Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-17T16:33:26.359Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

One concept, many interpretations: the media’s causal roles in political agenda-setting processes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 April 2017

Julie Sevenans
Julie Sevenans*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Antwerp, Antwerpen, Belgium
*
*E-mail: julie.sevenans@uantwerpen.be
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

While political agenda-setting scholars agree that the news media matter when it comes to agenda setting, surprisingly, there is no consensus on the exact role these media play in the agenda-setting process. In particular, causal interpretations of the media’s role are diverse. This contribution focuses on this ambiguity in the agenda-setting field. First, it outlines the main reasons for the disagreement, both on a theoretical and on an empirical level. Second, it develops a theoretical model that helps to specify what role the news media play under various circumstances. Overall, the paper strongly encourages scholars to reflect more on causal mechanisms in political agenda-setting work, and makes a first attempt at facilitating the interpretation of extant and future findings.

Keywords

mass mediapolitical agenda settingcausalitypolitical elites
Type
Research Article
Information
European Political Science Review , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , May 2018 , pp. 245 - 265
Copyright
© European Consortium for Political Research 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ball-Rokeach, S.J. and DeFleur, M.L. (1976), ‘A dependency model of mass-media effects’, Communication Research 3(1): 3–21.Google Scholar
Bartels, L.M. (1996), ‘Politicians and the press: who leads, who follows?’. Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association. September 1996, San Francisco, CA.Google Scholar
Bartholomé, G., Lecheler, S. and de Vreese, C. (2015), ‘Manufacturing conflict? How journalists intervene in the conflict frame building process’, The International Journal of Press/Politics 20(4): 438–457.Google Scholar
Baumgartner, F.R. and Jones, B.D. (1993), Agendas and Instability in American Politics, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Behr, R.L. and Iyengar, S. (1985), ‘Television news, real-world cues, and changes in the public agenda’, Public Opinion Quarterly 49(1): 38–57.Google Scholar
Bennett, W.L. (1990), ‘Toward a theory of press-state relations in the United States’, Journal of Communication 40(2): 103–127.Google Scholar
Birkland, T.A. (1998), ‘Focusing events, mobilization, and agenda setting’, Journal of Public Policy 18(1): 53–74.Google Scholar
Birkland, T.A. (2006), Lessons of Disaster: Policy Change After Catastrophic Events, Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Bonafont, L.C. and Baumgartner, F.R. (2013), ‘Newspaper attention and policy activities in Spain’, Journal of Public Policy 33(1): 65–88.Google Scholar
Boydstun, A.E. (2013), Making the News: Politics, the Media, and Agenda Setting, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Boydstun, A.E., Hardy, A. and Walgrave, S. (2014), ‘Two faces of media attention: media storm versus non-storm coverage’, Political Communication 31(4): 509–531.Google Scholar
Brown, R. (2010), ‘The media and the policy process’, in S. Koch-Baumgarten and K. Voltmer (eds), Public Policy and Mass Media: The Interplay of Mass Communication and Political Decision Making, New York: Routledge, pp. 127–142.Google Scholar
Cohen, J., Tsfati, Y. and Sheafer, T. (2008), ‘The influence of presumed media influence in politics do politicians’ perceptions of media power matter?’, Public Opinion Quarterly 72(2): 331–344.Google Scholar
Cook, F.L., Tyler, T.R., Goetz, E.G., Gordon, M.T., Protess, D., Leff, D.R. and Molotch, H.L. (1983), ‘Media and agenda setting: effects on the public, interest group leaders, policy makers, and policy’, Public Opinion Quarterly 47(1): 16–35.Google Scholar
Davis, A. (2007), ‘Investigating journalist influences on political issue agendas at Westminster’, Political Communication 24(2): 181–199.Google Scholar
Davis, A. (2009), ‘Journalist–source relations, mediated reflexivity and the politics of politics’, Journalism Studies 10(2): 204–219.Google Scholar
