Working-Paper Sites of Political Science
 Agenda Setting Readings List

 

The following list regards readings on agenda-setting effects of news media, rather than agenda-setting effects of the public or government. Some annotations could not be provided because the source could not be obtained. No link on this page is updated. The list was compiled in December 1999.

        Ader, Christine, “A Longitudinal Study of Agenda-Setting for the Issue of Environmental Pollution,” 72 Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 2 (1995): 300.

Uses reports on environmental pollution during 1970-1990 from Gallup and New York Times to show that there is no correlation between facets of the real world and the public agenda.  Does find a correlation between facets of the real world and the media agenda.

        Behr, Roy  and Shanto Iyengar, “Television News, Real-World Cues, and Changes in the Public Agenda,”  49 Public Opinion Quarterly 1 (1985): 38.

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0033-362X%28198521%2949%3C38%3ATNRCAC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-X

Asserts that television news affects the public opinion and it is not the public opinion that effects an agenda of the media.

        Briggs, E. and R. Nelson, and W. Soderlund,  “Regional and Linguistic Agenda-Setting in Canada: A Study of Newspaper Coverage of Issues Affecting Political Integration in 1976,” 13 Canadian Journal of Political Science 2 (1980): 347.

Examine the influence of region and language on how the press decide which stories to publish.

        Brosius, Hans and Gabriel Weimann, “Who Sets the Agenda?: Agenda-Setting as a Two-Step Flow,” 23 Communication Research (1996): 561.

Study is based on German television.

        Callaghan, Karen and Frauke Schnell,  “Assessing the Democratic Debate: How the News Media Frame Elite Policy Discourse,”18 Political Communication 2 (2001: 183.

        Cook, F.  “Media and Agenda-Setting: Effects on the Public, Interest Group Leaders, Policy Makers, and Policy,”

47 Public Opinion Quarterly 1 (1983): 16.

Suggests that the media influence views about issues important to the general public and government policy makers, and the policy change that results from it is due to interaction between journalists and government staff members.

        Dalton R.  “Test of Media-Centered Agenda Setting: Newspaper Content and Public In a Presidential Election,”  15 Political Communication 4 (1998): 463.

Author presents data on media coverage of the 1992 presidential election from newspapers and compares it to the issue interests of the public. Asserts that past claims of the media controlling the agenda-setting process have been overstated.

        Dearing, James.  Agenda-Setting.  Sage, 1996.

        Demers, David and Craff Pearce and Yang Choi, “Issue Obtrusiveness and the Agenda-Setting Effects of National Network News,” 16 Communication Research (December 1989): 793.

        Fan, David and Brosius, Hans and  Kepplinger, Hans,  “Predictions of the Public Agenda From Television Coverage,” 38 Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media (Spring 1994): 163.

Asserts that German TV news can be used to predict “time trends” in the public agenda for various topics.

        Freidenberg, F.  “Agenda Setting Revisited: Symposium,” 43 Journal of Communication (Spring 1993): 58.

Titles include Problems and opportunities in agenda-setting research,  The evolution of agenda-setting research: twenty-five years in the marketplace of ideas,  The anatomy of agenda-setting research, and Thinking about the criterion variable in agenda-setting research.

        Gandy, Oscar.  Beyond Agenda Setting: Information Subsidies and Public Policy.  Ablex Publishing Company, 1982.

        Ghanem, Salma and Wayne Wanta,  “Agenda-Setting and Spanish Cable News,” 45 Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 2 (2001): 277.

Determine the effect of agenda-setting in Spanish-language cable news.  Find that belief of media and reliance on media were unrelated to the strength of agenda-setting effects.

        Hill, David, “Viewer Characteristics and Agenda-Setting by Television News,” 49 Public Opinion Quarterly 3 (1985): 340.

Suggests that agenda–setting effects are greater when viewers have previously seen news topics in the print media or have some college education.

        Hugel, Rolf, and Werner Degenhardt and Hans Weiss, “Structural Equation Models for the Analysis of the

Agenda-Setting Process,” 4 European Journal of Communication 2 (1989): 191.

