Mediatization and Political Agenda-Setting: Changing Issue Priorities?

  • Peter Van Aelst
  • Gunnar Thesen
  • Stefaan Walgrave
  • Rens Vliegenthart

Abstract

Agenda-setting is one of the most influential theories on the media’s political influence (Graber, 2005). While often focusing on the media’s impact on public opinion, another equally important facet of agenda-setting theory has the media’s influence over the agendas of political actors and policy makers as its central object of investigation. Scholars use the term “political agenda-setting” and in some instances “agenda-building” to refer to the transfer of media priorities to political priorities. Despite the growing popularity and importance of political agenda-setting research, it has seldom been conceptualized as part of or related to the mediatization of politics.

Keywords

Mass Medium Political Actor Political Communication American Political Science Review Opposition Parti 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Bachrach, P., & Baratz, M. (1962). Two Faces of Power. American Political Science Review, 56, 941–952.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Bartels, L. M. (1996, September 1996). Politicians and the Press: Who Leads, Who Follows? Paper presented at the APSA 1996, San Francisco.Google Scholar
  3. Baumgartner, F. R., & Jones, B. D. (1993). Agendas and Instability in American Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
  4. Baumgartner, F. R., Jones, B. D., & Leech, B. L. (1997). Media Attention and Congressional Agendas. In S. Iyengar & R. Reeves (Eds.), Do the Media Govern? Politicians, Voters and Reporters in America (pp. 349–363). Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
  5. Bennett, L. (1990). Toward a Theory of Press-State Relations in the United States. Journal of Communication, 40, 103–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Bennett, L., & Iyengar, S. (2008). A New Era of Minimal Effects? The Changing Foundations of Political Communication. Journal of Communication, 58, 707–731.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Bennett, L., & Livingston, S. (2003). A Semi-independent Press: Government Control and Journalistic Autonomy in the Political Construction of News. Political Communication, 20, 359–362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Berkowitz, D. (1992). Who Sets the Media Agenda? The Ability of Policymakers to Determine News Decisions. In D. Kennamer (Ed.), Public, Opinion, the Press and Public Policy (pp. 81–103). Westport, CT: Praeger.Google Scholar
  9. Bonafont, L. C., & Baumgartner, F. R. (2013). Newspaper Attention and Policy Activities in Spain. Journal of Public Policy, 33(01), 65–88. doi: doi: 10.1017/S0143814X12000219 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Brandenburg, H. (2002). Who Follows Whom? The Impact of Parties on Media Agenda Formation in the 1997 British General Elections Campaign. Harvard Journal of Press and Politics, 7(3), 34–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Clark, M. (2009). Valence and Electoral Outcomes in Western Europe, 1976–1998. Electoral Studies, 28(1), 111–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Cobb, R. W., & Elder, C. D. (1972). Participation in American Politics: The Dynamics of Agenda Building. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
  13. Cobb, R. W., & Elder, C. D. (1981). Communication and Public Policy. In D. D. Nimmo & K. R. Sanders (Eds.), Handbook of Political Communication (pp. 391–416). Beverly Hills: Sage.Google Scholar
  14. Cook, F. L., & Skogan, W. G. (1991). Convergent and Divergent Voice Models of the Rise and Fall of Policy Issues. In D. L. Protess & M. E. McCombs (Eds.), Agendasetting: Readings on Media, Public Opinion and Policymaking (pp. 189–206). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
  15. Cook, T. E. (2005). Governing with the News: The News Media as a Political Institution. 2nd Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Dearing, J. W., & Rogers, E. M. (1996). Communication Concepts 6: Agenda-setting. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
  17. Denham, B. E. (2010). Toward Conceptual Consistency in Studies of Agenda-building Processes: A Scholarly Review. Review of Communication, 10(4), 306–323. doi:  10.1080/15358593.2010.502593 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Donges, P. (2008). Medialisierung politischer Organisationen: Parteien in der Mediengesellschaft. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag.Google Scholar
