Summary
- In January, the US registered the highest number of online mentions, exchanging positions – when compared to the previous month – with the European Union. Another shift in positions occurs at the bottom end of the ranking, with NATO taking the last spot. A consistent growth of China is registered, in the context of the coronavirus epidemic.
- The effect of the coronavirus epidemic is significant, especially in terms of mentions. China is in second place, behind the US, in terms of impact, after spending the last months at the bottom of these rankings.
- In the case of the US, the peaks of visibility for January are given by the tense relations with Iran and the coronavirus outbreak.
- As far as the European Union is concerned, the number of mentions increases towards the end of the month, in the context of the United Kingdom’s formal exit from the European Union. The same trend can be observed, obviously, in the case of the UK – both for the EU and for the UK, most mentions concern or are related to Brexit.
- For Germany, a considerable spike in the number of online mentions is due to a particular event and its media reflection – circumstances surrounding the death of TV personality Cristina Țopescu (her mother lives in Germany, a fact which was frequently cited), and a second high point coincides with the confirmation of the first case of coronavirus in Germany.
- France’s visibility is not the result of a particularly dominant trend. The peaks in mentions are generated by the confirmation of cases of coronavirus and by the sentencing of two Romanian citizens in France.
- As far as the Russian Federation is concerned, the peaks of visibility concern the situation in Syria, Prime Minister Medvedev’s resignation, and the evolution of the coronavirus epidemic. The Russian Federation remains constantly mentioned in relation to Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.
- The mentions concerning Hungary are generally related to the bird flu reports, a topic that rose to prominence in Romania. The peaks are about products originating from inside the Hungarian restriction zone finding their way on the Romanian market.
- Mentions concerning Israel in the online media and social networks maintain their fairly regular outlook. The peaks appear in connection to President Iohannis’ visit in Israel and to the reactions to the White House peace plan for the region.
- NATO collected fewer mentions at the beginning of the year compared to the other actors analyzed, and also compared to its own visibility during the previous month. Most mentions are connected to Prime Minister Ludovic Orban’s working visit to Brussels, during which he met with Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s Secretary General.
The full study (in Romanian) is available here