Structural Implications of the Crossposting Network of International News in Cyberspace

Abstract

This article uses network analysis to examine the structure of crossposting patterns of international news in cyberspace. By examining the patterns of crossposting of international news articles among newsgroups in Clarinet, a Usenet international news service, the authors analyze a symmetrical matrix of crossposted messages out of a total of 8,562 news articles, recategorized in 45 international groups. The multimethod triangulation of Bonacich's centrality, cluster analysis, and multidimensional analysis demonstrates that newsgroups of China, developing countries in Southeast Asia, and some Middle Eastern countries like Israel and Iraq occupy central positions in the structure of the crossposting network, along with those of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. It also shows that newsgroups of several Western countries like Germany and Italy have peripheral positions in the network. Notably, newsgroups of the international organizations, which are significant actors in globalized international relations, have high centralities in the crossposting network.