Agenda-Setting Revisited: Social Media and Sourcing in Mainstream Journalism

In political journalism, the battle over agenda-setting between journalists and their sources has been described using many metaphors and concepts. Herbert Gans saw it as a dance where the two parties competed for leadership, arguing that sources usually got the lead. We address the question of how social media, in particular Twitter, contribute to media agenda-building and agenda-setting by looking at how tweets are sourced in election campaign coverage in Australia, Norway and Sweden. Our findings show that the popularity of elite political sources is a common characteristic across all countries and media. Sourcing from Twitter reinforces the power of the political elites to set the agenda of the news media – they are indeed “still leading the dance”. Twitter content travels to the news media as opinions, comments, announcements, factual statements, and photos. Still, there are variations that must be explained both by reference to different political and cultural characteristics of the three countries, as well as by the available resources and journalistic profiles of each media outlet.

Media pressures and corporate disclosure of social responsibility performance information : a study of two global clothing and sports retail companies

This paper investigates the social and environmental disclosure practices of two large multinational companies, specifically Nike and Hennes&Mauritz. Utilising a joint consideration of legitimacy theory and media agenda setting theory, we investigate the linkage between negative media attention, and positive corporate social and environmental disclosures. Our results generally support a view that for those industry‐related social and environmental issues attracting the greatest amount of negative media attention, these corporations react by providing positive social and environmental disclosures. The results were particularly significant in relation to labour practices in developing countries – the issue attracting the greatest amount of negative media attention for the companies in question.

How do Australian print media representations of child abuse and neglect inform the public and system reform?

The print media play a vital role in informing the public about child abuse and neglect. This information helps build broad support for laws and system developments that enable the state to intervene into private family lives and ensure that children are protected from maltreatment. Print media coverage usually sets the daily media agenda. It therefore influences public understandings of child abuse and neglect and what people believe should be done about it. Media impact on policy agendas should not be underestimated. This article outlines the results of a study of all major Australian newspaper stories covering abuse and neglect matters during an 18-month period in 2008–2009. A range of issues are identified concerning how well these stories inform the public about the nature of the problem and the current national reform agenda for protective systems that promotes early intervention and prevention...

Redes sociales en internet y Agenda Setting en el caso de María Camila Sánchez, víctima de acoso sexual en Transmilenio en Bogotá

Este artículo se propone analizar la manera en que se reubica la información de los medios en el contexto de los cambios tecnológicos y sociales que se han producido en el ámbito periodístico en Colombia, en general en Bogotá, en particular un caso específico de violencia contra la mujer; el caso escogido para el análisis es el de María Camila Sánchez, víctima de acoso sexual en Transmilenio en Julio de 2014, cuando se dirigía de regreso a su casa. Se espera proporcionar a partir del caso estudiado, nuevas miradas sobre el tema y aportar al conocimiento del periodismo sobre el fenómeno de intersección entre la información que se presenta en las redes sociales y que logra posicionarse en un lugar privilegiado en los medios de comunicación nacional. Facebook y Twitter son algunas las redes sociales en Internet que acaparan el interés de los colombianos como lo demuestra señala la más reciente “Encuesta de Calidad de Vida” del Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (DANE, 2014) de Colombia, que asegura que el 63,81 por ciento de los usuarios que accedieron a internet y redes sociales, lo hicieron desde cualquier lugar o dispositivo móvil y su aplicación móvil. En este contexto, el caso de María Camila permite analizar la vinculación actual de las redes sociales en la construcción de la agenda mediática, bajo la mirada de la teoría agenda setting, desarrollada por Maxwell McCombs.

NGO's use of the media to create changes in corporate activities and accountabilities : evidence from a developing country

This paper investigates how social and environmental NGOs use the news media to create changes in the operations and associated accountabilities of multinational companies operating in, or sourcing products from, a developing country. In this research, we explicitly seek the views of senior officers from global and local NGOs operating in Bangladesh, as well as the views of journalists from major global and local news media organisations. Our results show that social and environmental NGOs strategically use the news media to effect change in the operating and disclosure policies pertaining to corporate labour practices. More particularly, both the NGOs and the news media representatives stated that NGOs would be relatively powerless to create change without media coverage. Our results also show that the media agenda has been responsible for creating improvements in working condition within Bangladesh, but further improvements are necessary. This is the first known study to specifically address the joint role of NGOs and the news media in creating changes in the social and environmental operating and disclosure practices of organisations operating in developing countries.