  19. Edwards, G. C., & Wood, D. (1999). Who Influences Whom? The President, Congress and the Media. American Political Science Review, 93(2), 327–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Eilders, C. (2000). Media as Political Actors? Issue Focusing and Selective Emphasis in the German Quality Press. German Politics, 9(3), 181–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Elmelund-Praestekaer, C., Hopmann, D. N., & Nørgaard, A. S. (2011). Does Mediatization Change MP-Media Interaction and MP Attitudes Toward the Media? Evidence from a Longitudinal Study of Danish MPs. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 16(3), 382–403. doi:  10.1177/1940161211400735 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Esser, F. (2008). Dimensions of Political News Cultures: Sound Bite and Image Bites News in France, Germany, Great Britain and the United States. International Journal of Press/Politics, 13(4), 401–428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Esser, F. (2013). Mediatization as a Challenge: Media Logic Versus Political Logic. In H. Kriesi, S. Lavenex, F. Esser, M. Bühlmann, J. Matthes & D. Bochsler (Eds.), Democracy in the Age of Globalization and Mediatization (pp. 155–176). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
  24. Esser, F., & Matthes, J. (2013). Mediatization Effects on Political News, Political Actors, Political Decisions, and Political Audiences. In H. Kriesi, S. Lavenex, F. Esser, M. Bühlmann, J. Matthes & D. Bochsler (Eds.), Democracy in the Age of Globalization and Mediatization (pp. 177–201). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
  25. Esser, F., & Pfetsch, B. (2004). Comparing Political Communication: Theories, Cases and Challenges. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Fenno, R. F. (1973). Congressmen in Committees. Boston: Little, Brown.Google Scholar
  27. Gilberg, S., Eyal, C., McCombs, M., & Nicholas, D. (1980). The State of the Union Address and the Press Agendas. Journalism Quarterly, 57, 584–588.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Graber, D. (2005). Political Communication Faces the 21st Century. Journal of Communication, 55(3), 479–507.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. Green-Pedersen, C. (2011). Partier i nye tider: Den politiske dagsorden i Danmark. Aarhus University, School of Business and Social Sciences, Institut for Statskundskab, Department of Political Science and Government.Google Scholar
  30. Green-Pedersen, C., & Stubager, R. (2010). The Political Conditionality of Mass Media Influence: When do Parties Follow Mass Media Attention? British Journal of Political Science, 40(3), 663–677.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Hjarvard, S. (2008). The Mediatization of Society. Nordicom Review, 29(2), 105–134.Google Scholar
  32. Jones, B. D., & Wolfe, M. (2010). Public Policy and the Mass Media: An Information Processing Approach. In K. Voltmer & S. Koch-Baumgarten (Eds.), Public Policy and Mass Media: The Interplay of Mass Communication and Political Decision Making (pp. 17–43). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
  33. Kingdon, J. W. (1984). Agendas, Alternatives and Public Policies. New York: Harper Collins.Google Scholar
  34. Kleinnijenhuis, J., & Rietberg, E. (1995). Parties, Media, the Public and the Economy: Patterns of Societal Agenda-setting. European Journal of Political Research, 28, 95–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Koch-Baumgarten, S., & Voltmer, K. (2010). The Interplay of Mass Communication and Political Decision Making — Policy Matters! In K. Voltmer & S. Koch-Baumgarten (Eds.), Public Policy and Mass Media: The Interplay of Mass Communication and Political Decision Making (pp. 215–227). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
  36. Landerer, N. (2013). Rethinking the Logics: A Conceptual Framework for the Mediatization of Politics. Communication Theory, 23(3), 239–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Landry, R., Varone, F., Laamary, M., & Pesant, M. (1997). What Sets the Policy Agenda? The Media Agenda or the Party Agenda? Empirical Evidence on the Societal Agenda. Unpublished paper, Université de Laval, Quebec.Google Scholar
  38. Linsky, M. (1986). Impact: How the Press Affects Federal Policymaking. New York: W. W. Norton.Google Scholar
  39. Mazzoleni, G. (2008). Mediatization of Politics. In W. Donsbach (Ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Communication (pp. 3047–3051). Maiden, MA: Blackwell.Google Scholar
  40. Mazzoleni, G., & Schulz, W. (1999). Mediatization of Politics: A Challenge for Democracy. Political Communication, 16, 247–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  41. McCombs, M. E. (2004). Setting the Agenda: The Mass Media and Public Opinion. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
  42. McCombs, M. E., & Shaw, D. (1972). The Agenda-setting Function of the Mass Media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 69(4), 813–824.Google Scholar
  43. Meyer, T. (2002). Media Democracy: How the Media Colonize Politics. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