Dearing, J.W. and Rogers, E. (1996), Agenda-Setting, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.Google Scholar
Delshad, A.B. (2012), ‘Revisiting “who influences whom?” Agenda setting on biofuels’, Congress & the Presidency 39(2): 177–198.Google Scholar
de Vreese, C.H. (2005), ‘News framing: theory and typology’, Information Design Journal & Document Design 13(1): 51–62.Google Scholar
Edwards, G.C.E. and Wood, B.D. (1999), ‘Who influences whom? The president, congress, and the media’, The American Political Science Review 93(2): 327–344.Google Scholar
Eissler, R., Russell, A. and Jones, B.D. (2014), ‘New avenues for the study of agenda setting’, Policy Studies Journal 42: S71–S86.Google Scholar
Elmelund-Præstekær, C. and Wien, C. (2008), ‘What’s the fuss about? The interplay of media hypes and politics’, The International Journal of Press/Politics 13(3): 247–266.Google Scholar
Gans, H.J. (1979), Deciding What’s News: A Study of CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, Newsweek, and Time, Evanston: Northwestern University Press.Google Scholar
Green-Pedersen, C. and Stubager, R. (2010), ‘The political conditionality of mass media influence: when do parties follow mass media attention?’, British Journal of Political Science 40(3): 663–677.Google Scholar
Gunther, A.C. and Storey, J.D. (2003), ‘The influence of presumed influence’, Journal of Communication 53(2): 199–215.Google Scholar
Helfer, L. (2016), ‘Media effects on politicians an individual-level political agenda-setting experiment’, The International Journal of Press/Politics 21(2): 233–252.Google Scholar
Herbst, S. (1998), Reading Public Opinion: How Political Actors View the Democratic Process. Studies in Communication, Media, and Public Opinion, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Hume, D. (1738), A Treatise of Human Nature, Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Jenner, E. (2012), ‘News photographs and environmental agenda setting’, Policy Studies Journal 40(2): 274–301.Google Scholar
Jones, B.D. and Wolfe, M. (2010), ‘Public policy and the mass media: an information-processing approach’, in S. Koch-Baumgarten and K. Voltmer (eds), Public Policy and Mass Media: The Interplay of Mass Communication and Political Decision Making, New York: Routledge, pp. 17–43.Google Scholar
Kernell, S. (1997), Going Public: New Strategies of Presidential Leadership, Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Kingdon, J.W. (1973), Congressmen’s Voting Decisions, New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Kingdon, J.W. (1995), Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, New York: HarperCollins College Publishers.Google Scholar
Landerer, N. (2014), ‘Opposing the government but governing the audience?’, Journalism Studies 15(3): 304–320.Google Scholar
Light, P.C. (1982), The President’s Agenda: Domestic Policy Choice from Kennedy to Clinton, Baltimore, MD: JHU Press.Google Scholar
Liu, X., Lindquist, E. and Vedlitz, A. (2011), ‘Explaining media and congressional attention to global climate change, 1969-2005: an empirical test of agenda-setting theory’, Political Research Quarterly 64(2): 405–419.Google Scholar
Marini, M.M. and Singer, B. (1988), ‘Causality in the social sciences’, Sociological Methodology 18: 347–409.Google Scholar
Maurer, P. (2011), ‘Explaining perceived media influence in politics’, Publizistik 56(1): 27–50.Google Scholar
McCombs, M.E. and Shaw, D.L. (1972), ‘The agenda-setting function of mass media’, Public Opinion Quarterly 36(2): 176–187.Google Scholar
Melenhorst, L. (2015), ‘The media’s role in lawmaking: a case study analysis’, The International Journal of Press/Politics 20(3): 297–316.Google Scholar
Meyen, M., Thieroff, M. and Strenger, S. (2014), ‘Mass media logic and the mediatization of politics’, Journalism Studies 15(3): 271–288.Google Scholar
Olds, C. (2013), ‘Assessing presidential agenda-setting capacity: dynamic comparisons of presidential, mass media, and public attention to economic issues’, Congress & the Presidency 40(3): 255–284.Google Scholar
Page, B.I. and Shapiro, R.Y. (1983), ‘Effects of public opinion on policy’, The American Political Science Review 77(1): 175–190.Google Scholar
Paulussen, S. and Harder, R.A. (2014), ‘Social media references in newspapers’, Journalism Practice 8(5): 542–551.Google Scholar
