Factors affecting media agenda-setting: An exploratory study

Abstract

Factors which might serve as obstacles to the agenda-setting process of the news media are examined. Data were examined from an investigation in which seven of 60 tests involving two media (the New York Times and CBS Evening News) did not produce agenda-setting effects. Post hoc examinations of die conditions under which these non-significant tests occurred suggest five categories for the lack of effects: 1. Message variables: Some issues became less obtrusive and less sensational than at previous periods; 2. Media variables: Patterns of coverage changed, in which media presented sporadic coverage of some issues, and media presented conflicting salience cues; 3. Public variables: The public retained pet issues, such as dissatisfaction with government and moral decline, which received little media coverage, and the public influenced media coverage on some issues, such as energy and drugs; 4. Public officials interfered: The U.S. president and other important news sources influenced news coverage; 5. Cues f...