Issue salience (Public Diplomacy) (see also theme or media coverage salience)

The variable “issue salience” refers to the visibility or prominence of a given topic or theme occurring in the news coverage and is used to explore first-level agenda-setting (McCombs & Shaw, 1972). In addition to actor salience and valence, issue salience is analyzed to describe and explore the news coverage on different events and public debates. Mostly, issue salience is measured as the number of mentioning a particular issue, topic, or theme.   Field of application/theoretical foundation: Issue salience is analyzed using content analysis across different subfields of communication and media research, including the field of public diplomacy. In public diplomacy research, scholars measure issue salience in the context of governmental communication on their official channels online and offline or the representation of countries in social or mass media. Researchers embed the concept of issue salience primarily in agenda-setting theory (McCombs & Shaw, 1972), analyzing it as an independent variable from which to derive implications of news media coverage on audiences’ perceptions on a certain object or examining the relationship between issue salience in the media and the public agenda.   References/combination with other methods of data collection: When it comes to analyses on issue salience and its link to public perceptions, a mixed-method study design incorporating content analysis in combination with surveys is used to validate issue salience.   Example study: Zhou et al., 2013   Information about Zhou et al., 2013 Authors: Zhang et al. Research question/research interest: Comparison between news coverage on Great Britain (in terms of themes) in U.S.-American and Chinese news media during the Olympic Games 2012 RQ: What were the most salient themes in British, U.S., and Chinese media when they covered the opening ceremony of the London Olympics? Object of analysis: Newspaper (30 media outlets across three countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, and China, not explicated) Time frame of analysis: 24 July 2012 to 12 August 2012   Information about variable Variable name/definition: Media coverage salience:  Number of mentions given to a particular theme Level of analysis: Story Values: (1) Countryside (e.g., emphasis of British natural beauty and scenic sites) (2) Creativity (e.g., focus on British creative sector, such as arts, film, and literature) (3) Entrepreneurship (e.g., portrayals on entrepreneurs and investors, or global investment) (4) Green (e.g., emphasis on Great Britain’s sustainability and environmental protection efforts) (5) Heritage (e.g., focus on British royalty, museums, and historical landmarks) (6) Innovation (e.g., discussion of science and technology in Great Britain) (7) Knowledge (e.g., portrayals of research and development at British universities) (8) Music (e.g., mentions of British and music artists) (9) Shopping (e.g., emphasis on British shopping venues such as London as shopping city) (10) Sport (e.g., emphasis on sporting events or athletes, such as David Beckham) (11) Technology (e.g., focus on digital media, e-commerce, and IT services in Great Britain) Scales: Nominal Reliability: Krippendorf’s alpha = .90   References McCombs, M. E., & Shaw, D. L. (1972). The Agenda-Setting Function of Mass Media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(2), 176–187. Zhou, S., Shen, B., Zhang, C., & Zhong, X. (2013). Creating a Competitive Identity: Public Diplomacy in the London Olympics and Media Portrayal. Mass Communication & Society, 16(6), 869–887

Who sets the agenda? Locating the formation of public opinion during the Rantau by-election

This paper investigates whether online news that are shared on Facebook set the agenda for its readers. In response to the importance of social networking sites as sources of information, news media organizations have set up Facebook channels in which they publish news stories or links to articles. This allows for a wider news reach as well as audience participation. When audience members read and subsequently comment on news articles on Facebook, it becomes possible to identify public opinions and sentiments on the issues being covered. To investigate whether user comments mirror the issues and sentiments presented in the news articles, the agenda-setting approach was applied. Content analysis was used to analyse audience comments on over 450 news articles from 4 major newspapers written during the Rantau by-election in Malaysia (April, 2019). The findings showed that while the newspapers and the readers do share some issue salience, the relationship does not typify a traditional agenda-setting dynamic. The news readers are not just the ones receiving the news and issues. Rather, they are also commenters who are influencing how others receive news and issues hence disrupting the conventional public opinion model

Setting the Agenda: Exploring Florida Residents\u27 Perceptions of Water Quality and Quantity Issues

