Cover not available
Article published In:
The Agenda Setting Journal
Vol. 5:1 (2021) ► pp.8–30

The pictures in our heads of certain diseases

| Anadolu University
| Adnan Menderes University

Using the network analysis method, the third level of the agenda-setting proposes that the associations between the elements on the media agenda are transferred to the public agenda. Focusing on five health issues in Turkey, this paper proposes a new perspective to third level researches. A media agenda content analysis was conducted on 13 nationwide and five local newspapers for six months and at the end of it, a public agenda survey on 400 people was conducted in Aydın, a city in Turkey. Findings show that there is a significant similarity between all the diseases chosen as a sample and taken from the newspapers and the public agenda network. The high correlation has been ranked in descending areas as: AIDS, cancer, obesity, diabetes and blood pressure. The concepts of “need for orientation” and “obtrusive and unobtrusive issues” may serve as explanations for these findings.

Keywords: agenda-setting, network agenda-setting, third-level agenda-setting, need for orientation, obtrusive issues
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
  • 3.Problem
  • 4.Hypothesis
  • 5.Method
    • 5.1Media agenda research
    • 5.2Public agenda research
    • 5.3Comparison of data and calculation of QAP correlation
  • 6.Findings
    • Cancer
    • AIDS
    • Obesity
    • Diabetes
    • Blood pressure
  • 7.Conclusion and discussion
  • References
Published online: 2 March 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/asj.19012.yuk
References
Ayas, I. & Saruç, N. T.
(2017) Obezite vergisi ülke uygulamaları, [Country practices of obesity tax]. Afyon Kacatepe Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi 19, (2), 69–82.Google Scholar
Buzan, T. & Buzan, B.
(1996) The mind map book: How to use radiant thinking to maximize your brain’s untapped potential. New York, NY: Plume.Google Scholar
Cheng, Y. & Chan, C. M.
(2015) The third level of agenda setting in contemporary China: Tracking descriptions of Moral and National Education in media coverage and people’s minds. International Journal of Communication, 91, 1090–1107.Google Scholar
Dearing, J., & Rogers, E. M.
(1996) Communication Concepts: 6 Agenda-Setting. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
Dingil, A. E.
(2018) Üçüncü aşama gündem belirleme çalışması: Sağlık haberleri özelinde medya ve kamuoyu bağlantısı [A third level of agenda-setting research: Media and public linkage in health news]. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. Eskisehir: Anadolu University Institute of Social Sciences.Google Scholar
Guo, L., & McCombs, M.
(2011a) Network agenda setting: a third level of media effects. Boston: Paper presented at the ICA.Google Scholar
(2011b) Toward the third level of agenda setting theory: A network agenda setting model. St. Louis: Paper presented at the AEJMC.Google Scholar
Guo, L.
(2012) The application of social network analysis in agenda setting research: A methodological exploration. Journal of Broadcasting & ElectronicMedia, 56 (4), 614–631.Google Scholar
Guo, L., Vu, H. T., & McCombs, M.
(2012) An expanded perspective on agenda setting effects. Exploring the third level of agenda setting. Revista de Comunicación, 111, 51–68.Google Scholar
Guo, L., Chen, Y. K., Vu, H., Wang, Q., Aksamit, R., Guzek, D., Jachimowski, M., & McCombs, M.
(2015) Coverage of the Iraq war in the United States, mainland China, Taiwan, and Poland: A transnational network agenda-setting study. Journalism Studies, 16 (3), 343–362. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Haberturk
(2019) Rakamlarla dünyada ve Türkiye’de kanser vakaları [Cancer cases in the world and in Turkey by numbers]. Retrieved from: [URL]
İspir, N. B. & Kılıç, D.
