On the possibilities of network analysis in the context of ownership structures of Slovenian media

From 11 to 18 June, Dr Doruk Şen from Bilgi University in Istanbul visited the Peace Institute to discuss the framework of the Afemed research project. The project, which focuses on the structural changes in the media ownership of the most important Slovenian media outlets and media conglomerates, entered the next phase of data analysis last month.    

The chosen methodological approach of synthesising the collected data is precisely the implementation of network analysis, where the expertise of Dr. Şen is crucial. The method enables the researchers to identify influential actors and, in the context of the project, to discover important links between companies and firms operating in the Slovenian media space. This will reveal how media ownership is interlinked and structured, and help researchers determine which actors remain isolated in the field.  

Dr Şen’s research visit represented an opportunity to reflect on further steps, including a joint review of the vast primary data collection. This database formed over the past four months represents an inventory of the ownership structures of more than 300 Slovenian media outlets.  

A Peace Institute-wide workshop was also held where Dr Doruk Şen presented to the researchers the fundamentals of the network analysis research method, its main features, advantages and possible challenges. Using Visone software for visual creation, transformation, exploration and presentation of network data, researchers were able to test the method themselves and created a preliminary representation or interplay of ownership relations among Slovenian media outlets and their owners.   

We would like to thank Dr. Doruk Şen for his visit and very valuable knowledge transfer and we look forward to future collaborations, where we aim to continually exchange knowledge and methodologies from different research fields to truly advance the much-desired interdisciplinarity in sciences.