Water quantity and quality are among the top issues currently facing Florida. To understand residents’ perceptions of these issues as well as understand how agenda-setting may be used to influence residents’ behaviors and opinions surrounding water issues, this study explored Florida residents’ opinions of water. Agenda-setting served as the conceptual framework to aid in understanding where water quality and quantity emerge on the public’s agenda. Responses were obtained from 469 Florida residents via an online survey. The results showed respondents believed water quality had not changed, with the exception of the quality of bays, which they believed was getting worse. Water quality was found to be an issue of high importance among respondents, especially in regard to the quality of drinking water. Respondents believed water quantity was highly important; however, more importance was associated with water quality issues. The results of this study identified the current disconnect that exists among residents concerning water issues. This study also established the salience of water issues on the public’s agenda and how Florida residents could be better informed. A statewide communication campaign focused on both water quality and quantity issues was recommended to decrease the disconnect that currently exists between residents’ perceptions and the reality of water issues. This campaign should utilize the technology-based outlets to stay informed with the public’s agenda to personalize communication efforts. These efforts would increase the public’s interest concerning water issues by reducing redundant information and diluting important issues

Setting the agenda or responding to voters? Political parties, voters and issue attention

Why do political parties prioritise some policy issues over others? While the issue ownership theory suggests that parties emphasise policy issues on which they have an advantage in order to increase the salience of these issues among voters, the riding the wave theory argues instead that parties respond to voters by highlighting policy issues that are salient in the minds of citizens. This study sheds new light on the selective issue emphasis of political parties by analysing issue attention throughout the entire electoral cycle. On the basis of a quantitative text analysis of more than 40,000 press releases published by German parties from 2000 until 2010, this article provides empirical support for the riding the wave theory. It shows that political parties take their cues from voters by responding to the issue priorities of their electorate. The results have important implications for political representation and the role that parties play in democracies

Exploring Russian Cyberspace: Digitally-Mediated Collective Action and the Networked Public Sphere

This paper summarizes the major findings of a three-year research project to investigate the Internet's impact on Russian politics, media and society. We employed multiple methods to study online activity: the mapping and study of the structure, communities and content of the blogosphere; an analogous mapping and study of Twitter; content analysis of different media sources using automated and human-based evaluation approaches; and a survey of bloggers; augmented by infrastructure mapping, interviews and background research. We find the emergence of a vibrant and diverse networked public sphere that constitutes an independent alternative to the more tightly controlled offline media and political space, as well as the growing use of digital platforms in social mobilization and civic action. Despite various indirect efforts to shape cyberspace into an environment that is friendlier towards the government, we find that the Russian Internet remains generally open and free, although the current degree of Internet freedom is in no way a prediction of the future of this contested space

Patterns in the politics of drugs and tobacco: The Supreme Court and issue attention by policymakers and the press

Past research has demonstrated lasting effects of important Supreme Court decisions on issue attention in the national media. In this light, the Court has served as an important agenda setter. We significantly expand on these findings by arguing that these salient Court decisions can raise the perceived importance of political issues and induce heightened, short-term policy attention in the broader political system. Using measures of media attention, congressional policy actions, and presidential policy actions, we utilize dynamic vector autoregressive modelling to examine the Court’s impact on issue attention in the macro policy system regarding tobacco and drug policy. Overall, this study suggests that the Supreme Court’s most important decisions might significantly affect broader issue attention in the American political system

Net neutrality discourses: comparing advocacy and regulatory arguments in the United States and the United Kingdom

Telecommunications policy issues rarely make news, much less mobilize thousands of people. Yet this has been occurring in the United States around efforts to introduce "Net neutrality" regulation. A similar grassroots mobilization has not developed in the United Kingdom or elsewhere in Europe. We develop a comparative analysis of U.S. and UK Net neutrality debates with an eye toward identifying the arguments for and against regulation, how those arguments differ between the countries, and what the implications of those differences are for the Internet. Drawing on mass media, advocacy, and regulatory discourses, we find that local regulatory precedents as well as cultural factors contribute to both agenda setting and framing of Net neutrality. The differences between national discourses provide a way to understand both the structural differences between regulatory cultures and the substantive differences between policy interpretations, both of which must be reconciled for the Internet to continue to thrive as a global medium

Net neutrality discourses: comparing advocacy and regulatory arguments in the United States and the United Kingdom

Telecommunications policy issues rarely make news, much less mobilize thousands of people. Yet this has been occurring in the United States around efforts to introduce "Net neutrality" regulation. A similar grassroots mobilization has not developed in the United Kingdom or elsewhere in Europe. We develop a comparative analysis of U.S. and UK Net neutrality debates with an eye toward identifying the arguments for and against regulation, how those arguments differ between the countries, and what the implications of those differences are for the Internet. Drawing on mass media, advocacy, and regulatory discourses, we find that local regulatory precedents as well as cultural factors contribute to both agenda setting and framing of Net neutrality. The differences between national discourses provide a way to understand both the structural differences between regulatory cultures and the substantive differences between policy interpretations, both of which must be reconciled for the Internet to continue to thrive as a global medium