TIME-LAG DIFFERENCES IN THE AGENDA-SETTING PROCESS: AN EXAMINATION OF FIVE NEWS MEDIA

Abstract

Five news media in the U.S. were examined to determine the optimal time-lag for agenda-setting effects to occur for each. Public responses to an open-ended question ‘What is the number one problem facing our country today?’ were compared to media coverage from one to 26 weeks earlier. A number of differences were found across the five media. The results show that television coverage had a shorter optimal time-lag than newspapers. The more immediate effect of television news, however, quickly deteriorated, and newspapers had a stronger long-term agenda-setting effect. National and regional media also had a more immediate impact than local media. All media, generally, had slightly shorter optimal time-lags than previous research would suggest.

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