9–16 march 2017 power play: the elon musk tweet that...
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Power Play: The Elon Musk Tweet that Flicked the SwitchMedia Analysis Report
9–16 March 2017
isentia.com
2ISENTIA | Power Play
This report presents the findings of an analysis of coverage of Elon Musk, Tesla and Mike Cannon-Brookes in relation to energy storage in South Australia, between 9-16 March 2017. It is an example of a Media Analysis Report, available through Isentia’s Research & Insights team,
Energy policy is not a topic that usually excites the Twitterverse – let alone the universe – but Elon Musk’s intervention into power issues in South Australia prompted a social and traditional media storm.
A radio interview on the 9 March with Lyndon Rive, Tesla’s head of energy products, suggested to Radio National’s Fran Kelly that Tesla could potentially solve South Australia’s power problems by installing between 100–300MWh of grid-connected battery storage in under 100 days.
Rive was interviewed about these claims throughout the day, but it was not until a Twitter exchange between Australian tech mogul Mike Cannon-Brookes and Tesla founder Elon Musk on 10 March that the proposal really attracted attention.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
>27,000
1,000
Between 9 - 16 March
Social media discussion peaked at:
total posts and reports discussed the proposal across social and traditional media
tweets. In the hour after Musk replied to a series of tweets from Cannon-Brookes.
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This was a rare example of a conversation on social media that was the focus of, and then effectively led, traditional mediaWith the possible exception of tweets that emanate from the desk of the US President, it’s still rare for social media to lead traditional. But the overwhelming majority of discussion of Musk’s proposal appeared on social media (79.7%).
Social media discussion dominated the first few days in particular, with Twitter consistently presenting the latest news on the story. Most new developments in the story originated there and were subsequently picked up by broadcast or internet an hour or two later, while press was sometimes days behind.
Print media, with its associated production delays, was naturally less well-equipped to deal with the speed with which the discussion unfolded in social media. Press reporting peaked on Wednesday 15 March, when all other media types were declining in volume.
A novel, authentic exchange led to greater engagementWhile Musk and Cannon-Brookes have a significant Twitter following between them (Musk has more than 13 million followers, Cannon-Brookes has over 24,000), the extent to which their tweets about the proposal were shared was enhanced by the nature of the exchange.
The tweets were candid, novel and amusing. Cannon-Brookes’s and Musk’s references to a bet, and their use of casual terms like “mates rates”, “legend” and “mate”, as well as the odd emoji, are all features that would most likely be edited out of a news report. But in this case, these features contributed to a sense of authenticity, and resonated strongly on Twitter.
Bold statements drove the coverage, and social media engagement declined as the discussion became more detailed and mundane.
The exchange also offered an insight into a world the general public do not usually get to see. These sorts of conversations between high-profile, elite figures are inherently newsworthy, but are not rare; what’s unique about this situation is that our access to such events is usually mediated by traditional media, or often only known when the project is complete.
In this case, the public got direct access to the exchange, circumventing the media cycle. Moreover, politicians, who usually play key roles in such discussions, effectively had to keep up with events as they played out on social media. The extensive interest on social media also in turn attracted the attention of traditional media sources – the exchange itself was the story, at least initially.
CAN SOCIAL MEDIA LEAD CONVERSATION?
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Traditional media amplified and legitimised the storyTwitter posts and internet reporting had a distinct pattern of interaction: tweets linked to online articles, and online articles linked to tweets. Over half of the analysed social media posts linked to a mainstream media outlet.
Twitter was mentioned in approximately half the press and internet articles, but interestingly only about one in seven broadcast reports. This can partly be attributed to the brevity of most radio and television reports, and the inability to demonstrate the context for the story with images on radio.
The story had a relatively extended lifespan – it ran in some form for at least a full week. Traditional media coverage, and particularly press coverage, increased as more politicians and stakeholders became involved in the story, most notably Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and the issue gained a much larger profile. After Turnbull entered the discussion on 12 March, traditional news media coverage hit its highest peak.
