Findings from 28 August to 1 September

 Week Ending September 1, 2006

a) comparison of news vs blog coverage per candidate for this week only

Here is the research on the Liberal Leadership hopefuls. The graphs (attached) show the % of coverage each candidate received both for the news and in the blogosphere. Research was conducted at the Infoscape Research lab at Ryerson University. Raw data comes from google news and google blog search.

There is some interesting comparative findings. For the month of August Dryden received twice more coverage in the news compared to the blogosphere. The top tier candidates received roughly equal coverage in both news and the blogosphere (Rae, Ignatieff). Dion received almost twice the coverage in blogs vs. news.

For the week ending Sept. 1st, Ignatieff received almost half the coverage in the blogosphere (49%), vs. 28% of news coverage for that same time. Also, Dryden again received significantly more coverage in the news compared to the blogosphere (3 times more). Brison also received comparatively more coverage in the news.

Lastly, beginning Sept. 8th we are tracking changes from week to week re: news and blog coverage of the candidates. From August through to Sept. 8th, a clear division emerged between the group we have labeled ‘Top Tier’ and the rest of the candidates. Our research into the coverage receieved by the Top Tier candidates will also include qualitative evaluation of the nature of the coverage they receive through a content-coding system. The results of this coding method will also be tabulated over time.

Month of August Top Tier Findings:

Top Tier News:
(Top Tier is defined as receiving over 10 percent coverage for the month of analysis)
Michael Ignatieff – 21%
Gerard Kennedy – 15%
Bob Rae – 15%
Scott Brison – 12%

Top Tier Blogosphere:
(Top Tier is defined as receiving over 10 percent coverage for the month of analysis)
Michael Ignatieff – 22%
Bob Rae – 17%
Gerard Kennedy – 15%
Stephan Dion – 13%

Week Ending September 1, 2006 Top Tier Findings:

Top Tier News:
(Top Tier is defined as receiving over 10 percent coverage for the week of analysis)
Michael Ignatieff – 28%
Gerard Kennedy – 18%
Scott Brison – 14%
Ken Dryden – 13%

Top Tier Blogosphere:
(Top Tier is defined as receiving over 10 percent coverage for the week of analysis)
Michael Ignatieff – 49%
Gerard Kennedy – 16%

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