Digital Observatory
About NewsTalk
As of 13 November 2023
NewsTalk is an aggregator of reader commentary on the majority of Australian news sites. NewsTalk also harvests Reddit comment threads linking Australian news stories. This provides good coverage of the Australian news landscape even when publishers don’t support on-site reader comments.
| Comment type | Number of comments | Percentage of comments |
|---|---|---|
| Linked comment | 593,947 | 37% |
| Site comment | 1,032,568 | 63% |
| Total comments | 1,626,515 | 100% |
| Statistic | Linked comments | Site comments |
|---|---|---|
| Average comment length | 42.7 | 39.6 |
| Median comment length | 26.0 | 25.0 |
| Standard deviation of comment length | 57.8 | 48.7 |
| Skewness of comment length | 6.2 | 4.4 |
| Comment type | Average number of comments per story |
|---|---|
| Site comment | 32.4 |
| Linked comment | 18.6 |
| Total comments | 51.0 |
| Source | Number of stories | Number of comments |
|---|---|---|
| Nine Media | 7,051 | 500,736 |
| MSN News | 5,967 | 137,547 |
| ABC News | 3,798 | 247,414 |
| Australian Community Media | 2,403 | 14,173 |
| The Guardian | 2,314 | 374,302 |
| Sky News Australia | 2,043 | 145,795 |
| Crikey | 1,839 | 42,578 |
| The New Daily | 1,315 | 30,444 |
| Kotaku AU | 1,022 | 2,400 |
| Echo Media | 888 | 3,341 |
| Perth Now | 767 | 15,913 |
| Independent Australia | 763 | 14,005 |
| The Conversation | 617 | 35,895 |
| iTnews | 355 | 1,977 |
| News.com.au | 341 | 38,402 |
| SBS News | 240 | 16,119 |
| MamaMia | 91 | 397 |
| The Saturday Paper | 71 | 5,077 |
| Source | Comment type | Average comments | Median comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABC News | Site comment | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ABC News | Linked comment | 65.1 | 18.0 |
| ABC News | Total comments | 65.1 | 18.0 |
| Australian Community Media | Site comment | 5.8 | 3.0 |
| Australian Community Media | Linked comment | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Australian Community Media | Total comments | 5.9 | 3.0 |
| Crikey | Site comment | 18.3 | 10.0 |
| Crikey | Linked comment | 4.9 | 0.0 |
| Crikey | Total comments | 23.2 | 11.0 |
| Echo Media | Site comment | 3.7 | 2.0 |
| Echo Media | Linked comment | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Echo Media | Total comments | 3.8 | 2.0 |
| Independent Australia | Site comment | 14.5 | 10.0 |
| Independent Australia | Linked comment | 3.8 | 0.0 |
| Independent Australia | Total comments | 18.4 | 10.0 |
| Kotaku AU | Site comment | 2.3 | 1.0 |
| Kotaku AU | Linked comment | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Kotaku AU | Total comments | 2.3 | 1.0 |
| MSN News | Site comment | 17.6 | 6.0 |
| MSN News | Linked comment | 5.5 | 0.0 |
| MSN News | Total comments | 23.1 | 7.0 |
| MamaMia | Site comment | 4.4 | 2.0 |
| MamaMia | Linked comment | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MamaMia | Total comments | 4.4 | 2.0 |
| News.com.au | Site comment | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| News.com.au | Linked comment | 112.6 | 39.0 |
| News.com.au | Total comments | 112.6 | 39.0 |
| Nine Media | Site comment | 68.6 | 25.0 |
| Nine Media | Linked comment | 2.5 | 0.0 |
| Nine Media | Total comments | 71.0 | 26.0 |
| Perth Now | Site comment | 19.1 | 12.0 |
| Perth Now | Linked comment | 1.6 | 0.0 |
| Perth Now | Total comments | 20.7 | 12.0 |
| SBS News | Site comment | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SBS News | Linked comment | 67.2 | 11.5 |
| SBS News | Total comments | 67.2 | 11.5 |
| Sky News Australia | Site comment | 69.4 | 29.0 |
| Sky News Australia | Linked comment | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Sky News Australia | Total comments | 71.4 | 29.0 |
| The Conversation | Site comment | 5.7 | 0.0 |
| The Conversation | Linked comment | 52.5 | 3.0 |
| The Conversation | Total comments | 58.2 | 12.0 |
| The Guardian | Site comment | 83.7 | 0.0 |
| The Guardian | Linked comment | 78.1 | 16.0 |
| The Guardian | Total comments | 161.8 | 70.0 |
| The New Daily | Site comment | 18.7 | 5.0 |
| The New Daily | Linked comment | 4.5 | 0.0 |
| The New Daily | Total comments | 23.2 | 6.0 |
| The Saturday Paper | Site comment | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| The Saturday Paper | Linked comment | 71.5 | 18.0 |
| The Saturday Paper | Total comments | 71.5 | 18.0 |
| iTnews | Site comment | 4.2 | 2.0 |
| iTnews | Linked comment | 1.4 | 0.0 |
| iTnews | Total comments | 5.6 | 2.0 |
Contact information
Digital Observatory
Research Infrastructure | QUT
digitalobservatory.net.au/qut-digital-observatory
digitalobservatory@qut.edu.au
@ObservatoryTeam
Ph: +61 7 3138 6849