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Article published In:
Fifty years of agenda-setting research: Volume I
Edited by Chris J. Vargo
[The Agenda Setting Journal 2:2] 2018
► pp. 105–123

Fifty years of agenda-setting research

New directions and challenges for the theory

| University of Colorado Boulder

50 years have passed since the seminal 1968 election study was conducted in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. A conference was held with formative theorists Drs. Shaw, Weaver and McCombs. Presentations clustered into 9 clear areas. First, there were areas undergoing theoretical expansion: (1) agenda building, (2) Network Agenda Setting (NAS), (3) Need For Orientation (NFO), and (4) agendamelding. Beyond the established areas, (5) new theoretical directions were proposed. Other work tested and validated the theory in the current digital and political landscape. This included work on (6) the current U.S. political climate, and (7) agenda setting in unique international conditions. Methodological boundaries were pushed, with presentations focused on (8) qualitative agenda setting and (9) best practices for big data and on social media. This article summarizes the aforementioned themes and synthesizes comments raised in discussion at the conference.

Keywords: agenda-setting theory, 50 years, agendamelding, need for orientation, network agenda setting, agenda building, agenda melding
Article outline
  • Theoretical areas of interest
    • Agenda building
    • Network agenda setting (NAS)
    • Need for orientation (NFO)
    • Agendamelding
    • New theoretical directions
  • Contemporary agenda-setting landscapes
    • The current political climate
      • Fake news
      • A lying president who uses social media
      • Bots and computational propaganda
    • Agenda setting in unique international conditions
  • Methodological challenges
    • More qualitative agenda-setting work
    • Big data and social media
    • What is social media measuring, and is that important?
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 13 November 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/asj.18023.var
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