Charlottesville

Our left-right media divide told through Charlottesville

How partisan Twitter users saw and shared different narratives of Charlottesville and the aftermath.

By |

After violence erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12, media coverage differed on what aspect of the event to cover.

Using analyses from Cortico and the Laboratory for Social Machines at the MIT Media Lab, we looked at what partisan Twitter users shared during and after the events of Charlottesville. We found a clear split in the story as told through partisan sources.

Take, for example, the shared headlines following President Donald Trump’s news conference on Aug. 15 in Trump Tower.

After Trump press conference, Democrats and Republicans share different versions of the story

Headlines shared by the left Headlines shared by the right
Trump Gives White Supremacists an Unequivocal Boost
nytimes.com
Donald Trump Blasts Reporters at Trump Tower for One-Sided Charlottesville Reporting
breitbart.com
Trump: ‘Both sides’ to blame for Charlottesville
cnn.com
Trump decries ‘alt-left’ in Charlottesville: ‘Do they have any semblance of guilt?’
foxnews.com
Trump again blames ‘both sides’ in Charlottesville, says some counterprotesters were ‘very, very violent’
washingtonpost.com
Left Blames Trump For Charlottesville. Here Are 5 Murders The Press Didn't Blame Obama For
dailywire.com

On each side, one publication dominated the conversation. The New York Times and Breitbart, represented 32 percent and 26 percent, respectively, of the top links shared by each camp.

Other stories broke through both sides, such as Vice’s viral documentary on the events in Charlottesville.

The data targets Twitter users with clear political allegiances — specifically, politically active users that exclusively followed either a Republican or Democratic 2016 presidential candidate. The top stories shared by both camps each day from Saturday, Aug. 12, through Wednesday, Aug. 16, show the political lines drawn between core supporters of Trump and the administration’s staunchest detractors.

Outside major media headlines, core Republicans were more likely to share videos, while Democrats were more likely to share petitions.

For example, Republicans widely shared a video conversation between Faith Goldy, reporting for Canadian hard-line conservative outlet, Rebel Media, and nationalist podcaster, Stefan Molyneux. In the video, Goldy describes violence by counter-protesters, “I saw some [Black Lives Matter] folks and just young black men throwing rocks at former veterans.” To date, the video has more than 330,000 views.

Democrats shared petitions targeting Steve Bannon and asking the Justice Department to file terrorism charges against the driver of the vehicle that killed Heather Heyer.

Despite the split narratives between Trump’s core supporters and Democrats, the effect on the voting base has been less conflicted. The latest POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows the administration bungled the response in the eyes of many Republican voters, where support for the president fell 8 points last week.

Explore what partisan Twitter users shared about Charlottesville