Use election campaigns in Germany to show that media characteristics are limitations on agenda setting during the campaigns.

        Iyengar, Shanto,  “Television News and Issue Salience: A Reexamination of the Agenda-Setting Hypothesis,” 7 Beverly Hills American Politics Quarterly 4 (1979): 395.

Shows a modest degree of overlap between news coverage and issue salience by using data from the 1974 and 1976  elections.

        Jacoby, William, “Issue Framing and Public Opinion on Government Spending,” 44 American Journal of Political Science 4 (2000): 750.

Examines how Republicans and Democrats handle government spending, based on issue frames that produce different responses. Shows that public opinion on government spending varies with the presentation of this issue.

        Jasperson, Amy and Dhavan Sha and Mark Watts, “Framing and the Public Agenda: Media Effects on the Importance of the Federal Budget Deficit,” 15 Political Communication 2 (1998): 205.

Examine the effects of media coverage on the 1996 federal budget deficit. Conclude that a model combining the theories of agenda setting and framing is the better way of assessing the changes in aggregate public opinion caused by media coverage of an issue.

        Johnson, T. and J. Byrd and W. Wanta,  “Exploring FDR’s Relationship With the Press: A Historical Agenda-Setting Study,” 12 Political Communication 2 (1995): 157.

Examine the first 7 State of the Union speeches of the former president to compare them with subsequent coverage in 7 newspapers. Assess the degree to which newspaper coverage correlated with the president’s issue agenda.

        Kim, J. and J. Gustainis and P. Ghaffari,  “Agenda-Setting Functions of a Media Event: The Case of  'Amerika,' 7 Political Communication and Persuasion 1 (1990): 1.

Focus on the possibility of a major media event setting different types of agendas for different audience members.

        Kleinnijenhuis, J. and E. Rietberg,  “Parties, Media, the Public, and the Economy: Patterns of Societal Agenda-Setting,” 28 European Journal of Political Research 1 (1995): 95

Describe the relationships between the agendas for the government, mass media, and the public.  Believe the relationships consist of the economic theory of representative democracy assumes bottom-up agenda-setting; theories on political communication suggest top-down agenda-setting; and the tenet of  mediacracy theory is that the media agenda sets both the public and the political agendas.

        Lopez, Escobar and F. Lennon and J. Llamas,  “Two Levels of Agenda Setting Among Advertising and News in the 1995 Spanish Elections,”  15 Political Communication 2 (1998): 225.

Authors replicate research by Maxwell McCombs’ agenda setting in a Spanish election and explore the pattern of intermedia relationships at  first and second levels of agenda setting.

        Manheim, J. and R. Albritton,  “Changing National Images: International Public Relations and Media Agenda Setting,” 78 American Political Science Review 3 (1984): 641.

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-0554%28198409%2978%3C641%3ACNIIPR%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I

Examine the influence of consultants in public relations over the images of foreign nations that are portrayed in the American print media. Use stories from the New York Times coverage of the 6 nations that signed contracts with American companies.

        McCombs, Maxwell and Juan Pablo Llamas and Esteban Lopez-Escobar and Federico Rey, “Candidate Images in Spanish Elections: Second-Level Agenda-Setting Effects,” 74 Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 4 (1997): 703.

Documents the influence of newspapers, TV news, and both TV and newspaper political advertising on Spanish voters’ images of political candidates.

        ----, “Building Consensus: The News Media’s Agenda-Setting Roles,” 14 Political Communication 4 (1997): 433.

Discusses the specific agenda-setting roles of individual news media, which are professional detachment; investigative reporting; boosterism; and public journalism.

        ----,  and George Estrada, “The News Media and the Pictures in Our Heads,”  In Do the Media Govern? Politicians, Voters, and Reporters in America.  (Shanto Iyengar and Richard Reeves, eds.)  Chapter 29 (237-247) Sage, 1997. 

        ----, “New Frontiers in Agenda Setting: Agendas of Attributes and Frames,”  Paper presented at the Senior Scholars Session, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (Chicago, 1997).

