This document summarizes a final seminar presentation about mapping news flows between political blogs in Australia and France. It discusses research questions around identifying leading blogs, their role in debates, and how they use mainstream and alternative media sources. Case studies on the Obama inauguration, a digital piracy law, and a political scandal examine how blogs frame issues, set agendas, and act as opinion leaders. The studies find blogs use diverse sources and reflect local contexts more than mainstream media frames. Blogs in both countries play various roles in political discussions.

1. Mapping intermedia news flows:
Topical discussions in the Australian
and French political blogospheres
Final Seminar
10 March 2011
Tim Highfield
t.highfield@qut.edu.au

2. Running order
Research questions
Project structure
Theoretical framework
Methods
Data overview
Case studies
Discussion
Further directions
Questions

3. 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?

4. 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?

5. 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.

6. Project structure
1. The Obama inauguration, 16 – 25 January 2009
framing
2. HADOPI, January to August 2009
agenda-setting
3. Utegate, June to August 2009
opinion leaders

7. 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?

8. 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?

9. 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?

10. Blogging and the
mainstream 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?

11. Data collection
A list of French and Australian political blogs
prepared, with blog posts and link data
collected by research associates
Lars Kirchhoff and Thomas Nicolai,
Sociomantic Labs, Berlin sociomantic.com
Data collection process run between
12 January and 10 August 2009
Relevant aspects of blog posts
prepared for analysis by Sociomantic

12. Methods
Hyperlink analysis / network analysis
The popular resources for political bloggers
over time and within specific contexts were
identified by studying the links made within
selected posts
Textual analysis
Bloggers’ responses to events and the dominant
themes being discussed were identified by
analysing the text content of selected posts

13. The French political blogosphere,
January – August 2009
148 blogs
22,939 posts
Major resources:
Dailymotion, Wikipedia
Mainstream media:
Le Monde, Le Figaro, Liberation
Alternative media:
Rue89

14. 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
January – August 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
The French political blogosphere,
27/07/2009
3/08/2009
10/08/2009

15. The Australian political blogosphere,
January – August 2009
61 blogs
10,530 posts
Major resources:
Mainstream media:
The Australian, The Age,
SMH, ABC
YouTube, Wikipedia, Flickr
International media:
The Guardian, New York Times

16. 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
January – August 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
The Australian political blogosphere,

17. 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)

18. Case Study 1:
Framing the Obama inauguration
Source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hourann/3214442663/

19. 0
5
10
15
20
25
16/01/2009
17/01/2009
18/01/2009
19/01/2009
Case Study 1:
20/01/2009
21/01/2009
22/01/2009
23/01/2009
24/01/2009
25/01/2009
Framing the Obama inauguration
French inauguration blog posts

20. Case Study 1:
Framing the Obama inauguration
French
inauguration
themes

21. 0
5
10
15
20
25
16/01/2009
17/01/2009
18/01/2009
19/01/2009
Case Study 1:
20/01/2009
21/01/2009
22/01/2009
23/01/2009
24/01/2009
Framing the Obama inauguration
25/01/2009
Australian inauguration blog posts

22. Case Study 1:
Framing the Obama inauguration
Australian
inauguration
concept map

23. Case Study 1:
Framing the Obama inauguration
Australian
inauguration
themes

24. Case Study 1:
Framing the Obama inauguration
French blogs more likely to frame event within
local contexts
Australian 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

25. Case Study 2:
Agenda-setting and HADOPI
Sources:
http://www.laquadrature.net/fr/guide-du-blackout-HADOPI
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whisperpress/3473782331/

26. 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
Case Study 2:
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
Agenda-setting and HADOPI
28/06/2009
5/07/2009
12/07/2009
19/07/2009
26/07/2009
2/08/2009
9/08/2009

27. Case Study 2:
Agenda-setting and HADOPI
Sources:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whisperpress/3473781837/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwssAerG4gc
http://www.laquadrature.net/fr/guide-du-blackout-HADOPI

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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

32. Case Study 3:
Utegate and opinion leaders
Source:
Utegate, as told by LOLCATS
http://dailylolz.lolpolz.com/2009/06/coming-soon.html

33. 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
Case Study 3:
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
Utegate and opinion leaders
31/07/2009
2/08/2009
4/08/2009
6/08/2009
8/08/2009
10/08/2009
12/08/2009

34. Case Study 3:
Utegate and opinion leaders
Australian blogs
concept map
June and July

35. Case Study 3:
Utegate and opinion leaders
Australian blogs
concept map
4-5 August 2009

36. Case Study 3:
Utegate and opinion leaders

37. 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

38. 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

39. 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.

40. 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?

41. 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

42. 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

43. Acknowledgements
Axel Bruns and Jason Sternberg
Lars Kirchhoff and Thomas Nicolai