#murraytweetindex

The #murraytweetindex is published by communications consultancy Murray and measures journalists across six parameters to capture their popularity, the quality of engagement and level of activity. A composite index was then created to rank overall positions.

Top 100

Top 100 Banner

Gavan Reilly has made his social media presence a central part of his reporting and year on year built his profile to take the top spot in this year’s index. A well thought out Twitter thread can provide a first draft of history with as much impact as a news package or column.

Category Winners

In addition to the overall rankings, the research ranked journalists’ influence on Twitter in a range of different categories, category winners included:

Total Followers

Total Followers vs TOTALS 3,065,258 3,253,097 6.1% UP 2018 2019

The wide reach of Irish journalists on Twitter was demonstrated again, with the Top 100 in the index having over 3.3m followers, an increase of 6% on 2018.

Gender Representation

% of Women in the Top 100 Since 2014

27% 2014 30% 2015 26% 2016 32% 2017 36% 2018 28% 2019

Leading Women in the Index

Like many other career paths, women remain under-represented, and a higher proportion of strong female journalist voices in the index would be welcome.

6 Parameters

Top ranking journalists across each of the 6 parameters measured:

With growing pressure to break the news first, media outlets also need to consider the editorial standards they expect from their staff in their Tweets.

Golden Ratio

followers :

During the current Covid 19 pandemic Twitter’s role as a source of breaking news has been more prominent than ever.

Media Outlets

The research reviewed which media outlets had most journalists in the top 100.

Media Type Graph BROADCAST - 29% ONLINE - 13% PRINT - 58%

Most Tweeters in Top 100

  1. Irish Times
    24
  2. RTÉ
    17
  3. Independent News & Media
    14
  4. Newstalk
    6
  5. Business Post
    5
  6. Joe.ie / Maximum Media
    3
  7. Sunday Times / Times Ireland
    2
  8. Irish Examiner
    2
  9. The Currency
    2
  10. Virgin Media
    2
  11. Irish Daily Star
    2
  12. thejournal.ie
    1
  13. Irish Sun
    1
  14. Today FM
    1

The results show The Irish Times to have the most journalists in the Top 100, with 24, followed by RTÉ with 17, and Independent News & Media with 14.

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