Exposing the Obscured Influence of State-Controlled Media: A Causal Estimation of Influence Between Media Outlets Via Quotation Propagation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel causal estimation method using network analysis and transformer models to quantify influence among media outlets, revealing the significant impact of state-controlled media across different outlets and regions.

Contribution

It presents a new methodology combining causal effect estimation, network analysis, and transformer models to measure influence between media outlets, including state-controlled ones.

Findings

State-controlled outlets exert significant influence over other media.

News wire services act as key bridges connecting different outlets.

The approach effectively identifies influence channels in intermedia agenda setting.

Abstract

This study quantifies influence between media outlets by applying a novel methodology that uses causal effect estimation on networks and transformer language models. We demonstrate the obscured influence of state-controlled outlets over other outlets, regardless of orientation, by analyzing a large dataset of quotations from over 100 thousand articles published by the most prominent European and Russian traditional media outlets, appearing between May 2018 and October 2019. The analysis maps out the network structure of influence with news wire services serving as prominent bridges that connect outlets in different geo-political spheres. Overall, this approach demonstrates capabilities to identify and quantify the channels of influence in intermedia agenda setting over specific topics.