CAN SOCIAL MEDIA LEAD CONVERSATION?
The involvement of politicians such as Turnbull and SA Premier Jay Weatherill also often took place or was announced on Twitter, further extending the interplay between social and traditional media.
“Communications should be platform agnostic. What it’s really about is analysing the conversation – looking at peaks and movement across all outlets, not just traditional”Asha Oberoi Insights Manager - Isentia
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HOW THE STORY WAS RECEIVED?
Press and internet media were very positive (high average favourability ratings of 59.5 and 57.4 respectively). While still positive overall, social media was less favourable on average (with a rating of 53.6). This difference was largely a result of the different media format types: press and internet allow for much more detailed discussion than social. Broadcast coverage was overwhelmingly neutral, largely as these reports were brief, factual summaries of events.
Positive messages and narratives appeared consistently throughout the period. The top three leading messages to appear in coverage were all favourable: batteries can solve power problems, renewable energy supported and Elon Musk praised. The leading narrative was the similarly positive “innovation/new generation can solve problems”. Interestingly, this narrative continued to appear in social media even as it dropped off in traditional coverage, reflecting the way the discussion was generally positively framed on social media.
Unfavourable coverage peaked on 14 March. In particular, press discussion of the political context of energy supply was reflected in the increased volume of coverage on this day that conveyed narratives such as “finger pointing”, “Turnbull is weak/a failure”, and “gas and coal are best”.
Who’s driving the story?Brian Robins authored four negative articles about the story. These quoted stakeholders detailing what battery systems could offer, to suggest that the proposal had been overhyped. This coverage conveyed messages such as batteries cannot solve power problems, and Tesla solution is not a new idea.
In contrast, Fairfax’s Richard McLeish was very positive towards the story – he contributed a total of 13 online and press articles, all of which were favourable (69.2 average favourability rating). McLeish mostly detailed the developments in the Twitter interaction between Musk and Cannon-Brookes.
Apart from Twitter, the leading media outlet was ABC News 24, with 45 reports. All of these were neutral in tone, as broadcast reports tended to be brief and simply noted the novelty of the conversation between Musk and Cannon-Brookes.
This narrative continued to appear in social media even as it dropped off in traditional coverage
*refer to methodolgies for more details on page 17
Sentiment by Media*
59.5PRESS
57.4INTERNET
53.6BROADCAST
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OVERALL OVERALL
LEADING MESSAGE (MENTIONS):
LEADING SPOKESPERSON (MENTIONS):
Chart 1 above shows the volumes and proportions of favourable, neutral and unfavourable discussion.
LEADING MEDIA (REPORTS):
LEADING MEDIA BYLINE/COMPERE:
SOCIAL MEDIA SOCIAL MEDIABROADCAST BROADCAST
INTERNET/NEWS INTERNET/NEWSPRESS PRESS
Key Metrics HighlightsThe Key Metrics table to the right shows key aspects of the analysed coverage.
These can be adapted to reflect your KPIs or areas of particular interest to you.
Our approach results in clearly defined benchmarks, improved media connections, increased budgets and changes in public policy.
Our reports allow you to:
• Demonstrate your effectiveness.• Establish benchmarks and measure
KPIs.• Manage breaking issues.• Understand your media landscape.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Total Volume of Coverage
Key Metrics Favourability Breakdown
Favourability of Coverage
1,120 56.2
435 50.0305 53.6
140 59.5320 57.4
BATTERIES CAN SOLVE POWER PROBLEMS (300)
ELON MUSK, TESLA CEO (118)
TWITTER (302)
RICHARD MCLEISH, FAIRFAX; FRAN KELLY, RADIO NATIONAL (13 EACH)
FAV 43.7%
NEU 51.1%
UNFAV 5.3%
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19
11648
82 8654
101
1823
45
6954
170164 66
22
18
8
43
166
123141
273
236
175
43
54.9
57.6
53.7
55.5
53.6
51.7
53.452.9
30
40
50
60
0
300
600
900
9/03/2017 10/03/2017 11/03/2017 12/03/2017 13/03/2017 14/03/2017 15/03/2017 16/03/2017
FAVO
UR
ABIL
ITY
VOLU
ME
FAV NEU UNFAV AVG FAV
Tweet from Cannon-Brookes to Elon Musk dominates social, also reported online and in broadcast coverage.
Press and broadcast coverage recapping tweets and seeking comment from energy experts.
Jay Weatherill and Elon Musk in contact on Twitter.
Proposal first mentioned by Lyndon Rive in radio and television interviews.
Social media began sharing internet articles (mostly from afr.com.au) reporting the claims.
Press and internet coverage increases, discussion between Musk and Turnbull dominates.
Numerous stakeholders comment on Turnbull’s involvement; more than 60 spokespeople cited.
SA Government’s new energy policy announced. Turnbull meets with Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
SA energy policy analysed. Queries raised about Elon Musk’s motives in press coverage in particular.
Snowy Hydro scheme expansion announced; Musk’s scheme questioned.
PRESENTATION OVERVIEW
Chart 2
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Broadcast and Social Media by Hour
This chart breaks down the broadcast and social media coverage by hour, for Monday 13 March.
HOURLY TREND
0
25
50
75
100
125
150
175
200
225
250
00:0
0
01:0
0
02:0
0
03:0
0
04:0
0
05:0
0
06:0
0
07:0
0
08:0
0
09:0
0
10:0
0
11:0
0
12:0
0
13:0
0
14:0
0
15:0
0
16:0
0
17:0
0
18:0
0
19:0
0
20:0
0
21:0
0
22:0
0
23:0
0
VOLU
ME
INTERNET RADIO TELEVISION SOCIAL MEDIA
The correlation between social media and broadcast media was much stronger on Monday 13 March than on previous days
There were few new developments on this day, and most coverage provided a summary of the events of the previous few days.
Chart 3 Monday 13th March
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Broadcast and Social Media by Hour
This chart breaks down the broadcast and social media coverage by hour, for Monday 13 March.
LEADING NARRATIVE Chart 4 All Media
240
86
71
334
10160 40 25 3 3
57.452.9
49.352.8 52.0
56.751.7
20
35
50
65
80
0
200
400
600
800
INNOVATION/NEW
GENERATION CAN SOLVEPROBLEMS
FINGERPOINTING
GAS ANDCOAL
ARE BEST
TURNBULL ISWEAK/AFAILURE
GOVERNMENT IN CHAOS
RICH PEOPLECANNOTSOLVETHIS
PROBLEM
CLIMATECHANGE
SCEPTICISM
FAV
OU
RA
BIL
ITY
VO
LUM
E
FAV NEU UNFAV AVG FAV
Charts 5 and 6 on the next page break these narratives down by day and by media type, showing that discussion was consistently very positive towards Musk and the proposal.
This was particularly so on social media, where the narrative that innovation/new generation can solve problems was consistently reinforced even as it dropped off in traditional media. To some degree, this is likely to have been because social media users are inherently likely to be more positive towards technology, but it also highlights that more detailed, more critical and more politicised discussion took place in press and internet coverage.
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LEADING NARRATIVES – DAILY TREND
Chart 5 Traditional Media
Chart 6 Social Media
0
25
50
75
100
9/03/2017 10/03/2017 11/03/2017 12/03/2017 13/03/2017 14/03/2017 15/03/2017 16/03/2017
VO
LUM
E
INNOVATION/NEW GENERATION CAN SOLVE PROBLEMS FINGER POINTINGGAS AND COAL ARE BEST TURNBULL IS WEAK/A FAILUREGOVERNMENT IN CHAOS RICH PEOPLE CANNOT SOLVE THIS PROBLEMCLIMATE CHANGE SCEPTICISM
0
10
20
30
40
50
9/03/2017 10/03/2017 11/03/2017 12/03/2017 13/03/2017 14/03/2017 15/03/2017 16/03/2017
VO
LUM
E
INNOVATION/NEW GENERATION CAN SOLVE PROBLEMS TURNBULL IS WEAK/A FAILUREGAS AND COAL ARE BEST CLIMATE CHANGE SCEPTICISMRICH PEOPLE CANNOT SOLVE THIS PROBLEM GOVERNMENT IN CHAOS
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This chart shows the volume of mentions of favourable (green) and unfavourable (red) messages in the analysed coverage. Reports can convey more than one message.