(2017) Kasım 2015 genel seçimlerinde köşe yazarlarının Twitter gündemine yönelik bir sosyal ağ analizi uygulaması [A social network analysis for the Twitter agenda of the columnists’ in the November 2015 general elections]. e-kurgu 25 (1), 77–83.Google Scholar
Kadry, S., & Al-Taie, M. Z.
(2014) Social Network Analysis: An Introduction with an Extensive Implementation to a Large-Scale Online Network Using Pajek. E-book: Bentham. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kim, Y.
(2014) Contingent factors of agenda-setting effects. How need for orientation, issue obtrusiveness, and massage tone influence issue salience and attitude strength. In T. J. Johnson (Ed). Agenda Setting in a 2.0 World (pp.65–81). NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kim, K., & McCombs, M.
(2007) News story descriptions and the public’s opinions of political candidates. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 84(2), 299–314. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lippmann, W.
(1922) Public Opinion. New York, NY: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Maslow, A. H.
(1943) A Theory of Human Motivation. [URL] (Access date: 20.05.2018)
Mento, A. J., Martinelli, P., & Jones, R. M.
(1999) Mind mapping in executive education: Applications and outcomes. The Journal of Management Development, 18(4), 390–407.Google Scholar
McCombs, M., Shaw, D. L., & Weaver, D.
(Ed.) (1997) Communication and Democracy. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
McCombs, M. E.
(2004) Setting the Agenda. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
(2014) Setting the Agenda: The mass media and public opinion (2. Ed.). Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Medimagazin
(2016) Rakamlarla Türkiye’de ve dünyada diyabet [Diabetes in the world and Turkey by Numbers]. Retrieved from: [URL]
Neuman, W. L.
(2007) Basics of Social Research Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. (2. Ed.). USA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
NTV
(2018) AIDS dünyada azalıyor, Türkiye’de artıyor, vakaların %80’i erkek! [AIDS is declining around the world, rising in Turkey, 80% of cases are male!]. Retrieved from: [URL]
Paxman, C. G.
(2011) Map your way to speech success! Employing mind mapping as a speech preparation technique. Communication Teacher, 25(1), 7–11.Google Scholar
Sözcü
(2018) Dünyada her 3 yetişkinden 1’inde yüksek tansiyon var [1 in 3 adults in the world have high blood pressure]. Retrieved from: [URL]
Tashakkori, A., & Teddlie, C.
(2010) Sage Handbook of Mixed Methods in Social & Behavioral Research (2. Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
TURKSTAT
(2018) Toplam nüfus [Total population]. Retrieved from: [URL]
TRT Haber
(2012) Türkiye’de en sık görülen 9 hastalık [9 most common diseases in Turkey]. Retrieved from: [URL]
Vargo, C. J., Guo, L., McCombs, M., and Shaw, D. L.
(2014) Network issue agendas on Twitter during the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election. Journal of Communication, 64 (2), 296–316.Google Scholar
Vu, H. T., Guo, L., and McCombs, M.
(2014) Exploring “The World Outside and the Pictures in Our Heads”: A Network Agenda-Setting Study. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 91(4), 669–686. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Weaver, D.
(1980) Audience need for orientation and media effect. Communication Research 71, 361–376. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yazıcıoğlu, Y., & Erdoğan, S.
(2004) SPSS Uygulamalı Bilimsel Araştırma Yöntemleri [SPSS applied scientific research methods]. Ankara: Detay.Google Scholar
Yüksel, E.
(2001) Medyanın Gündem Belirleme Gücü [The agenda-setting power of the media]. Konya: Çizgi.Google Scholar
Yüksel, E. & Dingin, A. E.
(2020) Medya Kamuoyu ve Siyaset Gündeminde Köşe Kapmaca [The Corner Trapping on Media, Public and Political Agenda]. Konya: Literatürk.Google Scholar
Yüksel, E., Kaya, A. Y., Koçak, A. & Aydın, S.
(2014) Check Up: Sağlık İletişimi [ Check Up: Health Communication ]. Konya: Literaturk.Google Scholar