This month’s list of “most influential news organisations on Twitter” is here. This September edition of Saniti is a little later than usual, with good reason. I have been working on some other related projects which I hope will be available in the coming weeks.
But, to get to the point, here is this month’s list of SA’s most influential news organisations.
Getting bigger: The top 30
The good news is that for the first time Saniti has hit the 30 mark with the addition of three new publications to the list: News Now, Sunday Tribune and Daily Sun.
The strongest entry to the list is made by Media24′s brand new News Now weekly, which enters at position 15, just three weeks into its print debut. At number 21 is the Daily Sun, and at position 26, unseating four others, is the Sunday Tribune.
Thanks to the entry of these three publications at least 11 publications dropped at least one position. Overall 15 publications lost a position or two on the list over previous rankings.
Strong leadership
Perhaps unsurprisingly the top three positions remain unchanged since the previous Saniti release with News24 leading the way, ahead of TimesLive and Mail&Guardian.
Although the positions were unchanged this didn’t mean that all was quiet at the top. The biggest change was News24 which gained more than 10 000 followers over the past month. With more than 54 000 followers News24 is now way ahead of everyone else.
TimesLive put in a strong performance gaining more than 3 000 followers over the month. Mail&Guardian gained another 4 000 followers. All told seven of the top ten publications gained more than 3 000 followers over the past month.
In raw follower numbers Independent Newspaper’s Business Report is second to News24 with more than 38 000 followers. The Mail&Guardian is in third place with +26 000 followers.
Tough at the top
While the top of the table remains unchanged it is at positions 4 to 10 where most of the change is taking place. Eye Witness News (a new entrant last month) gained three positions. With a Klout rating of 68 it is just one place ahead of IOL, Sowetan and City Press with a score of 67. (Where publications have an equal Klout score Saniti ranks them based next on the number of followers).
Almost all publications increased their Klout score over the month (or at least kept it constant). The notable exception was the Rapport which lost some ground over the month.
For the uninitiated Saniti is The South African News Influence on Twitter Index, which measures the relative influence of major news organisations on Twitter and a number of other social media networks. Take a look at the FAQ for more details. For previous releases of this list see here.
As usual, the usual disclaimers apply: Follower and Klout numbers are correct at time of publishing. The best effort is made to ensure data are correct. If you find an error please let me know.
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