Who Drives the Debate? Applying dDocument Similarity Measures in Political Agenda Setting and News Diffusion Research

• In Event: Computational Methods for Studying Political Communication

Abstract

This study proposes the application of computer-assisted text analysis and network analysis in political agenda setting and news diffusion research. More specifically, it focuses on aggregated document similarity data as time-series to uncover patterns of semantic relationships between party press releases and newspaper articles across an extended period of time. The methodological design is described in detail, and illustrated with an empirical example relying on 15,655 newspaper articles and 2,654 party press releases published in the Austrian context of the so-called European refugee crisis in 2015. The findings show that document similarity measures are a robust tool to trace the diffusion of news messages and to identify systematic patterns of temporal change in agenda setting influence for media outlets and political parties.

Authors

• Esther Greussing

• Jakob-Moritz Eberl, Department of Communication / U of Vienna

• Petro Tolochko