Media framing in the digital age: Interplay of real estate and welfare narratives in South Korean news articles

The present study delves into the underexplored nexus between online real estate news and societal welfare news. A novel methodological approach is adopted herein: web scraping techniques amass online newspaper articles, the sentiment of which is subsequently evaluated through a neural network-informed natural language processing framework. The sentiment-oriented data is transitioned into a panel data configuration for deeper analysis. Results indicate a prevailing negative link between real estate news sentiments and those of welfare news. Intriguingly, the ascension of the conservative party amplifies this negative correspondence. This paper augments the political economy and political communication discourse by underscoring the conceivable potential influence of digital media framing on shaping public perceptions and political inclinations. It offers pertinent insights regarding the interrelation between housing wealth and political outcomes in a distinct national milieu.