Streem data reveals insights into media coverage during the 2022/23 Budget

Realtime media monitoring provider, Streem, has revealed news coverage and social media commentary data for the 2022/23 Federal Budget.

Streem analysed data from print, online, radio and TV coverage, as well as analysis from Twitter, public Facebook pages, Instagram, Reddit, Blogs, and YouTube.

The data revealed that the general state of the economy was the top issue in the media Budget coverage, as was the case in the lead-up to Budget night. Employment, the top issue in March, came in second, followed by taxes and housing.

In a big change compared to the March Budget, taxation and employment were the top issues on social media following the Treasurer's Budget speech. In March, the biggest issue across social media was the environment which slipped to fourth in October.

October Budget data from Streem:

Treasurer Jim Chalmers scored more than 5x the media mentions of the prime minister on Budget night and 13x the mentions of shadow treasurer Angus Taylor. Additionally, Chalmers maintained a strong lead on social media with 785 mentions across the board.

In March, former treasurer Josh Frydenberg was the most-mentioned politician alongside the Budget, with the prime minister coming in second.

Breaking down the conversation on social media, Twitter overwhelmed other social networks, with approximately 72% of all Budget night discussion taking place on the platform. In March, Twitter enjoyed almost 20x the volume of Budget discussion compared to all other social networks combined. 

As was the case ahead of the Budget, online news dominated Budget coverage on Budget night and the following morning, with more distinct Budget-related news items than print, radio and TV combined.

While Budget night is seen as one of the biggest news stories of the year, the share of total news secured by the Budget has dropped compared to the March Budget, down to 15.4% from 20.7% in March.

March Budget data from Streem: