European integration in the information field: 2014-2018

Before the New Year, the Institute for Economic Research and Political Consulting shared the top 10 materials on European integration issues. We checked the resonance of this topic using the Attack Index.

The Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting has published a rating of media studies on its website. The topics raised in the study are certainly relevant for Ukraine and citizens. Questions about integration into the EU and cooperation with the European Parliament, anti-corruption innovations and the creation of a business climate, visa procedures and related events have been repeatedly covered in the media. Therefore, the team of our service was all the more interested in understanding how well the information policy is being conducted on these issues and how the media cover this area.

The analysis of the Attack Index includes related topics under the heading “European integration” for each year and according to the principle already used in our annual report. As in the ranking of the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting, the research period was 2014-2018.

For 2014, the attack index is 4 points (moderate), the number of publications is 150,904. The signing of the Association Agreement with the EU can be called the media event of the year. Details on this event are shown in the table below.

2014 год

For 2014, the attack index is 4 points (moderate), the number of publications is 150,904. The signing of the Association Agreement with the EU can be called the media event of the year. Details on this event are shown in the table below.

2015 год

In 2016, the number of stories increased more significantly and amounted to a total of 239696 topics under the heading. The degree of resonance was estimated at 5 points, since, of course, interest in the topic of European integration does not fade. The topics of the media year are the Ukraine-EU summit and the announcement of the conditions for the upcoming visa-free regime. Details for the year are shown in the table below.

2016 год

In 2017, the rubric index was also “5”, the number of publications slightly decreased (228932). The theme of the year, of course, is the introduction of a visa-free regime. All the top news for the dates of bursts of activity is dedicated to her. Details for the year are shown in the table below.

2017 год

Last year’s data show that the topic of European integration remains popular in our information space. The index remained at 5, but the number of publications fell significantly, to – 121903. Details for the year are given in the table below.

2018 год

So, even a cursory glance gives an understanding that the main media theme in the heading “European integration” for the period 2014-2018. still is visa-free. So, all the top stories for 2017 are related to this topic, in other years it sounds in almost half of the most popular stories. Also, various European summits, where Ukrainian issues are discussed, cause a high resonance. The theme of the Association Agreement also caused great coverage against the background of others.

If we analyze the situation on specific topics and events, our experts noted not the greatest media activity among the media, which leads to an insufficiently accurate assessment.

For example, this can be seen in the topic “Ukraine against corruption: Economic front. Economic assessment of anti-corruption approaches in 2014-2018”. At the request of the full or partial title, the analytical system found 46 or 13 publications. The attack index is 7-8 (high, which may rather indicate a too small amount of analyzed material and an unrepresentative number of publications. The same query in Russian resulted in 22 publications and an index of 9.

The relevance of the topic and frequent international events where Ukraine’s course towards European integration is discussed have led to the appearance of a quarter of a million publications only on the topic of visa-free travel and the Association Agreement (Fig. 1)

Рис. 1

Among the top 20 sources, the institute itself is in second place, and only one position is occupied by the news agency.

Рис. 2

In conclusion, we note that the subject of cooperation between Ukraine and the European Union remains relevant and well-known. Quite a lot of events are held with the participation of representatives of our country. Discussions and questions put forward by experts and employees of foreign policy institutions are relevant for resolution at the international level. After all, the position of our country in the international arena depends on their decision.

The Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting raised very topical topics in which Ukraine has something to discuss and create scenarios for business and economic activity. And the topic of European integration itself is one of the most strategic for the development of Ukraine, it requires constant diagnostics of the media field to identify relevant requests and the most resonant topics.