Social Network Analysis and the

Mass MediaBy Paul Rossman

Indiana University of Pennsylvania

What is Social Network Analysis?

• The mapping and measuring of relationships and flows between people, groups, organizations, computers, web sites, and other information/knowledge processing entities.

Who uses it?• The following fields:

– social psychology– Sociology– Ethology– and anthropology.

• SNA derives many of its concepts from mathematics, namely graph theory.

Basics of graph theory

• A graph G(V,E) consists of …–Set of nodes | vertices V

representing actors–Set of lines | edges E

representing ties

•An edge is an unordered pair of nodes {u,v}

•Nodes u and v adjacent if {u,v} is an element of E– So E is subset of set of all

pairs of nodes

a b

c

d

e fa b

c

d

e fa b

c

d

e f

Directed Graphs (digraphs)

• Digraph D(V,E) consists of …–Set of nodes V

–Set directed arcs E

•An arc is an ordered pair of nodes {u,v}

•{u,v} is an element of E indicates u sends arc to v

•{u,v} is an element of E does not imply that {v,u} is an element of E

Graphs in SNA

• Directed graphs– Gave money to

• Undirected graphs– Attending meetings with– Friends with– Related to

Valued Graphs (vigraphs)

• Graphs can also be valued or non-valued.

• A valued graph has

numbers attached to the lines that indicate the strength or frequency or intensity or quantity of the tie between nodes.

Other Key Terms

• Adjacency Matrix: A binary nn matrix A in which aij = 1 and aji = 1 if vertex vi is adjacent to vertex vj, and

aij = 0 and aji = 0 otherwise.

USA Mexico UK Canada AlgeriaUSA 1 3 10 60 0Mexico 3 1 0 0 0UK 10 0 1 0 1Canada 60 0 0 1 2Algeria 0 0 1 2 1

Other Key Terms

• Degree: The degree da of vertex a is the number of vertices to which a is linked by an edge.

– The minimum possible degree is 0

– The maximum possible degree is n-1

Other Key Terms

• Centrality: Simply counting the in-ties and out-ties for each node

• Those which have the most are said to be the most influential in the network.

Applications

• Kevin Bacon Game

• Erdos Number

So what’s this have to do with the mass media?

• Journalists have begun to use SNA to investigate relationships among officials and to visualize where money is going.

• It is a part of the field called computer-assisted reporting (CAR).

Computer-Assisted Reporting

• What is Computer-Assisted Reporting?• Def: the use of computers to gather and analyze the data necessary

to write news stories.

– First instance used in 1952 Election when CBS used the UNIVAC I computer to analyze returns from the U.S. presidential election.

– Later pioneered by Philip Meyer, professor and Knight Chair at UNC-Chapel Hill

– Today CAR skills are used in newsrooms across the country and the world

– No student or beginning journalist should be without these skills.

Computer-Assisted Reporting

• In the last 15 years, journalism organizations such as the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR, a program of Investigative Reporters and Editors) has been created solely to promote the use of CAR in newsgathering.

• Journalists have also created mailing lists to share ideas about CAR, including NICAR-L.

How are journalists using SNA?

• SNA has only been widespread for about 5 years in the mass media

• Journalists are using SNA to analyze:– Power in local government– Campaign contributions– Crime trends– Public health– Contracts and bids

SNA and public records• Sources for doing a social network analysis is

everywhere in public records– Local government Web sites– Form 990s– FEC Contributions– Property Records– Court Records

Good examples of SNA in Journalism

• In 2004, The Kansas City Star used social network analysis software to visualize U.S. government allegations that the Islamic African Relief Agency (IARA) in Columbia, Mo., helped finance bin Laden and other terrorists.

• In 2004, the Washington Post used it to look at the campaign fundraising practices of President George W. Bush’s main contributors.

John Kerry’s contributions

• The Washington Post also used it to analyze Kerry’s donors in the 2004 election.

John Kerry’s contributions

John Kerry’s contributions

John Kerry’s contributions

John Kerry’s contributions

Software

So how did I do this?

Questions?