News Focus: Mayor Nicușor Dan, after his re-election - online impact assessment

Adrian Rusu

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imagine generată cu ajutorul Dall-E

The Mayor of Bucharest, Nicușor Dan, is currently in an open conflict with the mayor of Sector 4, the social-democrat Daniel Băluță, over the rehabilitation of the Unirii Square, attracting much media attention. In fact, since his re-election as mayor of the capital, the founder of USR has been a central figure on the political scene, his actions and messages generating a considerable number of mentions with significant impact in the Romanian online. According to data obtained with the help of NewsVibe, an AI-supported online trend analysis software, there have been over 3900 mentions of Nicușor Dan in the last 4 months, reaching a cumulative volume of almost 128 million estimated views.
The Mayor of Bucharest has been present in recent months through public and media appearances related to the activity of the Bucharest City Hall, but also through political messages and gestures. He has been directly involved in the discussions about the presidential elections, both through public communication and through actions such as signatures of support for candidates such as Elena Lasconi, Nicolae Ciucă or Ludovic Orban. The media has also speculated at length about the actual support that Nicușor Dan could give to one of the candidates for the Romanian presidency.

NewsVibe chart. The evolution of the number of mentions of Nicușor Dan and their total impact between June 15 and October 14

Predominant sources
Among the top relevant online sources that have written about Nicușor Dan in the last months, news websites such as stiripesurse.ro, Gândul, ziare.com, G4Media, as well as Facebook pages such as stiripesurse and B365.ro stand out. The B365.ro page, together with the Buletin de București Facebook page, are the only local sources present in the top.

Grafic NewsVibe. Top relevant online sources that covered Nicușor Dan, from June 15 to Oct 14

Top keywords mentioned
The most used terms in the articles and Facebook posts in which Nicușor Dan was mentioned indicate both topics related to the administration of the capital, but also political themes. Thus, Primar, primar, primarul general, București, capitalei, Daniel Băluță, planșeului Unirii refer to Nicușor Dan's position and administrative activity. PNL, Elena Lasconi, candidate, president are visible terms related to the mayor's communication and actions in the run-up to the presidential elections. However, the name Marcel Ciolacu also stands out, after the meetings between the Mayor of the Capital and the Prime Minister of Romania, at the Government and at the Bucharest City Hall, on local administration issues.

NewsVibe graphic. Top entities mentioned in association with Nicușor Dan, from June 15 to Oct 14

Emoji and Hashtag
The most commonly used emoji in Facebook posts mostly indicate topics related to the work of the local government: construction works, transportation, but also symbols for goals achieved.

Graphic NewsVibe. Top emoji used on Facebook in conversations about Nicușor Dan, June 15-Oct 14

The most used hashtags indicate both references to topics related to the administration of the capital, but also to political topics, such as the presidential elections. The most commonly used hashtags are #bucuresti, #usrinadministratie, #nicusordan, #pmb in obvious relation to administrative topics. There are also hashtags such as #inslujbatarii or #pnl, associated with the PNL candidate for the Romanian presidency, Nicolae Ciucă.

Graphic NewsVibe. Top hashtags used on Facebook in conversations about Nicușor Dan, June 15-Oct 14

Local sources
Only 10% of all mentions of Nicușor Dan come from local online sources, with the overwhelming majority appearing in national sources. Moreover, more than half of the local mentions appeared in online sources in Bucharest. Otherwise, there is no particular interest, in any region of the country, in the most relevant local online sources, in the name of the Mayor of Bucharest. This is an indication that his profile is still that of a local rather than a national leader.

Grafic NewsVibe. Relevant local sources that mentioned Nicușor Dan, from Jun 15 to Oct 14

Nicușor Dan remains (only) a predominantly local figure, with most mentions and interest centered in Bucharest, mainly associated with his administrative work and local conflicts. Although present in the national political discussions, including in the context of the presidential elections, the interest of sources from the rest of Romania in the name of the mayor of the capital remains modest.