DIGITAL DUEL by NewsVibe. TOP 5 parties in the Romanian online space, in the last week

According to the data extracted and analyzed with the help of NewsVibe, an AI media monitoring platform, both the total number of mentions about parties and their estimated impact in the most relevant online sources are notably decreasing compared to the previous week. The number of mentions decreases for all political formations, even if in different proportions, without changing the overall hierarchy. PSD, PNL, and USR remain in the top three positions, while UDMR remains, even in this week, above AUR, although the gap between the two parties has considerably reduced.

After numerous disputes, the coalition reached an agreement regarding the organization of elections for the Capital City Hall, but other tensions have arisen between the governing parties, following the CCR decision to reject the project regarding the retirement of magistrates. While the Prime Minister supports the relaunch of the project in its initial form, respecting all procedures, PSD demands substantial changes to the legislation. Another point of divergence is represented by the minimum wage, the current topic being its increase or freezing, with social democrats expressing their opposition to the latter scenario.

AUR continues parliamentary actions by submitting simple motions against Cabinet members, but also through complaints addressed to the Constitutional Court regarding projects already promoted by the Government.

The theme of the last few days has been represented, however, by the tragic explosion in Rahova, which caused numerous victims, and regarding which the parties manifested more through local leadership.

Even against this backdrop of intensified political debate, the volume of mentions for all parties is decreasing, with the most pronounced decrease recorded by UDMR – the performer of the previous week – with over 62%.

NEWSVIBE GRAPHIC. Top 5 parties based on the volume of mentions 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.

Compared to the previous week, the total mentions about parties are over 2,000 lower, while their impact decreases by almost 25 million estimated views. Even though mentions about UDMR recorded a sharp decline, their impact in the total estimated remains almost unchanged, standing around 12%. Furthermore, the parties in the coalition generate, cumulatively, over 90% of mentions, and their impact exceeds the same threshold, maintaining a clear dominance in the media space.

The simultaneous decrease of mentions and impact suggests a fragmentation of the agenda of online sources and a temporary reorientation of their attention towards other themes, as was the case with the explosion in Rahova, while the parties continue to position themselves around the same controversial subjects.

NewsVibe Graphics. The share of the number of mentions (left), respectively the impact of mentions (right) about each of the parties from the total cumulative mentions about all five

NETWORK ANALYSIS. The tool created by NewsVibe – network semantic analysis – uses advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning methods to build interaction maps that highlight: the central actors of a conversation, the connections between them, the groups (clusters) of themes, concepts, and influencers (personalities and organizations) that have formed around an event, subject, or idea.

NewsVibe Graphic. The semantic network associated with the online conversation about the main 5 parliamentary parties, in the last week

What the analysis shows: 

• A distinct, massive area of debate is maintained, dominated by PSD, around which entities such as Sorin Grindeanu or Ilie Bolojan gravitate, reflecting the persistent themes and the newly emerged tensions between PSD and PNL. In recent days, these tensions have focused especially on the project regarding the retirement of magistrates, in the context of the CCR decision on this subject.
• Another segment of discussions is associated both with governance activity and with parliamentary life, including terms such as AUR, Parliament, Chamber of Deputies, but also the Constitutional Court. This thematic area reflects both the confrontations between the Opposition and the Government (through the simple motions submitted by AUR), as well as the debates regarding the role of the Legislature in adopting a new form of the project regarding the retirement of magistrates, following the recent CCR decision.
• USR and PNL are the central actors of the online conversation about the elections in Bucharest, the organization of which was decided within the coalition this week. Around this theme gravitate terms such as Ciprian Ciucu, Nicușor Dan, Dominic Fritz, or the Capital City Hall, indicating an increase in interest for the electoral competition in the Capital.
• UDMR also reconfirms this week its high visibility in online conversations about parties, due to the active public communication of its leaders on topics such as the retirement of magistrates, the reform of local and central public administration, or other projects on the coalition's agenda.

SENTIMENT. The NewsVibe platform has created an advanced automated sentiment analysis system, which uses specially trained AI algorithms and LLM tools to detect tonal nuances – favorable, unfavorable, or neutral – in the context of references to relevant entities for an online conversation.

NewsVibe Graphic. Automated evaluation of the tone of the online conversation about the main 5 parliamentary parties, in the week

What the analysis shows: 

• PSD remains the most frequently present actor in contexts of negative, tense, and polarizing media coverage, an aspect significantly influenced by the divergent positions expressed by social democrats towards their governing partners regarding various public policies.
• Ilie Bolojan, but also the Government, are, in turn, frequently mentioned in negative or tense contexts, significantly influenced by the CCR decision regarding the retirement of magistrates, a subject that has fueled debates and criticisms in the online space.
• Although the frequency of positive media coverage contexts is lower, favorable reflections of names such as Daniel Băluță, Gabriela Firea, Călin Georgescu, or AUR are noted.

*****Summary created with the help of a data monitoring feed 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.