LEADING MESSAGES Chart 7 – All Media
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MESSAGES BY DAY
Chart 8 – All Media
0
20
40
60
80
9/03/2017 10/03/2017 11/03/2017 12/03/2017 13/03/2017 14/03/2017 15/03/2017 16/03/2017
VO
LUM
E
BATTERIES CAN SOLVE POWER PROBLEMS
RENEWABLE ENERGY SUPPORTED
ELON MUSK PRAISED
BATTERIES CANNOT SOLVE POWER PROBLEMS
INNOVATION PRAISED/SUPPORTED
ELON MUSK DOUBTED/CRITICISED
RENEWABLE ENERGY QUESTIONED
TESLA SOLUTION IS NOT A NEW IDEA
TESLA SOLUTION IS UNLIKELY TO HAPPEN
BATTERY IDEA IS ECONOMICAL
13ISENTIA | Power Play
This chart shows the most frequently quoted or cited spokespeople in the analysed coverage, the bias of their comments, and the average favourability rating of the reports in which they were cited.
LEADING SPOKESPEOPLE Chart 10 – Social Media
116
70
37 41
15 20
37
56
10
31
3814
27
118
107
93
5146
3934 32
67.0
63.5
59.7
64.5
58.0
53.6
63.5
52.0
20
35
50
65
80
0
50
100
150
200
ELONMUSK,TESLACEO
MIKECANNON-BROOKES,ATLASSIAN
CEO
JAYWEATHERILL,
SAPREMIER
LYNDONRIVE,TESLAVP FORENERGY
PRODUCTS
SARAHHANSON-YOUNG,
FEDERALGREENS
SENATOR
TOMKOUTS-
ANTONIS,SA
TREASURER
MALCOLMTURNBULL,
AUSTRALIANPRIME
MINISTER
DAVIDGREEN,LYON
SOLAR
FAV
OU
RA
BIL
ITY
VO
LUM
E
FAV COMMENT UNFAV COMMENT NEU COMMENT AVG FAV
14ISENTIA | Power Play
This chart shows the most frequently linked-to websites in social media posts; the volume of favourable, neutral and unfavourable links; and the average favourability of the posts with these links.
LEADING SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS Chart 10 – Social Media
4539
30
20
8
7
56
39
31
21
84 3 3
54.155.0
56.855.5 55.0
52.5
55.0
58.3
30
40
50
60
70
0
30
60
90
120
ABC NEWS
REUTERS.COM
SYDNEYMORNINGHERALD
AFR.COM.
AU
CHANNEL-NEWS-ASIA
THE-REGISTER.
CO.UK
BUSINESSINSIDER
THEAGE
FAV
OU
RA
BIL
ITY
VO
LUM
E
FAV NEU UNFAV AVG FAV
15ISENTIA | Power Play
These charts show the leading media, and the leading bylines and comperes within mainstream media.
