Media Agenda Setting of a Specific Political Event

Abstract

,The inconclusive and inconsistent findings of research on the agenda setting function of the mass media have stimulated a search for more precision in the measurement of mass media effects on public priorities and issue saliencies. This study suggests a rational for applying the broad concepts of agenda setting to specific political events.The general theory of agenda setting, first tested empirically by McCombs and Shaw,' posits a direct relationship between the media's coverage of important issues and the public's judgment of the relative importance of these issues. McCombs and Shaw's initial test of this relationship during the 1968 presidential campaign in Chapel Hill, N.C., indicated a strong correlation (+ .967) between the rank order of campaign issues in the media as determined by content analysis and the rank order of voters' independent judgments of the importance of the issues.2The original test of agenda setting and most of the subsequent research in its tradition3 have dealt with extremely broad public issues over relatively long periods of time. The use of extremely broad categories of issues may be an Achilles Heel of agenda setting since, as Murdoch notes, more specific categories seem to have decreased the correlations between media and public agendas.' Narrowing the focus of agenda setting to information about a specific political event at one point in time should provide a more rigorous test. Such nar-rowing limits intervening variables which might affect cognitions over time.If the media have an agenda setting effect, independent of inter-and intrapersonal variables, the effect should be apparent in this more controlled context. The use of a specific political event, in this case a local visit and speech by the President of the United States, requires a somewhat more microcosmic view of agenda setting than that found in most studies. This study sought to determine the effect of media coverage on audience knowledge about the event, and in this sense is similar to what McCombs calls the study of "attributes" of an issue.5 Cohen's study of an environmental issue6 and Benton and Frazier's study of levels of information holding about the economy7 are examples of such research but are not sufficiently limited in time to provide a precise test.On the other hand, McCombs, Becker and Weaver have argued that time itself may be an important prerequisite for agenda setting. They suggest that a period of several months may be neces-

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“…The researchers in this project aim to add to both the contextual knowledge of political communication while also nuancing the theory of agenda melding by exploring the relationship between belief in social media and support for a salient political issue. Researchers have previously asked participants about media usage and its relation to political opinions (Kaid, Hale, & Williams, 1977). As our society becomes more entrenched in a digital landscape it is vital to better understand how belief in a social media outlet influences political issues.…”

Issue-Specific Agenda-Setting:The Whole as less than the Sum of the Parts

“…While this broad statement has been useful for making general assertions to the effect that the media "tell us what to think about," it remains a general statement which must be further delineated (McCombs, 1977).A number of Agenda-Setting researchers have ignored the attempts at theory building in this area, choosing instead to test their own conceptual and operational parameters (c.f. Kaid, Hale and Williams, 1977;Sohn, 1978). However, some attempts have been made to refine the seemingly monolithic Agenda-Setting concept.…”

“…A number of Agenda-Setting researchers have ignored the attempts at theory building in this area, choosing instead to test their own conceptual and operational parameters (c.f. Kaid, Hale and Williams, 1977;Sohn, 1978). However, some attempts have been made to refine the seemingly monolithic Agenda-Setting concept.…”