguration
0
5
10
15
20
25
16/0
1/20
09
17/0
1/20
09
18/0
1/20
09
19/0
1/20
09
20/0
1/20
09
21/0
1/20
09
22/0
1/20
09
23/0
1/20
09
24/0
1/20
09
25/0
1/20
09
Australian inauguration blog posts
Case Study 1:Framing the Obama inauguration
Australianinaugurationconcept map
Case Study 1:Framing the Obama inauguration
Australianinaugurationthemes
Case Study 1:Framing the Obama inauguration
French blogs more likely to frame event within local contextsAustralian blog coverage more focussed on Obama-specific topics (not necessarily ceremony)
Rather than just using frames constructed by mainstream media, bloggers use content, and associated frames, from sources relevant to their interests
Case Study 2:Agenda-setting and HADOPI
Sources:http://www.laquadrature.net/fr/guide-du-blackout-HADOPIhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/whisperpress/3473782331/
Case Study 2:Agenda-setting and HADOPI
0
5
10
15
20
25
18/01/2009
25/01/2009
1/02/2009
8/02/2009
15/02/2009
22/02/2009
1/03/2009
8/03/2009
15/03/2009
22/03/2009
29/03/2009
5/04/2009
12/04/2009
19/04/2009
26/04/2009
3/05/2009
10/05/2009
17/05/2009
24/05/2009
31/05/2009
7/06/2009
14/06/2009
21/06/2009
28/06/2009
5/07/2009
12/07/2009
19/07/2009
26/07/2009
2/08/2009
9/08/2009
Case Study 2:Agenda-setting and HADOPI
Sources:http://www.flickr.com/photos/whisperpress/3473781837/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwssAerG4gchttp://www.laquadrature.net/fr/guide-du-blackout-HADOPI
Case Study 2:Agenda-setting and HADOPI
Spikes vs. Non-spike
Topical resources used for immediate reactions, unexpected events - mainstream and alternative media used more often in non-spike period than spikes
Widest range of sources cited in days following spikes, drawing on multiple perspectives in analysing events
Case Study 2:Agenda-setting and HADOPI
Tiers of blogging
1: campaigners / topic-specific
2: the most active outside the topic (A-list)
3: the occasionally active
Case Study 2:Agenda-setting and HADOPI
Sources used suggest revision of agenda-setting to include wider range of references online
Breaking news accompanied by raw material, social media reactions – longer responses and wider citations follow later
Mainstream media agenda negligible for first tier blogs, part of wider mediasphere citations for second tier
Case Study 3:Utegate and opinion leaders
Source:Utegate, as told by LOLCATShttp://dailylolz.lolpolz.com/2009/06/coming-soon.html
Case Study 3:Utegate and opinion leaders
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
3/06/2009
5/06/2009
7/06/2009
9/06/2009
11/06/2009
13/06/2009
15/06/2009
17/06/2009
19/06/2009
21/06/2009
23/06/2009
25/06/2009
27/06/2009
29/06/2009
1/07/2009
3/07/2009
5/07/2009
7/07/2009
9/07/2009
11/07/2009
13/07/2009
15/07/2009
17/07/2009
19/07/2009
21/07/2009
23/07/2009
25/07/2009
27/07/2009
29/07/2009
31/07/2009
2/08/2009
4/08/2009
6/08/2009
8/08/2009
10/08/2009
12/08/2009
Case Study 3:Utegate and opinion leaders
Australian blogsconcept mapJune and July
Case Study 3:Utegate and opinion leaders
Australian blogsconcept map4-5 August 2009
Case Study 3:Utegate and opinion leaders
Case Study 3:Utegate and opinion leaders
Utegate example of more general political debate than the topical HADOPI network
Blogs rejecting mainstream media coverage of the scandal, set alternative agenda around other issues
Aggregating relevant coverage for audience, linking to attentive, topical clusters
Discussion
Framing, agenda-setting, and opinion leaders applicable across all three case studies
Topical variations for extent of mainstream media framing or agenda-setting effects
Blogs use range of mainstream and alternative media content, other blogs, topic-specific resources in their coverage, positioned within bloggers’ political views and interests
Discussion
Role of blogs in political debate variable, with case studies showing campaigning, gatewatching, alternative commentary, subject-specific analysis major contributions to topical discussions
While mainstream media sources dominate total citations, case studies see topical resources as primary references. Use varies over time and context.
Discussion
French blogs reference greater range of local media, both mainstream and alternative, Australian bloggers more international media. Reflective of respective media situations as well as language?
Similar roles present within both blogospheres, such as filter blogs and aggregators. Greater diversity of views amongst French blogs, more partisan blogs, but more specialists in Australia – polling data cluster?
Further requirements
Revision of case studies, literature review
Overview of French and Australian political blogging, discussion around the overall data collected
Positioning Utegate analysis within opinion leaders framework
Final discussion
Further directions
Tracking specific political identities – Sarkozy, Rudd, Turnbull, Obama – or themes – GFC, climate change – throughout the whole corpus
Connections between blogs and social media –how Twitter users cover these events, campaigns, references used on Twitter vs. those cited in blog posts
Comments on posts, the commenting audience for specific blogs
Acknowledgements
Axel Bruns and Jason Sternberg
Lars Kirchhoff and Thomas Nicolai