DIGITAL DUEL by NewsVibe. The ranking of candidates for the Capital City Hall – visibility and online impact

The announcement of journalist Anca Alexandrescu entering the race for the Capital City Hall, with the support of AUR, represented one of the most important moments of the current pre-campaign period. According to data analyzed with the help of NewsVibe, an AI-supported media monitoring platform, this announcement propelled Anca Alexandrescu to the top of the online visibility ranking of candidates in the last week. Sentiment analysis shows that Daniel Băluță had the most neutral reflection in the digital environment during this period, Ciprian Ciucu benefited from the highest percentage of positive mentions (however counterbalanced by a significant volume of negative references), while in the case of Cătălin Drulă, negative mentions exceeded favorable ones by more than ten times in volume, and online discourse about Anca Alexandrescu was in a slightly unfavorable zone, but without extreme accents.

THE PACE AND VOLUME OF APPEARANCES. The last few days have been marked by numerous topics related to the elections in Bucharest – from the announcements of new candidacies and the final validation of those already known, to the first disputes among the contenders for the position of general mayor. In PNL, the last formal step for the definitive validation of Ciprian Ciucu as the candidate of the liberals for the position of general mayor has also been surpassed. In recent days, the first direct attacks among candidates have also emerged: party leaders have criticized candidates supported by other formations, and contenders for the PMB leadership accuse each other of dirty campaigning.

Against this backdrop of intensified political struggle, candidates have begun to launch their first proposals for Bucharest. Cătălin Drulă proposes the abolition of sectors and the creation of a single administrative unit together with Ilfov County, while Anca Alexandrescu announces that she will ban electric scooters if she wins the elections in the Capital.

The level of visibility in the digital space of the four candidates indicates a significant impact of the AUR announcement regarding the official support of Anca Alexandrescu in the race for the Capital City Hall. She ranks first in the top, with a slight advantage over Ciprian Ciucu, who in turn slightly surpasses Daniel Băluță. The candidate from USR, Cătălin Drulă, records the fewest mentions.

NewsVibe Chart. The ranking of mentions about the main candidates in the PMB race, in relevant online sources and social media (sources validated by the NewsVibe platform), in the last week 

VISIBILITY AND COMPARATIVE IMPACT. The competitive analysis engine created by NewsVibe evaluates the ability of political actors to penetrate the online space, directly compared to their competitors.

Although Anca Alexandrescu records the highest number of mentions among the four candidates, the highest estimated impact values appear, by far, in the case of Daniel Băluță. Mentions regarding Ciprian Ciucu have, in turn, a slightly higher impact than those about Anca Alexandrescu. In contrast, Cătălin Drulă is at the bottom of the ranking in terms of both the number of mentions and their estimated impact.

NewsVibe Charts. The share of the number of mentions (left), respectively the impact of mentions (right) about each of the four candidates, from the total cumulative mentions about all 

THE TONE OF ONLINE CONVERSATION. The NewsVibe platform has created an advanced automated sentiment analysis system that uses specially trained AI algorithms and LLM tools to detect tonal nuances – favorable, unfavorable, or neutral – in the context of online conversations about topics, people, or public events.

ANCA ALEXANDRESCU is predominantly mentioned in negative contexts, influenced by her disputes with part of the press, discussions regarding the lack of explicit support from Călin Georgescu for the sovereignist candidate, as well as the criticisms that the TV presenter has directed at her opponents. However, in the social media area, there are also positive reactions related to the announcement of her candidacy. Additionally, some media appearances have generated favorable online coverage, such as that within the Marius Tucă Show.

NewsVibe Chart. The automated assessment of the tone of online conversation about Anca Alexandrescu, in the last week

In the case of CIPRIAN CIUCU online coverage is relatively balanced regarding the ratio between mentions in negative or conflictual contexts and those in positive contexts. However, the share of mentions with negative tone remains significant, as the mayor of Sector 6 has launched accusations of dirty campaigning against his opponents, while also being the target of direct attacks from them. This type of coverage is, in fact, specific to electoral periods, when confrontations between candidates intertwine with promotional actions. A significant part of the positive mentions in the online space is generated precisely by the promotion of Ciprian Ciucu's achievements at the level of Sector 6.

NewsVibe Chart. The automated assessment of the tone of online conversation about Ciprian Ciucu, in the last week

DANIEL BĂLUȚĂ records the most balanced ratio between positive and negative contexts of online coverage. Although he is targeted by attacks from opponents, he simultaneously benefits from the promotion of his activity as mayor. He continues to avoid aggressive replies and direct attacks, which contributes to maintaining a balanced coverage, with a tone less tense than in the case of the other candidates.

NewsVibe Chart. The automated assessment of the tone of online conversation about Daniel Băluță, in the last week 

CĂTĂLIN DRULĂ records the highest percentage of mentions in negative, polarizing, or tense contexts among all four candidates, more than 10 times higher than the positive ones. The negative tone of his online coverage has intensified recently, against the backdrop of the increasingly active involvement of the USR leader in attacking opponents, especially the one supported by PSD. In parallel, Cătălin Drulă has also become the target of direct criticisms from the social-democrats, including from Sorin Grindeanu, which further contributes to shaping this conflictual profile of the coverage.

NewsVibe Chart. The automated assessment of the tone of online conversation about Cătălin Drulă, in the last week 

*****Synthesis made with the help of a data stream provided by the media monitoring platform NewsVibe Romania. The analysis, data, and images presented have been enhanced with the help of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence tools.