Media pressures and corporate disclosure of social responsibility performance : a case study of two global clothing and sports retail companies

This paper investigates the social and environmental disclosure practices of two large multi-national companies, specifically Nike and Hennes and Mauritz. Utilising a joint consideration of legitimacy theory and media agenda setting theory, we investigate the linkage between negative media attention, and positive corporate social and environmental disclosures. Our results generally support a view that for those issues attracting the greatest amount of negative media attention, corporations react by providing positive social and environmental disclosures. The results were particularly significant in relation to labour practices in developing countries – the issue attracting the greatest amount of negative media attention for the companies in question.

Media pressures and corporate disclosure of social responsibility performance information : a study of two global clothing and sports retail companies

This paper investigates the social and environmental disclosure practices of two large multinational companies, specifically Nike and Hennés & Mauritz. Utilising a joint consideration of legitimacy theory and media agenda setting theory, we investigate the linkage between negative media attention, and positive corporate social and environmental disclosures. Our results generally support a view that for those industry-related social and environmental issues attracting the greatest amount of negative media attention, these corporations react by providing positive social and environmental disclosures. The results were particularly significant in relation to labour practices in developing countries - the issue attracting the greatest amount of negative media attention for the companies in question.

Social media's impact on journalism : a study of media's coverage of anti-corruption protests in India

The year 2011 was memorable for many in India – for those who participated in numerous anti-corruption protests, and for those who witnessed these protests via all pervasive mainstream news media. This paper will use inter-media agenda-setting discourse to explain the Indian media’s coverage of the so-called ‘Anna movement’. It will outline how the use of mobile and social media platforms by the ‘India Against Corruption’ organisers and the educated middle class influenced the mainstream media’s coverage of the protests. The paper will consider the implication of this coverage, in the light of the unique position of power the Indian news media has in this transitioning society.

The critical linkage between online and offline media - An approach to researching the conditions of issue spill-over

In this article we argue that it is pressing to study the “hybrid media system” at the intersection of online and offl ine communication and its potential for agenda building. The topic is relevant because it is argued that the internet off ers new opportunities of public infl uence for challengers without access to political decision making. Except for single case studies, little is known about the conditions under which these actors succeed. Informed by the research on agenda building we tackle with the mechanisms of online-offline media agenda building and the conditions under which challengers succeed to produce issue spill-over into conventional mass media. We develop a theoretical framework for investigating the linkage between online communication and traditional mass media and discuss how our model translates into empirical research. We conclude that the nature of online networks is critical for spill-over, but also the issue itself and the structure of the political system.

El tratamiento de la epilepsia en la agenda de los medios para una comunicación afirmativa

La cifra de personas que padecen epilepsia en España alcanza, según últimos datos publicados, los 400.000. Si bien cada año se diagnostican 20.000 casos nuevos en nuestro país, la epilepsia es la gran desconocida de las enfermedades por la sociedad. Las personas afectadas y sus familias conviven con una enfermedad que incapacita, en muchas ocasiones, al paciente en su actividad diaria. Es, en este aspecto, donde la morbilidad que rodea a la epilepsia es casi más perjudicial para los enfermos y familiares que la propia enfermedad que ha sido reconocida por la Organización Mundial de la Salud como “un importante problema de salud pública”. El actual trabajo, a partir del análisis de contenido de 159 noticias aparecidas en diferentes soportes on line, presenta cómo tratan la epilepsia los medios de comunicación y su impacto en la agenda de los públicos, así como los temas y el contexto de las noticias sobre la epilepsia en función de la clasificación de públicos que aportamos y que está basada en la Teoría Situacional de Grunig. El logro de estos objetivos, nos ha permitido conocer el grado de sensibilización de la epilepsia a partir del contenido de las noticias por tipo de público y la necesidad de que los medios de comunicación hagan de prescriptores e influenciadores con los actores políticos, para una comunicación afirmativa.