Pritchard, D. (1994), ‘The news media and public policy agendas’, in D.J. Kennamer (ed.), Public Opinion, The Press and Public Policy, Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, pp. 103–112.Google Scholar
Protess, D.L., Cook, F.L., Curtin, T.R., Gordon, M.T., Leff, D.R., Mccombs, M.E. and Miller, P. (1987), ‘The impact of investigative reporting on public opinion and policymaking targeting toxic waste’, Public Opinion Quarterly 51(2): 166–185.Google Scholar
Scheufele, D. (1999), ‘Framing as a theory of media effects’, Journal of Communication 49(1): 103–122.Google Scholar
Semetko, H. and Valkenburg, P. (2000), ‘Framing European politics: a content analysis of press and television news’, Journal of Communication 50(2): 93–109.Google Scholar
Sevenans, J. (2017), ‘The media’s informational function in political agenda-setting processes’. Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics 22(2): 223–243. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161217695142.Google Scholar
Sevenans, J. and Vliegenthart, R. (2016), ‘Political agenda-setting in Belgium and the Netherlands the moderating role of conflict framing’, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 93(1): 187–203.Google Scholar
Shoemaker, P.J. and Vos, T. (2009), Gatekeeping Theory, New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Soroka, S.N. (2002a), Agenda-Setting Dynamics in Canada, Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Soroka, S.N. (2002b), ‘Issue attributes and agenda‐setting by media, the public, and policymakers in Canada’, International Journal of Public Opinion Research 14(3): 264–285.Google Scholar
Soroka, S.N. (2003), ‘Media, public opinion, and foreign policy’, The International Journal of Press/Politics 8(1): 27–48.Google Scholar
Soroka, S.N. (2012), ‘The gatekeeping function: distributions of information in media and the real world’, The Journal of Politics 74(2): 514–528.Google Scholar
Strömbäck, J. and Van Aelst, P. (2013), ‘Why political parties adapt to the media exploring the fourth dimension of mediatization’, International Communication Gazette 75(4): 341–358.Google Scholar
Strömbäck, J. and Esser, F. (2014), ‘Mediatization of politics: towards a theoretical framework’, in F. Esser and J. Strömbäck (eds), Mediatization of Politics, Basingstoke UK: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 3–28.Google Scholar
Tan, Y. and Weaver, D.H. (2007), ‘Agenda-setting effects among the media, the public, and Congress, 1946–2004’, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 84(4): 729–744.Google Scholar
Thesen, G. (2013), ‘When good news is scarce and bad news is good: government responsibilities and opposition possibilities in political agenda-setting’, European Journal of Political Research 52(3): 364–389.Google Scholar
Tresch, A., Sciarini, P. and Varone, F. (2013), ‘The relationship between media and political agendas: variations across decision-making phases’, West European Politics 36(5): 897–918.Google Scholar
Van Aelst, P. (2014), ‘Media, political agendas and public policy’, in C. Reinemann (ed.), Political Communication, Handbook of Communication Science, Berlin: De Gruyter-Mouton, pp. 231–248.Google Scholar
Van Aelst, P. and Vliegenthart, R. (2013), ‘Studying the Tango: an analysis of parliamentary questions and press coverage in the Netherlands’, Journalism Studies 15(4): 392–410.Google Scholar
Van Aelst, P. and Walgrave, S. (2016), ‘Information and arena: the dual function of the news media for political elites’. Journal of Communication 66(3): 496–518. Available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcom.12229/abstract [Accessed 31 May 2016].Google Scholar
Van Aelst, P., Sehata, A. and Dalen, A.V. (2010), ‘Members of parliament: equal competitors for media attention? An analysis of personal contacts between MPs and political Journalists in Five European Countries’, Political Communication 27(3): 310–325.Google Scholar
Van Aelst, P., Thesen, G., Walgrave, S. and Vliegenthart, R. (2014), ‘Mediatization and political agenda-setting: changing issue priorities?’, in F. Esser and J. Strömbäck (eds), Mediatization of Politics. Understanding the Transformation of Western Democracies, London: Palgrave MacMillan, pp. 200–222.Google Scholar
van der Pas, D. (2014), ‘Making hay while the sun shines: do parties only respond to media attention when the framing is right?’, The International Journal of Press/Politics 19(1): 42–65.Google Scholar
