State of the Union: The Media Reaction

Interesting analysis of the media reaction to the State of the Union address by measuring Twitter, Facebook, blogs and other online postings.

Posted on Jan 29, 2014 in Image & Innovation 
By Tim Kadahl, Solutions Manager and Writer, Universal Information Services

The annual State of the Union speech is part of the political DNA of the United States.  The roots of the address go back to George Washington in 1790.  In modern times, every president since Woodrow Wilson has presented at least one State of the Union in front of a joint session of Congress. 

In the not-too-distant past, reactions to this kind of presidential address would take at least a news cycle (typically a day.)   Columnists, pundits, and editorial boards needed time to think, write, and react.  It’s easy to forget in 2014 that newspapers don’t appear out of thin air and that it takes dozens of people to put a TV newscast together.

Today’s news cycle is simple to describe – it’s now and it never ends.  With that in mind, measuring the national and global reaction to a State of Union address happens while the speech is still being given.  Twitter, Facebook, blogs and other online posting can show which message points did or did not resonate.  

The following chart illustrates which of the president’s key issues generated the most media attention. It illustrates “share of voice” from the global media landscape in the hours immediately before and after the #SOTU address.  The chart:



(analysis covering 24 hours prior to 11am CDT, 1/29/14)
Source: Universal Information Services