The News in New Media

Month: January 2023

#DocumentGate

January 31, 2023

Conversation continues this week as the nation debates #DocumentGate, the term being applied to the discovery of classified documents at the homes of former President Donald Trump and, more recently, current President Joe Biden. President Trump was the first elected official to be part of #DocumentGate when, after over a year of ignored requests for the return of missing documents, the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8, 2022, where they discovered 13 boxes of documents labeled classified. VOA reports that the search of Trump’s property revealed “items marked as classified national security information, up to the level of Top Secret and including Sensitive Compartmented Information and Special Access Program materials”. Social media conversation about the discovery of Trump’s classified documents carried 98% negative sentiment as citizens expressed both disappointment at the former President’s mishandling of classified records as well as outrage at the FBI’s decision to raid his home. Certified Twitter accounts from celebrities responding to the scandal had the highest number of retweets, with most of those messages containing criticism of Trump’s actions.

In the month following the raid on Mar-a-Lago, the most common theme of the #DocumentGate conversation compared Trump to other elected officials accused of mishandling sensitive information. Users frequently used Hillary Clinton’s email scandal as a point of comparison, with accusations of hypocrisy circling around both the Department of Justice as well as Trump himself. Clinton served as a bipartisan foil on social media as her name was used by critics and supporters alike to make their case. 

More recently, however, President Joe Biden was also revealed to have stored classified documents in his home. The documents, dating from the Obama-Biden administration, were discovered on Nov. 2, 2022 by Biden’s own attorneys. The Biden team allegedly notified the National Archives that day and returned the documents the following day. CNN reports that “The classified materials included some top-secret files with the “sensitive compartmented information” designation, also known as SCI, which is used for highly sensitive information obtained from intelligence sources”. 

Social media conversation about #DocumentGate after the discovery of President Biden’s mishandling of information was as negative as the discussion after the Mar-a-Lago raid, with 95% of Tweets expressing negative sentiment. However, the social media debate after discovery of Biden’s documents was decidedly more driven by Republican defenders of the Trump administration. Republican representatives, rather than celebrities, received the most retweets as they compared the treatment of Biden to that of Trump and even to that of Hillary Clinton, arguing that Trump was treated unfairly.

Republican figureheads also speculated about larger conspiracies concerning Biden’s documents, with many working to connect the President’s mishandling of information to his son, Hunter Biden, who’s been accused of shady business deals and of allegedly concealing his own cache of classified documents.

One of the most popular media forms during #DocumentGate has been the infographic, gaining high numbers of retweets and exponential reach as major news outlets like CNN work to establish a clear narrative amidst debate about the severity of each Presidents’ wrongdoings. 

Readers ought to anticipate further discussion on #DocumentGate, since former Vice President Mike Pence has just this week been on the receiving end of more allegations of mishandling of classified information, with CNN reporting that the Department of Justice and FBI have launched investigations into Pence’s documents as well. Pence, for his part, plans to cooperate fully, although the sensitivity of the materials found in his home is not yet known. Thus, #DocumentGate continues, and we at the SMLC keep listening.

Author: Molly Riddell

Upsets, Drama in First Few Days of Australian Open

January 18, 2023

The Australian Open tennis tournament has been in full swing for just a few days, but it’s already made shockwaves in the sporting world. Since qualifying rounds began on Jan. 8 for both men and women’s singles players, we’ve seen upsets, withdrawals, and even a pregnancy announcement!

One of the first tournaments since all-time greats Serena Williams and Roger Federer retired from tennis near the end of last playing season, remaining members of the old guard like Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were expected to continue their reign. However, Nadal was upset fairly quickly in the round of 64 by American player Mackenzie McDonald, shocking many fans despite nagging injuries that had been plaguing Nadal, as well as an injury he suffered during the match. Nadal had been the defending champion “down under” in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, the embattled Novak Djokovic was permitted to compete in the Australian Open this year after not being allowed to compete last year and even being deported due to his refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Many of the most popular Tweets surrounding Djokovic were praising his anti-vaccine stance and arguing that the tournament’s decision to allow him to compete is proof that his stance is correct. However, the tournament is also allowing players who test positive for COVID-19 to actively compete, so perhaps this is not the best example of good judgment.

Nadal’s name has garnered 281.82K mentions since qualifiers began Jan. 8, with an unsurprisingly major uptick in volume as matches began and the number-one seed was quickly eliminated. The most traffic around his name came from the United States as well as his native Spain. A fun fact discovered during demographic research: the word “nadal” in Polish translates to “still,” and so it is also a very popular word in Polish content, though not relevant to our tennis research.

Meanwhile, Djokovic’s name has 214.1K mentions in the same time period, and the volume around his name has fluctuated much more than Nadal’s as people continue to weigh in on his vaccine stance and whether or not the tournament was right for allowing him to play again this year. Yet 63% of all these mentions were positive, indicating that people are still supporting him for either his position or his play, which has admittedly been strong already.

In other news about controversial players, Nick Kyrgios withdrew from the tournament just a day before his first match due to an injury. Kyrgios is an Australian and, despite being something of an abrasive personality and divisive athlete, is always a hit in front of his home fans.

Kyrgios and Djokovic played an exhibition match on Jan. 13 prior to the start of the Australian Open, which drew tons of fans and indicates a repair in the relationship between the two players. Kyrgios himself weighed in on the success of the match and his own image in the news media:

Lastly, another star player withdrew just before the tournament, but for a positive reason rather than an injury: Naomi Osaka is pregnant! The 25-year-old star announced on Jan. 11 that she was expecting her first child and would understandably be missing the Australian Open and much of the 2023 season. She shared an image of the sonogram on her Twitter page along with a statement:

Osaka is well-known not only for her stellar play at a young age but also her outspoken emphasis on mental health and how pro athletes should be treated by fans and media members, as well as her in-tournament support of the Black Lives Matter movement. While she will certainly be missed from the lineup, fans seem to be celebrating her announcement regardless: more than 60% of the mentions of her name were positive.

Another young star is holding down the fort with Osaka out: American Coco Gauff stormed onto the scene a few years ago while still in her mid-teens to go on an improbable run. Now just 18, she’s starting the Australian Open strong as well with a much-publicized battle against 20-year-old Brit Emma Raducanu. This was a battle of next-generation stars and Gauff came out on top this time around.

The tournament will continue over the next few weeks as new champions are set to emerge on both the men and women’s sides of play.

Author: Kayleigh Jackson