  44. Midtbø, T., Walgrave, S., Van Aelst, P., & Christensen, D. A. (2014). Do the Media Set the Agenda of Parliament or Is It the Other Way Around? Agenda Interactions between MPs and Mass Media. In K. Deschouwer & S. Depauw (Eds.), Political Representation in the Twenty-First Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  45. Petrocik, J. R. (1996). Issue Ownership in Presidential Elections, with a 1980 Case Study. American Journal of Political Science, 40(3), 825–850.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  46. Pritchard, D. (1992). The News Media and Public Policy Agendas. In D. Kennamer (Ed.), Public Opinion, The Press and Public Policy (pp. 103–112). Westport, CT: Praeger.Google Scholar
  47. Pritchard, D., & Berkowitz, D. (1993). The Limits of Agenda-setting: The Press and Political Responses to Crime in the United States, 1950–1980. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 5(1), 86–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  48. Protess, D. L., Cook, F. L., Curtin, T. R., Gordon, M. T., Leff, D. R., McCombs, M. E., & Miller, P. (1987). The Impact of Investigative Reporting on Public Opinion and Policymaking: Targeting Toxic Waste. Public Opinion Quarterly, 51, 166–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  49. Reich, Z. (2006). The Process Model of News Initiative: Sources Lead, Reporters Thereafter. Journalism Studies, 7(4), 497–514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  50. Rogers, E. M., & Dearing, J. W. (1988). Agenda Setting Research: Where Has It Been? Where Is It Going? In J. Anderson (Ed.), Communication Yearbook (Vol. 11, pp. 555–594). Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
  51. Schattschneider, E. E. (1960). The Semi-Sovereign People. New York: Holt.Google Scholar
  52. Schulz, W. (2004). Reconstructing Mediatization as an Analytical Concept. European Journal of Communication, 19(1), 87–101. doi:  10.1177/0267323104040696 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  53. Sellers, P. (2010). Cycles of Spin: Strategic Communication in the US Congress. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
  54. Shoemaker, P. J. (1991). Communication Concepts 3: Gatekeeping. Newbury Park: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
  55. Soroka, S. N. (2002a). Agenda-settting Dynamics in Canada. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
  56. Soroka, S. N. (2002b). Issue Attributes and Agenda-setting by Media, the Public, and Policymakers in Canada. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 14(3), 264–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  57. Soroka, S. N. (2006). Good News and Bad News: Asymmetric Responses to Economic Information. Journal of Politics, 68(2), 372-385. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2508.2006.00413.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  58. Strömbäck, J. (2008). Four Phases of Mediatization: An Analysis of the Mediatization of Politics. International Journal of Press Politics, 13(3), 228–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  59. Strömbäck, J. (2011). Mediatization and Perceptions of the Media’s Political Influence. Journalism Studies, 12(4), 423–439.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  60. Strömbäck, J., & Dimitrova, D. V. (2011). Mediatization and Media Interventionism: A Comparative Analysis of Sweden and the United States. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 16(1), 30–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  61. Strömbäck, J., & Esser, F. (2009). Shaping Politics: Mediatization and Media Interventionism. In K. Lundby (Ed.), Mediatization. Concept, Changes, Consequences (pp. 205–224). New York: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
  62. Strömbäck, J., & Nord, L. W. (2006). Do Politicians Lead the Tango? European Journal of Communication, 21(2), 147–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  63. Strömbäck, J., & Van Aelst, P. (2013). Why Political Parties Adapt to the Media: Exploring the Fourth Dimension of Mediatization. International Communication Gazette, 75(4), 341–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  64. Thesen, G. (2011). Attack and Defend! Explaining Party Responses to News. Phd thesis, Aarhus University, Forlaget Politica.Google Scholar
  65. Thesen, G. (2012). Political Agenda-setting and the Mediatization of Politics: How the Media Affect Political Issue Attention & Party Competition. Paper presented at the Comparative Policy Agendas Conference, Reims, France.Google Scholar
  66. Thesen, G. (2013a). When Good News Is Scarce and Bad News Is Good: Government Responsibilities and Opposition Possibilities in Political Agenda-setting. European Journal of Political Research, 52(3), 364–389. doi:  10.1111/j.1475-6765.2012.02075.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  67. Thesen, G. (2013b). Political Agenda Setting as Mediatized Politics? Media-Politics Interactions from a Party and Issue Competition Perspective. The International Journal of Press/Politics. doi:  10.1177/1940161213515756.
