Analysis of Liberal Leadership Issues discussed in the Blogosphere
Executive Report:
Five specific issues dominated discussion around the liberal leadership race in the blogosphere from September 1, 2006 to October 27. The top issues, with average number of blog posts/week, are: Afghanistan (49), the economy (43), the environment (36), education (29) and women (28). At the start of the campaign Rae's campaign highlighted four of these five issues on their website (education being the exception). By comparison Rae's chief rival Michael Ignatieff prioritized only the economy and Afghanistan on his website. Ignatieff's focus on "climate change" was by comparison discussed 8 times a week on average.
Issues that were prioritized by the leadership hopefuls but not taken up as much in the blogosphere included Child Care (19), Health Care (19), Climate Change (8), National Unity (6), and Agriculture (2).
Top Tier Issues in the Blogosphere
Issues that have received the most total posts over time.
Middle Tier
Issues that have fallen to under 20 posts since October 27
Bottom Tier
Issues that have been under 20 posts for the entire period:
Average weekly Blog postings per Issue Sept 1st to Oct. 27th
(rounded to nearest whole figure) Descending Order
Afghanistan : 49
Economy : 43
Environment : 36
Education : 29
Women : 28
Child Care : 19
Health Care : 19
Climate Change : 8
National Unity : 6
Agriculture : 2
Liberal Leadership Renewal : 0
www.infoscapelab.ca [1])" title="Liberal Leadership Blog Coverage Issue Ticker (September 1 to October 27): Source: Google News/Blogs, Research by Infoscape (www.infoscapelab.ca [1])" class="image image-img_assist_custom" width="630" height="431" />Liberal Leadership Blog Coverage Issue Ticker (September 1 to October 27): Source: Google News/Blogs, Research by Infoscape (www.infoscapelab.ca [1])
Links:
[1] http://www.infoscapelab.ca