Donald Trump overtakes Russia’s Vladimir Putin as the most discussed public figure in Russian media. For the first time since 2011 popular Putin does not hold the top spot, analysis shows.
Data from media analytics company SCAN shows that in January 2017 Donald Trump was mentioned 202,000 times in the Russian press.
Putin was the second-most talked about public figure in Russia, losing the title for the first time in five years to Trump. His name was mentioned a mere 147,000 times in January.
SCAN compiled the data by analyzing over 240,000 daily articles from national and local press, TV and radio broadcasts and online sites.
Trump and Putin pledged to restore the U.S.-Russia relationship on several occasions. This promise made Trump particularly popular among Russians.
The two talked on the phone for the first time on January 28th and it was described by the White House as a “positive call” and as “a significant start to improving the relationship between the United States and Russia that is in need of repair.”
The Kremlin also expressed a positive reaction to the one-hour conversation telling Russians that Trump “asked to convey wishes of happiness and prosperity to Russian people”. “The American people hold Russia and her citizens in sympathetic regard,” Kremlin quoted Trump’s words.