        Megwa, Eronini and Donald Brenner, “Toward a Paradigm of Media Agenda-Setting Effect: Agenda-Setting as a

Process,” 1 Howard Journal of Communications 1 (1988): 39.

Give greater significance to the process of agenda-setting than to the effects. Examine the agents that could effect an agenda for the news media, instead of the news media effecting a public agenda.

        Mutz, Diana and Joe Soss, “Reading Public Opinion: The Influence of News Coverage on Perceptions of Public Sentiment,” 61 Public Opinion Quarterly (Fall 1997): 431.

        Neuman, Russell, “The Threshold of Public Attention,” 54 Public Opinion Quarterly 2 (1990): 159.

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0033-362X%28199022%2954%3C159%3ATTOPA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-T

Discovers part of what is involved in moving a matter from private concern to public concern.  Asks for more coordination of research between agenda-setting and political cognition.

        Peterson, Sophia, “International News Selection by the Elite Press: A Case Study,” 45 Public Opinion Quarterly 2 (1981): 143.

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0033-362X%28198122%2945%3C143%3AINSBTE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-V

Compares published and unpublished news to learn what news characteristics are involved in the selection of international news.

        Postman, Neil.  How to Watch TV News.  Penguin Books, 1992. 

        ----.  Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business.  Viking, 1985.

        Pritchard, D.  “Homicide and Bargained Justice: The Agenda-Setting Effect of Crime News on Prosecutors,” 50  Public Opinion Quarterly 2 (1986): 143.

Claims that differences in newspaper coverage of criminal cases may influence the behavior of justice-system officials.

        Protess, David and S. Brooks and M. Gordon and D. Leff,  “Uncovering Rape: The Watchdog Press and the Limits of Agenda-Setting,” 49 Public Opinion Quarterly 1 (1985): 19.

Use a series of investigative reports on rape to find that the series had minimal impact on public opinion and policy making.  Report that the series did affect ensuing newspaper coverage of rape.

        Protess, David and Maxwell McCombs (eds.)  Agenda Setting: Readings on Media, Public Opinion, and Policymaking.  Erlbaum, 1991.

        Roberts, Marilyn, and Maxwell McCombs, “Agenda-Setting and Political Advertising: Origins of the News Agenda,”  11 Political Communication 3 (1994): 249.

Finds a correlation between the TV news agenda and TV political advertising and a correlation between political advertising and the agenda of print media.

        Rossler, Patrick and Michael Schenk,  “Cognitive Bonding and the German Reunification: Agenda-Setting and Persuasion Effects of Mass Media,” 12 International Journal of Public Opinion Research 1 (2000): 29.

Among other findings, the authors believe that media effects are moderate in general but more pronounced for those who have a high need for orientation concerning political issues.

        Rossler, Patrick, “The Individual Agenda-Designing Process: How Interpersonal Communication, Egocentric Networks, and Mass Media Shape the Perception of Political Issues by Individuals,” 26 Communication Research 6 (1999): 666.

Shows considerable effects of interpersonal communication, egocentric networks, and mass media in determining political issues for individuals.

        Scheberle, D.  “Radon and Asbestos: A Study of Agenda-Setting and Causal Stories,” 22 Policy Studies Journal 1 (1994): 74.

Describes how public concerns about radon and asbestos were met be Congress.  Claims that media involvement and policy entrepreneurs are critical factors in agenda-setting.

        Scheufele, Dietram,  “Agenda-Setting, Priming, and Framing Revisited: Another Look at Cognitive Effects of Political Communication,” 3 Mass-Communication-and-Society 2-3 (2000): 297.

Argues against combining all agenda-setting, priming, and framing under the one broad concept of agenda-setting. Claims that an analytic model is developed that will serve as a guideline for future research in these areas.

        Schoenbach, Klaus and Holli Semetko, “Agenda-Setting, Agenda Reinforcing or Agenda-Deflating? A Study of the 1990 German National Election,” 69 Journalism Quarterly 4 (1992): 837.

Find a correlation between political news on TV and the salience of environmental problems.  Show negative association between the political news of a tabloid press and the salience of problems in the former East Germany.

