Mediatization of twitter? Traditional and online media in ad hoc discussions on inter-ethnic conflicts

With growth of Internet communication, hopes rose that online discussions will equalize ordinary users and institutional discussants. But what roles traditional media play in online discussions remains under-researched. We argue that mediatization of Twitter discourse is worth studying, as activity of registered media in online discussions may play a role in preserving the "offline" deliberative inequalities. To assess the roles of media in Twitter discussions, we look at two structural aspects of their presence: posting activity and users' sharing of media content - within heated ad hoc Twitter discussions on inter-ethnic conflicts in Russia, the USA, and Germany. Our findings show huge national differences in mediatization patterns, including the roles of political media. But also we see that, in all the three cases, the discourse is shaped by "white majority media", and outlets that would represent the oppressed minority are virtually absent in both posting and link sharing patterns.