Final seminar, 10 March 2011

Mapping intermedia news flows:Topical discussions in the Australian and French political blogospheres

Final Seminar10 March 2011

Tim Highfieldt.highfield@qut.edu.au

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