        Simon, Adam and Michael Xenos,  “Media Framing and Effective Public Deliberation,” 17 Political Communication 4 (2000):  363.

        Semetko, Holli and Maria Canel, “Agenda-Senders Versus Agenda-Setters: Television in Spain’s 1996 Election Campaign,” 14 Political Communication 4 (1997): 459.

Determine the differences between a public service channel and a private channel in how each handles the reporting of election news.

        Shaw, Donald and Shannon Martin,  “The Function of Mass Media Agenda-Setting,” 69 Journalism Quarterly 4 (1992): 902.

Find a correlation of newspaper reading and television news viewing with consensus on core public issues.

        Soroka, Stuart, “Schindler’s List’s Intermedia Influence: Exploring the Role of  “Entertainment” in Media Agenda-Setting,” 25 Canadian Journal of Communication 2 (2000): 211.

Encourages entertainment-oriented media analyses in future analyses of agenda-setting affects on the agenda of the news media.

        Spitzer, Robert (ed).  Media and Public Policy. Praeger, 1993. 

Includes the following chapters: Defining the Media-Policy Link.  Media Impact on the Political Status Quo.  Bringing the Distant Close: Learning about South Africa From the News.  The Media, Economic Development, and Agenda-Setting.  Media Images as Environmental Policy

        Wagner, Joseph, “Media Do Make a Difference: The Differential Impact of Mass Media in the 1976 Presidential Race,” 27 American Journal of Political Science 3 (1983): 407.

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0092-5853%28198308%2927%3C407%3AMDMADT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Y

Says that despite education, class, and individual interest in political matters, different media exposure can cause differences in public opinion.

        Wanta, Wayne and Joe Foote,  “The President News Media Relationship: A Time Series Analysis of Agenda-Setting

38 Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media (Fall 1994): 437.

Analyze the affect of President Bush on the coverage of 3 national networks to suggest that the president can influence coverage of issues when his a large source of the information regarding the issues.  Also says that the president uses the media as a guide of which issues crime and social issues he should deal with.

        Watt, James and Mary Mazza and Leslie Snyder, “Agenda-Setting Effects of Television News Coverage and the Effects Decay Curve,” 20 Communication Research (June 1993): 408.

        Weaver, David and Doris Graber and Maxwell McCombs.  Media Agenda-Setting in a Presidential Election: Issues, Images, and Interest.  Praeger, 1981. 

Focus on the role of newspapers in setting interest, issue, and image agendas of the 1976 presidential campaign.

        Weaver, David,  “Media Agenda Setting and Elections: Voter Involvement or Alienation?” 11 Political Communication 4 (1994): 347.

Knows that the past dominance of campaign agendas by politicians and the media was related to voter alienation but shows that more grassroots agenda setting, with the help of nontraditional media such as television talk shows and town hall meetings, is why there was greater voter interest the 1992 US presidential election.

        -----,  “Watergate and the Media: A Case Study of Agenda-Setting,” 3 Beverly Hills American Politics Quarterly 4 (1975): 458.

        Winter, James and Chaim Eyal,  “Agenda-Setting for the Civil Rights Issue,” 45 Public Opinion Quarterly 3 (1981): 376.

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0033-362X%28198123%2945%3C376%3AASFTCR%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I

Compare New York Times coverage and national public opinion to show agenda-setting affects on civil rights.

        Wood, B. and J. Peake,  “The Dynamics of Foreign Policy Agenda Setting,” 92 American Political Science Review 1 (1998): 173.

Find that media attention also affects presidential attention, but the president does not affect issue attention by the media.

        Yagade, Aileen, and David Dozier, “The Media Agenda-Setting Effect of Concrete Versus Abstract Issues,” 67 Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 1 (1990): 3.

Confirm that the media set the agenda with news events that readers or viewers can envision.  Assert that the same effect does not apply to news to which readers or viewers cannot relate.

        Zhu, Jian and James Watt and Leslie Snyder,  “Public Issue Priority Formation: Media Agenda-Setting and Social Interaction,” 43 Journal of Communication (Winter 1993): 8.