Media Effects, Agenda Setting, and Framing

Vocabulary flashcards covering core concepts in media effects, agenda setting, framing models, attentional processes, and news biases.

Agenda setting

The media's ability to control what readers think about through news coverage, focusing primarily on how important an issue is perceived to be.

Media priming

The process by which increased news coverage of an issue makes that construct more accessible and salient in people's minds.

Issue obtrusiveness

The degree to which an individual experiences an issue firsthand; higher obtrusiveness leads to a smaller agenda-setting effect.

Agenda building

The collective process of creating the news agenda, through which politicians and other stakeholders influence media priorities.

Issue management

The strategic practice by political groups of identifying key policy issues to set the agenda and shape public opinion.

Intermedia agenda building

The process by which different news media outlets influence each other's coverage and agendas.

Framing

The way in which media messages shape how audiences interpret a depicted issue or event.

Media frames

The specific ways an issue is covered and focused on in media content, contrasting with agenda setting which focuses on coverage quantity.

Individual frames

The specific aspects or dimensions of an issue that are most prominent when an individual thinks about it.

Episodic framing

Media coverage that presents an issue by depicting specific individual instances and personal stories.

Thematic framing

Media coverage that places an issue within a broader societal-level context, frequently relying on statistics and systemic factors.

Wanta & Ghanem meta-analysis

A meta-analytic study demonstrating a $0.53$ correlation between the media agenda and the public agenda.

Salience

The perceived importance and cognitive accessibility of a particular construct.

Need for orientation

The degree to which an individual is driven to keep up with news-covered issues, which increases susceptibility to agenda-setting effects.

Psychic numbing effect

A phenomenon identified by Slovic, Kogut, Ritov, and Loewenstein where statistical, thematic frames diminish emotional engagement, making audiences more willing to donate when presented with episodic frames.

Content frame

A framing approach that utilizes a specific topic or angle to describe and contextualize a larger issue.

Strategy frame

A coverage frame focusing on campaign tactics and electoral maneuvers used to win rather than core policy matters.

Emotional frame

A framing approach intentionally designed to evoke specific emotional reactions from the audience.

Gain/loss frame

A frame structured around the potential benefits gained or losses experienced by an individual.

Gatewatching

The practice of observing, curating, and sharing news from mainstream outlets rather than filtering content prior to distribution.

Produsage

User-led, collaborative content production wherein the traditional distinction between content producers and consumers disappears.

Two-step flow process

A communication framework whereby audiences acquire news information via interpersonal discussions with others who consumed the media, alongside direct access through the internet.

Process model of framing research (Scheufele, 1999)

A model mapping inputs (e.g., organizational pressures, ideologies), processes (frame building, frame setting, individual-level effects, journalists as audiences), and outcomes across media and audience levels.

News factors

The underlying characteristics and attributes that define news stories.

News values

The specific criteria and story factors that journalists consider most vital when deciding what to report.

Information search

An attentional level characterized by purposefully seeking out specific news or information.

Information scanning

An attentional level characterized by voluntary exposure to news media without searching for specific information.

Incidental information exposure

Encountering news content unplanned while engaging in unrelated activities.

Information avoidance

An intentional effort by an individual to steer clear of and avoid consuming news.

Formal presentation

Structural production techniques, such as large headlines and background music, used to capture audience attention.

Informational utility model

Atkin's theoretical framework positing that news attention depends on how useful information is perceived to be, dictated by magnitude, personal impact likelihood, immediacy, and efficacy.

Attitude importance

An individual's subjective evaluation of how personally significant a specific attitude is to them.

Knowledge gap

The disparity in public affairs knowledge where segments of the public have low knowledge while others have extensive knowledge, exacerbated by market-driven media models.

Softening of the news

A structural shift in media away from traditional public service reporting toward sensational, entertainment-focused coverage designed to maximize viewership.

High-choice media environment

A modern media landscape containing numerous content alternatives competing for audience attention, altering consumption based on personal preferences.

Personalization bias

Bennett's news bias wherein media reports emphasize individual personalities rather than the broader socio-political picture.

Dramatization bias

Bennett's news bias characterized by overemphasizing crisis, drama, and conflict at the expense of substantive context.

Fragmentation bias

Bennett's news bias where coverage isolates events into disconnected, context-free stories rather than showing broader patterns.

Authority-disorder bias

Bennett's news flaw wherein reports imply that resolving problems is the sole duty of politicians rather than citizens, making audiences feel like passive bystanders.