  68. Thompson, J. B. (2000). Political Scandal: Power and Visibility in the Media Age. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
  69. Trumbo, C. W. (1995). Longitudinal Modelling of Public Issues: An Application of the Agenda-setting Process to the Issue of Global Warming. Journalism and Mass Communication Monographs, 152(2): 1–57.Google Scholar
  70. Van Aelst, P., Brants, K., Van Praag, P., De Vreese, C., Nuytemans, M., & Van Dalen, A. (2008). The Fourth Estate as Superpower? An Empirical Study on Perceptions of Media Power in Belgium and the Netherlands. Journalism Studies, 9(4), 494–511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  71. Van Aelst, P., & Walgrave, S. (2011). Minimal or Massive? The Political Agenda Setting Power of the Mass Media According to Different Methods. International Journal of Press Politics, 16(3), 295–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  72. Van Belle, D. A. (2003). Bureaucratic Responsiveness to the News Media: Comparing the Influence of the New York Times and Network Television News Coverage on US Foreign Aid Allocations. Political Communication, 20(3), 263–285. doi:  10.1080/10584600390218896 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  73. Van Dalen, A., & Van Aelst, P. (2014). The Media as Political Agenda-Setters: Journalists’ Perceptions of Media Power in Eight West European Countries. West European Politics, 37(1), 42–64. doi:  10.1080/01402382.2013.814967.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  74. Van Noije, L., Oegema, D., & Kleinnijenhuis, J. (2008). Loss of Parliamentary Control Due to Mediatization and Europeanization: A Longitudinal and Cross-sectional Analysis of Agenda Building in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. British Journal of Political Science, 38(3), 455–478.Google Scholar
  75. Van Praag, P., & Brants, K. (1999). The 1998 Campaign: An Interaction Approach. Acta Politica, 34(2–3), 179–199.Google Scholar
  76. Vliegenthart, R., & Walgrave, S. (2011a). Content Matters: The Dynamic of Parliamentary Questioning in Belgium and Denmark. Comparative Political Studies, 44(8), 1031–1059.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  77. Vliegenthart, R., & Walgrave, S. (2011b). When the Media Matter for Politics: Partisan Moderators of Mass Media Influence on Parliament in Belgium, 1993–2000. Party Politics, 17(3), 321–342. doi: doi: 10.1177/1354068810366016 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  78. Walgrave, S., & Lefevere, J. (2010). Do the Media Shape Agenda Preferences? In K. Voltmer & S. Koch-Baumgarten (Eds.), Public Policy and Mass Media: The Interplay of Mass Communication and Political Decision Making (pp. 44–64). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
  79. Walgrave, S., Soroka, S., & Nuytemans, M. (2008). The Mass Media’s Political Agenda-setting Power: A Longitudinal Analysis of Media, Parliament and Government in Belgium (1993–2000). Comparative Political Studies, 41(6), 814–836.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  80. Walgrave, S., & Van Aelst, P. (2006). The Contingency of the Mass Media’s Political Agenda-setting Power: Towards a Preliminary Theory. Journal of Communication, 56(1), 88–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  81. Walgrave, S., Van Aelst, P., & Bennett, L. (2010). Beyond Agenda-setting: Towards a Broader Theory of Agenda Interactions between Individual Political Actors and the Mass Media. Paper presented at the APSA Annual Meeting, Washington.Google Scholar
  82. Wanta, W., & Foote, J. (1994). The President-news Media Relationship: A Time Series Analysis of Agenda-setting. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 38(4), 437–451.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  83. Wolfsfeld, G. (2011). Making Sense of Media & Politics. Five Principles of Political Communication. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
  84. Wolfsfeld, G., & Sheafer, T. (2006). Competing Actors and the Construction of Political News: The Contest over Waves in Israel. Political Communication, 23, 333–354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  85. Yanovitsky, I. (2002). Effects of News Coverage on Policy Attention and Actions: A Closer Look into the Media-policy Connection. Communication Research, 29, 422–451.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  86. Zeh, R., & Hopmann, D. N. (2013). Indicating Mediatization? Two Decades of Election Campaign Television Coverage. European Journal of Communication, 28(3), 225–240. doi:  10.1177/0267323113475409 Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Peter Van Aelst, Gunnar Thesen, Stefaan Walgrave and Rens Vliegenthart 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  • Peter Van Aelst
  • Gunnar Thesen
  • Stefaan Walgrave
  • Rens Vliegenthart

There are no affiliations available

Personalised recommendations