The Agenda-Setting Function of Television News

The present study investigates static and dynamic approaches to agendasetting research by means of cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. The data bases used are weekly surveys on problem awareness of the public regarding 16 issues and a content analysis of the main German television news shows in 1986. Although static analysis of the data reveals nearly no relationship between media coverage and problem awareness, dynamic analysis demonstrates that media coverage caused problem awareness of four prominent issues in 1986 (energy supply, defense, environmental protection, and European politics). Problem awareness, on the other hand, caused media coverage on three issues (pensions, public debt, and public security). Time lags ranked between 1 and 3 weeks. The direction of influence seems to be dependent on the kind of issue and the investigated time interval. In addition, there are significant differences in the type of effects. Although the public generally reacted to media coverage with corresponding increases and declines of problem awareness, the media sometimes reacted to problem awareness by counterbalancing the trend of public opinion.

[1]  Richard M. Perloff,et al.  Mass Media and Political Thought: An Information-Processing Approach , 1987 .

[2]  Arthur H. Miller,et al.  Front-Page News and Real-World Cues: A New Look at Agenda-Setting by the Media , 1980 .

[3]  J. Staab,et al.  Medientenor und Bevölkerungsmeinung: eine empirische Studies zum Image Helmut Kohls , 1986 .

[4]  G. Ray Funkhouser,et al.  THE ISSUES OF THE SIXTIES: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY IN THE DYNAMICS OF PUBLIC OPINION , 1973 .

[5]  J. Tunstall.  The Media In Britain , 1983 .

[6]  D. Phillips,et al.  When Violence is Rewarded or Punished: The Impact of Mass Media Stories on Homicide , 1984 .

[7]  Wenmouth Williams,et al.  Campaign ‘76: Agenda setting during the New Hampshire primary , 1978 .

[8]  C. Eyal,et al.  Agenda Setting for the Civil Rights Issue , 1981 .

[9]  Ellen Wartella,et al.  Mass Communication Review Yearbook , 1987 .

[10]  Robert Jackson,et al.  Selecting a time-series strategy. , 1983 .

[11]  D. Phillips,et al.  The Impact of Fictional Television Stories on U.S. Adult Fatalities: New Evidence on the Effect of the Mass Media on Violence , 1982, American Journal of Sociology.

[12]  C. Granger.  Investigating Causal Relations by Econometric Models and Cross-Spectral Methods , 1969 .

[13]  F. J. Davis.  Crime News in Colorado Newspapers , 1952, American Journal of Sociology.

[14]  H. Kepplinger.  Eine Analyze zum Einfluss subjektiver Faktoren auf die Konstruktion von Realität , 1988 .

[15]  D. Shaw,et al.  Agenda setting function of mass media , 1972 .

[16]  Time Series Analysis of Alternative Media Effects Theories , 1978 .

[17]  Kim A. Smith.  Effects of Newspaper Coverage on Community Issue Concerns and Local Government Evaluations , 1987 .

[18]  M. Salwen,et al.  Media Agenda-Setting with Environmental Issues , 1985 .

[19]  E. T. Jones.  The Press As Metropolitan Monitor , 1976 .

[20]  Shanto Iyengar,et al.  Television News, Real-World Cues, and Changes in the Public Agenda , 1985 .

[21]  D. Phillips,et al.  The Impact of Mass Media Violence on U.S. Homicides , 1983 .

[22]  D. O. Sears,et al.  Black Invisibility, the Press, and the Los Angeles Riot , 1971, American Journal of Sociology.

[23]  G. Ray Funkhouser,et al.  Trends in Media Coverage of the Issues of the ′60s , 1973 .

[24]  A. Schmidtke,et al.  [Facilitation of suicide motivation and suicidal behavior by fictional models. Sequelae of the television series "Death of a student"]. , 1986, Der Nervenarzt.

[25]  Robert P. Hawkins,et al.  Media Roles in a Social Movement: A Model of Ideology Diffusion , 1985 .

[26]  John R. Baseheart,et al.  Media Agenda-Setting in City and State Election Campaigns , 1975 .

[27]  Daniel C. Hallin,et al.  Handbook of political communication , 1982, American Political Science Review.

[28]  Shanto Iyengar,et al.  Experimental Demonstrations of the “Not-So-Minimal” Consequences of Television News Programs , 1982 .

[29]  James R. Beniger,et al.  Media Content as Social Indicators , 1978 .

[30]  David B. Hill,et al.  Viewer Characteristics and Agenda Setting by Television News , 1985 .

[31]  John R. Freeman.  Granger Causality and the Time Series Analysis of Political Relationships , 1983 .

[32]  Harold Gene Zucker.  The Variable Nature of News Media Influence , 1978 .

[33]  Michael B. Mackuen,et al.  More Than News: Media Power in Public Affairs , 1981 .

[34]  David H. Weaver,et al.  Media Agenda-Setting and Public Opinion: Is There a Link? , 1984 .

[35]  Maxwell McCombs,et al.  The emergence of American political issues : the agenda-setting function of the press , 1977 .

[36]  Maxwell McCombs,et al.  Tracing the Time Lag in Agenda-Setting , 1981 .

[37]  T. Tyler,et al.  Media and agenda setting: effects on the public, interest group leaders, policy makers, and policy. , 1983, Public opinion quarterly.