LEADING MEDIA Chart 11 Leading Media – All Media
Chart 12 Leading Bylines & Comperes – Press, Broadcast & Internet
206
78
45 35 33 33
302
45 35 33 33 26 22 20 20 19 19
53.550.0 50.0 50.0 50.0
56.7
50.0 50.0
59.3
50.054.2
30
40
50
60
70
0
200
400
600
800
TWITTER ABCNEWS
24
SKYNEWS
AUSTRA-LIA
ABCRADIOADE-LAIDE
ABCRADIO
NATIONAL
THEAUSTRA-
LIAN.COM.AU
ABCRADIOMEL-
BOURNE
ABCRADIO
SYDNEY
AFR.COM
ABCRADIOCAN-
BERRA(2CN)
ABC.NET.AU
FAV
OU
RA
BIL
ITY
VO
LUM
E
FAV NEU UNFAV AVG FAV
132
10 1013 7 9 8 8
4 2
13 13 13 13 11 9 8 8
69.2
50.0 49.6
60.0 62.3
50.0 50.0 50.0
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
RICHARDMCLEISHFAIRFAX
FRAN KELLYRADIO
NATIONAL
BRIANROBINSFAIRFAX
BEN POTTERAUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL
REVIEW
CHRISGRIFFITH
THEAUSTRALIAN
TOMELLIOTT
3AWMELBOURNE
PAULKENNEDYABC NEWS
24
DAVIDBEVAN &
MATTHEWABRAHAMABC RADIOADELAIDE
FAV
OU
RA
BIL
ITY
VO
LUM
E
FAV NEU UNFAV AVG FAV
16ISENTIA | Power Play
Isentia uses the internationally recognised CARMA® media content analysis methodology. It combines technology and human intelligence to provide quantitative and qualitative insight and analysis. Our analysis takes into account multiple variables, including the:
• Placement of media reports (such as front page or lead item);• Position of the organisation’s mention in each report;• Images or video;• Topics discussed in the media and their relative importance to
the client organisation;• Messages, both favourable and unfavourable, communicated
in media reports;• Organisation representatives or other commentators quoted;
and• Tone of content.An aggregate score is calculated based on these multiple variables and presented on a 0–100 scale where 50 is neutral. This is an overall rating of the favourability of each media report towards the client organisation (and, if relevant, other organisations or competitors).
This aggregate score is called the CARMA® favourability rating. The average favourability rating can identify the potential impact of media reporting and can be used to identify trends and establish benchmarks for future data.
The criteria for analysis (such as topics and specific key messages) are set up uniquely for each individual client by our expert analysts. Most of the variables analysed are objective criteria, while the more subjective topics and messages are identified by either exact phrasing or agreed-on alternatives, which are provided to researchers before analysis begins.
Isentia is a member of the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC), the leading organisation for media analysis and measurement and communications research globally, with more than 150 members in 80 countries and international membership chapters in North America, Asia Pacific and Europe. Having this membership means that Isentia complies with AMEC’s strict standards, giving you confidence that you have received the best reports and insights (see www.amecorg.com).
METHODOLOGYNEUTRAL OR BALANCED
The average favourability of most organisations
coverage falls in this range
The average favourability of all media reports will almost never be this low. Individual media reports may have ratings in this range
The average favourability of all media reports will almost never be this high. Individual media
reports may have ratings in this range
SLIGHTLY UNFAVOURABLE
MODERATELY UNFAVOURABLE
HIGHLY UNFAVOURABLE
HIGHLY FAVOURABLE
MODERATELY FAVOURABLE
SLIGHTLY FAVOURABLE
Additional 2017 Awards• Gold for Best Measurement of a Not-for-profit
Campaign for White Ribbon Day
• Gold for Most Impacful Client Recommendations Arising from a Measurement Study for New Zealand Olympic Committee
• Gold for Most Impactful Client Recommendations Arising from a Measurement Study for White Ribbon Day
• Silver for Best Measurement of a Consumer Campaign for SM Supermalls
• Silver for Best Use of Integrated Communication Measurement/Research for RUOK
• Bronze for Best Measurement of a Consumer Campaign for DBS
• Bronze for Best Measurement of a Not-for-profit Campaign for RUOK
• Bronze for Most Innovative Use of Measurement for a Digital Campaign for Harbour City Estates Limited
Isentia - 2017 Communications Research & Measurement Company of the Year
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