Civic Osmosis: The Social Impact of Media

We swim in a vast sea of news and information, a gestalt of communication channels where the whole is indeed much greater than the sum of its parts. In this process of learning about the world around us through a continuous process of civic osmosis, the Internet and a growing host of electronic devices add dynamic and major channels to this gestalt. However, in the scholarly examination of communication effects, there is a tendency to emphasize individual media more than the communication media collectively as a system. To mix metaphors – to analyze the trees, but not to admire the forest. Individual media, especially the growing array of new channels in the communication landscape, are intriguing and important. But that is not all the story. The impact of individual media on individuals and society often are highly situational. For example, this particularly can be the case in elections where the mix of candidates and concerns of the day create a vastly different political communication culture from election to election. To cite two American examples from the early days of agenda setting research, in the Charlotte study of the 1972 U.S. presidential election, newspapers demonstrated stronger agenda setting effects than television news . However, in the 1976 U.S. presidential election study of three cities, television was the dominant agenda setter . Sometimes a particular medium holds center stage. More often, the media collectively share center stage. If we were to construct a web site for agenda-setting theory and research, a prominent FAQ – to use the contemporary jargon of the Internet – would be whether newspapers or television are the stronger agenda-setter. And the answer to this question is telling. About half the time, there is no discernible difference in the agenda-setting influence of newspapers and television news. The other half of the time newspapers have the edge by a ratio of roughly two to one. Sometimes a particular medium holds center stage. More frequently, the communication media collectively hold center stage. The perspective and approach to agenda-setting research outlined here, civic osmosis, emphasizes the collective role of the communication media. And the proliferation of new media adds a rich variety of dynamic channels to this communication gestalt. Increasingly, we swim in a vast sea of diversity, and we need to understand the currents in this sea, both those that enhance communication across our communities and nations and those currents that pollute the sea. But above all, we need to understand the sea as whole and how it changes and shifts over time

Understanding Perceptions of Problematic Facebook Use: When People Experience Negative Life Impact and a Lack of Control

While many people use social network sites to connect with friends and family, some feel that their use is problematic, seriously affecting their sleep, work, or life. Pairing a survey of 20,000 Facebook users measuring perceptions of problematic use with behavioral and demographic data, we examined Facebook activities associated with problematic use as well as the kinds of people most likely to experience it. People who feel their use is problematic are more likely to be younger, male, and going through a major life event such as a breakup. They spend more time on the platform, particularly at night, and spend proportionally more time looking at profiles and less time browsing their News Feeds. They also message their friends more frequently. While they are more likely to respond to notifications, they are also more likely to deactivate their accounts, perhaps in an effort to better manage their time. Further, they are more likely to have seen content about social media or phone addiction. Notably, people reporting problematic use rate the site as more valuable to them, highlighting the complex relationship between technology use and well-being. A better understanding of problematic Facebook use can inform the design of context-appropriate and supportive tools to help people become more in control.Comment: CHI 201

Biblical antecedents of modern agenda-setting: religious platforms in lieu of mass media

Can a primitive society set a public agenda? Are there some advantages for a religious society in setting an agenda? From a critical study of the communicative perspective of the Bible and hermeneutic reading of its texts, it can be said that certain elements in primitive societies succeeded in influencing the political and social agendas. They did so by exploiting specific public assemblies or appearing in crowded places in attempts to impact local and national agendas. This notion is significant because it suggests that in countries that do not have developed communication infrastructures or established religious institutions (e.g., churches, mosques, and synagogues) that serve as public arenas, indeed even in seemingly closed religious communities, there may well be attempts to use venues other than mass media to influence the public agenda

A linguagem do jornalismo - A linguagem dos efeitos do agendamento

The evolution of agenda setting over the past 50 years is an in-depth, large-scale case study of the scientific method. This oscillating history of theoretical explication and extensive empirical investigation has identified major aspects of the language of journalism that have significant impact on the formation of public opinion. The theory of agenda setting now includes three levels of agenda setting effects, intermedia agenda setting and the concept of compelling arguments that identify key aspects of the language of journalism. Other theoretical concepts, need for orientation, and most recently civic osmosis and agendamelding explicate the process of agenda setting. All of these are intellectual tools for dealing with the contemporary problem of fake news.A evolução do agendamento ao longo dos últimos 50 anos é um  caso de estudo profundo e de larga escala do método científico. Essa história oscilante de explicação teórica e de extensa investigação empírica identificou aspectos importantes da linguagem do jornalismo que possuem um impacto significativo na formação da opinião pública. A teoria do agendamento inclui agora três níveis de efeitos de agendamento, agendamento intermedia e o conceito de "compelling arguments" que identifica aspectos-chave da linguagem do jornalismo. Outros conceitos teóricos, como necessidade de orientação e, mais recentemente, osmose cívica e agendamelding, explicam o processo de agendamento. Todos eles são ferramentas intelectuais para lidar com o problema contemporâneo das notícias falsas.&nbsp

Repensando a abrangência da informação ambiental a partir da Agenda-Setting e a função normativa dos atributos

