The artificial fulfilment of need for orientation: agenda-setting and salience of community news in Twitter

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 72
Author(s):  
Albaraa F. Altourah ◽  
Khin Wee Chen
2014 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 68-93
Author(s):  
Maxwell McCombs ◽  
Natalie J. Stroud

The concept of Need for Orientation introduced in the early years of agenda-setting research provided a psychological explanation for why agenda-setting effects occur in terms of what individuals bring to the media experience that determines the strength of these effects. Until recently, there had been no significant additions to our knowledge about the psychology of agenda-setting effects. However, the concept of Need for Orientation is only one part of the answer to the question about why agenda setting occurs. Recent research outlines a second way to answer the why question by describing the psychological process through which these effects occur. In this review, we integrate four contemporary studies that explicate dual psychological paths that lead to agenda-setting effects at the first and second levels. We then examine how information preferences and selective exposure can be profitably included in the agenda-setting framework. Complementing these new models of information processing and varying attention to media content and presentation cues, an expanded concept of psychological relevance, motivated reasoning goals (accuracy versus directional goals), and issue publics are discussed.


Author(s):  
Maxwell McCombs

The evolution of agenda setting over the past 50 years is an in-depth, large-scale case study of the scientific method. This oscillating history of theoretical explication and extensive empirical investigation has identified major aspects of the language of journalism that have significant impact on the formation of public opinion. The theory of agenda setting now includes three levels of agenda setting effects, intermedia agenda setting and the concept of compelling arguments that identify key aspects of the language of journalism. Other theoretical concepts, need for orientation, and most recently civic osmosis and agendamelding explicate the process of agenda setting. All of these are intellectual tools for dealing with the contemporary problem of fake news.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-123
Author(s):  
Chris J. Vargo

Abstract 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.


2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Valenzuela ◽  
Gennadiy Chernov

The values-issues consistency hypothesis posits that when the issues covered in the news resonate with people’s values, the power of the news media in setting the public agenda is stronger. However, we know little about the process by which values influence the agenda-setting process. We argue that the need for orientation (NFO) is a key mediating variable of the relationship between values and issue salience. To test this proposition, we conducted two studies: an experiment to examine the causal relationship between values, NFO, and issue salience, and a secondary data analysis of a nationally representative survey, in order to test the generalizability of the experiment’s results. Both studies provide support for the mediating role of NFO, further advancing research on the psychology of agenda setting effects.L’hypothèse de cohérence entre valeurs et problèmes (values-issues consistency hypothesis en anglais) propose que quand les thèmes abordés dans les nouvelles ont résonance avec les valeurs des personnes  le pouvoir des médias dans l’établissement de l’agenda public est plus fort. Cependant, nous savons peu sur le processus par lequel les valeurs  influencent l’établissement de l’agenda setting. Nous soutenons que la nécessité d’orientation (NFO en anglais) est une variable médiatrice clé de la relation entre les valeurs et la proéminence de certains thèmes.  Pour tester cette proposition, nous avons développé  deux études: 1) une expérience pour examiner le lien de causalité entre les valeurs, NFO, et la proéminence de thèmes; 2) et une analyse secondaire des résultats de un sondage nationale où il a été utilisé un échantillon représentative. Les deux études soutient le rôle médiateur de la nécessité d’orientation (NFO), faire progresser la recherche sur la psychologie des effets de agenda setting.


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