The agenda-setting relationship between the news media and public opinion: the case of global warming 1988-1992

This thesis is an investigation of the relationship between the mass media and public opinion. For just over twenty years, mass communication researchers have been studying this relationship under the rubric of agenda-setting. This thesis will embrace that approach. Agenda-setting is a term applied somewhat loosely to a class of research which seeks to unveil relationships between what the mass media portray as important and what the public considers to be important. This line of inquiry grew out of social scientists\u27 interest in the effects of the mass media on society. The central question in all agenda-setting studies is: Do the mass media influence what we think about, and what we consider to be important

A comparison of students and non-students with respect to orientation toward e-cigarettes

We examine differences between college students and non-students with respect to orientation toward e-cigarettes. Participants were U.S. adults 18-24 (465 students, 409 non-students). Data collection employed an online survey by GfK Custom Research. Smoking, vaping, and use of alternate tobacco were assessed, as were variables from the Theory of Reasoned Action and Diffusion of Innovations. This study showed that smoking status largely explains use and orientation toward electronic cigarettes among both students and non-students, with differences attributable to higher smoking rates among non-students. Results also showed that among student smokers there was a greater level of information exposure concerning electronic cigarettes, and more prevalence in the use of alternate tobacco. Hookah use in that group was significantly greater than for non-student smokers. Together these findings suggest that students may be more vulnerable to electronic cigarette use due to higher related information exposure and the integration of vaping into hookah culture

Seeding Science, Courting Conclusions: Reexamining the Intersection of Science, Corporate Cash, and the Law

Social scientists have expressed strong views on corporate influences over science, but most attention has been devoted to broad, Black/White arguments, rather than to actual mechanisms of influence. This paper summarizes an experience where involvement in a lawsuit led to the discovery of an unexpected mechanism: A large corporation facing a multibillion-dollar court judgment quietly provided generous funding to well-known scientists (including at least one Nobel prize winner) who would submit articles to "open," peer-reviewed journals, so that their "unbiased science" could be cited in an appeal to the Supreme Court. On balance, the corporation's most effective techniques of influence may have been provided not by overt pressure, but by encouraging scientists to continue thinking of themselves as independent and impartial

JTC270 quantitative analysis in journalism and media - OER project materials

This document provides a status report and materials collection for this OER project. Work toward the OER resource was started in fall 2019 and continued until March 2020. At that time effort was diverted to revising the course to online delivery for the balance of the semester. The faculty member was awarded a sabbatical for the 2020-21 AY. The OER will be brought to full completion in fall 2021. The following materials are provided here: OER proposal, lecture slides and lab exercises, and a collection of news articles pertaining to scientific studies was started here.Funded by the Colorado Open Educational Resources (OER) Grant 2018-2019

The agenda-setting relationship between the news media and public opinion: the case of global warming 1988-1992

This thesis is an investigation of the relationship between the mass media and public opinion. For just over twenty years, mass communication researchers have been studying this relationship under the rubric of agenda-setting. This thesis will embrace that approach. Agenda-setting is a term applied somewhat loosely to a class of research which seeks to unveil relationships between what the mass media portray as important and what the public considers to be important. This line of inquiry grew out of social scientists' interest in the effects of the mass media on society. The central question in all agenda-setting studies is: Do the mass media influence what we think about, and what we consider to be important?</p

Journalists, Cognition, and the Presentation of an Epidemiologic Study

Cognitive processes can inform an understanding of newswork. In this case study, the authors examine a growing literature relating cognitive theories to newsmaking and then apply some of the principles in that literature to media coverage of EPA-mandated reformulated gasoline in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In an analysis of how local Milwaukee television news presented an epidemiologic study answering health complaints associated with the gasoline additive, the authors find a number of cognitive processes at work, especially those involving bias and error. Finally, the authors consider implications of such processes for newsmaking