Examinamos los atributos sustantivos y afectivos dominantes en 358 noticias relacionadas con la gestión del agua y los residuos en Colombia durante cinco años. Los resultados revelaron que los textos estudiados se centraron más en la existencia de atributos de los problemas ambientales y en las emociones positivas relacionadas con buenas prácticas de gestión, que en los efectos y soluciones. Estos resultados analizan cómo la teoría de la Agenda-Setting puede proporcionar una guía práctica para que los periodistas replanteen su cobertura informativa ambiental desde una perspectiva normativa.We examined the dominant substantive and affective attributes in 358 news items related to water and waste management in Colombia over five years. The results revealed that the studied texts focused more on the existence of attributes of environmental problems and on positive emotions related to good management practices, than on the effects and solutions. These results explore how Agenda-Setting theory can provide practical guidance for journalists to rethink their environmental coverage from a normative perspective.Examinamos os atributos substantivos e afetivos dominantes em 358 notícias relacionadas à gestão de água e resíduos na Colômbia durante cinco anos. Os resultados revelaram que os textos estudados enfocam mais a existência de atributos dos problemas ambientais e emoções positivas relacionadas às boas práticas de gestão do que os efeitos e soluções. Esses resultados exploram como a teoria do Agenda-Setting pode fornecer orientação prática para os jornalistas repensarem sua cobertura ambiental de uma perspectiva normativa.Universidad Tecnológica de Boliva

Personal Agenda-Public Agenda Congruency: A Contingent Condition for Agenda-setting Effects

This paper focuses on the concept of the impact area as the intersection between the common issues of the personal agenda and the public agenda. Expanding the concept of agenda-setting effects, which focuses mainly on the relation between the public and media agendas, we have examined the congruity of the public agenda and the personal agenda as a contingent condition for the strength of these effects. The concept also distinguishes between the top-priority issues of the public and personal agendas, setting out that the general public’s search for information about these top-priority issues highlights the need for orientation. We used data from Spain to focus on the national elections (2011, 2015 and 2019), plus the beginning of the pandemic (2020). The study includes a content analysis of the El País daily newspaper for the four periods and a variety of surveys and representative electoral barometers. To those data we have added an analysis of the main search topics on Google Trends for each of the four years. The results reveal that variations in the relationship between the public and personal agendas are linked to the strength of the agenda-setting effect between the media and public agendas

How the news media set the agenda

El papel de "agenda-setting" desempeñado por los medios informativos condiciona en gran medida no solamente el abanico de cosas que nos llaman la atención, sino también nuestra manera de entender el mundo ingente de asuntos públicos que existe más allá de nuestra experiencia personal. El Chapel Hill Study de 1972 marcó un antes y un después en el desarrollo de la teoría de agenda setting. Hasta este momento clave se había limitado a la influencia que ejercen los medios informativos sobre el público; a partir de este trascendente estudio la teoría abrió sus horizontes y empezó a abordar el proceso más amplio de agenda setting. En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de dos estudios empíricos publicados recientemente en los EEUU. El primero explica cómo la prensa cambia el foco de su atención dentro de un acontecimiento informativo importante, iluminando primero un aspecto y luego otros para así establecer la prominencia de dicho acontecimiento en la agenda mediática. El segundo explica el efecto que ejerce la prominencia en la agenda mediática sobre la actitud del público y las opiniones que se tienen de las personalidades públicas

How the news media set the agenda

The agenda-setting role of the news media is a powerful influence on what we pay attention to and how we understand the vast world of public affairs that lies beyond our personal experience. Subsequent to the seminal Chapel Hill study in 1972, agenda setting theory has expanded beyond the influence of the news media on the public to elaborate the broader process of agenda setting. One explicates how the press shifts its spotlight from one aspect to another of a major news event to build the prominence of that event on the media agenda. The second explicates the implications of prominence on the media agenda for the public’s attitudes and opinions about public figures.El papel de "agenda-setting" desempeñado por los medios informativos condiciona en gran medida no solamente el abanico de cosas que nos llaman la atención, sino también nuestra manera de entender el mundo ingente de asuntos públicos que existe más allá de nuestra experiencia personal. El Chapel Hill Study de 1972 marcó un antes y un después en el desarrollo de la teoría de agenda setting. Hasta este momento clave se había limitado a la influencia que ejercen los medios informativos sobre el público; a partir de este trascendente estudio la teoría abrió sus horizontes y empezó a abordar el proceso más amplio de agenda setting. En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de dos estudios empíricos publicados recientemente en los EEUU. El primero explica cómo la prensa cambia el foco de su atención dentro de un acontecimiento informativo importante, iluminando primero un aspecto y luego otros para así establecer la prominencia de dicho acontecimiento en la agenda mediática. El segundo explica el efecto que ejerce la prominencia en la agenda mediática sobre la actitud del público y las opiniones que se tienen de las personalidades públicas

Origins and development of the agenda-setting theory in Communication: trends in Spain (2014-2019)

The core hypothesis of the theory of agenda setting is that there is a process of transfer of salience from the media agenda to the public agenda. Since its original conception in the early 1970s, the explanatory model of ‘issue-agenda setting’ (first level) has been extended to help explain the transfer of the media’s ‘attribute agenda’ (second level) and ‘network agenda’ (third level) to the public agenda. This article provides a review of the agenda-setting model and its theoretical and empirical development, ending with a section that summarizes and discusses research studies published in this area in the last five years in Spain. Despite the broad influence of the agenda-setting theory in communication research in this country, Despite the broad influence of the agenda-setting theory in communication research in this country, many of the studies use the theory as a general framework for conducting a content analysis, withouh empirically testing any process of salience transfer