Still an Agenda Setter? The Traditional News Media and Public Opinion from Low-Choice to High-Choice Environments: A Longitudinal Study

• This study analyses whether the agenda setting influence of traditional news media has become weaker over time – a key argument in the “new era of minimal effects” controversy. Following profound media environmental transformations, an increasing number of media outlets and growing opportunities for media choice, aggregate public opinion is assumed to be less responsive to the agenda of the traditional media. Despite the theoretical validity of such arguments, few attempts have been made to empirically test this hypothesis. Based on media content and public opinion data collected in Sweden over a period of 23 years (1992-2014), we analyze both aggregate and individual-level agenda setting effects on public opinion concerning 12 different political issues. Although the agenda setting impact of single nationally leading news outlets (Dagens Nyheter) appears to have weakened over time, we find no evidence that the collective media agenda (several prominent outlets) has become less influential. Taken together, citizens today appear as responsive to issue signals from the collective media agenda as during the low-choice era.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Agenda-setting

Media Effects

Longitudinal analysis

Issue attention

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)