Internet news media and issue development: A case study on the roles of independent online news services as agenda-builders for anti-US protests in South Korea

This study compares the roles of progressive online news services with those of mainstream newspapers in developing reactions to the deaths of two schoolgirls by a US military vehicle into massive anti-US protests during 2002 in South Korea. Clear differences were found between the online news services and the mainstream conservative newspapers' coverage in terms of the number of articles, the composition of news sources, and the frames used to make sense of the issues. It reveals that the progressive media played an important role in escalating reactions to the deaths of the two schoolgirls into a broader anti-US sentiment. The results of the study suggest the limitations to the inter-media agenda-setting model in explicating the dynamics of issue development. Additionally, the potential of alternative online news media in agenda-building and the relationship between the news media and issue development are discussed. Copyright © 2007 SAGE Publications