Van Noije, L., Kleinnijenhuis, J. and Oegema, D. (2008), ‘Loss of parliamentary control due to mediatization and Europeanization: a longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis of agenda building in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands’, British Journal of Political Science 38(3): 455–478.Google Scholar
van Santen, R., Helfer, L. and van Aelst, P. (2013), ‘When politics becomes news: an analysis of parliamentary questions and press coverage in three West European countries’, Acta Politica 50(1): 45–63.Google Scholar
Vasterman, P.L.M. (2005), ‘Media-hype self-reinforcing news waves, Journalistic Standards and the Construction of Social Problems’, European Journal of Communication 20(4): 508–530.Google Scholar
Vesa, J., Blomberg, H. and Kroll, C. (2015), ‘Minimal and massive! Politicians’ views on the media’s political agenda-setting power revisited’, The International Journal of Press/Politics 20(3): 279–296.Google Scholar
Vliegenthart, R. and Walgrave, S. (2011), ‘When the media matter for politics: partisan moderators of the mass media’s agenda-setting influence on parliament in Belgium’, Party Politics 17(3): 321–342.Google Scholar
Vliegenthart, R., Walgrave, S., Baumgartner, F.R., Bevan, S., Breunig, C., Brouard, S., Bonafont, L.C., Grossman, E., Jennings, W., Mortensen, P.B., Palau, A.M., Sciarini, P. and Tresch, A. (2016), ‘Do the media set the parliamentary agenda? A comparative study in seven countries’, European Journal of Political Research 55(2): 283–301.Google Scholar
Vos, D. (2014), ‘Which politicians pass the news gates and why? Explaining inconsistencies in research on news coverage of individual politicians’, International Journal of Communication 8: 24.Google Scholar
Walgrave, S. and Van Aelst, P. (2006), ‘The contingency of the mass media’s political agenda setting power: toward a preliminary theory’, Journal of Communication 56(1): 88–109.Google Scholar
Walgrave, S., Soroka, S. and Nuytemans, M. (2008), ‘The mass media’s political agenda-setting power a longitudinal analysis of media, parliament, and government in Belgium (1993 to 2000)’, Comparative Political Studies 41(6): 814–836.Google Scholar
Walgrave, S., Boydstun, A.E., Vliegenthart, R. and Hardy, A. (2017). ‘The nonlinear effect of information on political attention: media storms and U.S. Congressional Hearings’, Political Communication. Published online first 10 March 2017.Google Scholar
Walker, J.L. (1977), ‘Setting the agenda in the U.S. senate: a theory of problem selection’, British Journal of Political Science 7(4): 423–445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wanta, W. and Foote, J. (1994), ‘The president‐news media relationship: a time series analysis of agenda‐setting’, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 38(4): 437–448.Google Scholar
Weitzer, R. and Kubrin, C.E. (2004), ‘Breaking news: how local TV news and real-world conditions affect fear of crime’, Justice Quarterly 21(3): 497–520.Google Scholar
Wolfe, M. (2012), ‘Putting on the brakes or pressing on the gas? Media attention and the speed of policymaking’, Policy Studies Journal 40(1): 109–126.Google Scholar
Wolfe, M., Jones, B.D. and Baumgartner, F.R. (2013), ‘A failure to communicate: agenda setting in media and policy studies’, Political Communication 30(2): 175–192.Google Scholar
Wolfsfeld, G. (2013), The Politics-Media-Politics Principle: Towards a More Comprehensive Approach to Political Communication, Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network.Google Scholar
Wolfsfeld, G. and Sheafer, T. (2006), ‘Competing actors and the construction of political news: the contest over waves in Israel’, Political Communication 23(3): 333–354.Google Scholar
Wood, B.D. and Peake, J.S. (1998), ‘The dynamics of foreign policy agenda setting’, The American Political Science Review 92(1): 173–184.Google Scholar
Wood, B.D. and Vedlitz, A. (2007), ‘Issue definition, information processing, and the politics of global warming’, American Journal of Political Science 51(3): 552–568.Google Scholar
Yanovitzky, I. (2002), ‘Effects of news coverage on policy attention and actions a closer look into the media-policy connection’, Communication Research 29(4): 422–451.Google Scholar