Coverage of tobacco control in Jordanian newspapers: implications for strengthening the role of news media

It is widely believed that the news media have a strong influence on defining what are the most important problems facing the country during election campaigns. Yet, recent research has pointed to several factors that may limit the mass media’s agenda-setting power. Linking news media content to rolling cross-section survey data, the chapter examines the role of three such limiting factors in the context of the 2009 and the 2013 German federal elections: (1) rapid memory decay on the part of voters, (2) advertising by the political parties, and (3) the fragmentation of the media landscape. The results show that the mass media may serve as a powerful agenda setter, but also demonstrate that the media’s influence is strictly limited by voters’ cognitive capacities and the structure of the campaign information environment.

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Older people’s news dependency and social connectedness

Media International Australia ◽

10.1177/1329878x211006497 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1329878X2110064

Author(s):

Caroline Fisher ◽

Sora Park ◽

Jee Young Lee ◽

Kate Holland ◽

Emma John

Keyword(s):

Older People ◽

Social Isolation ◽

News Media ◽

Digital Literacy ◽

Social Connectedness ◽

Aged Care ◽

Capital City ◽

Contributing Factors ◽

Older Citizens

Social isolation has become a growing issue, particularly among older citizens. The ‘digital divide’ has been identified as one of the contributing factors leaving many older citizens behind. While increasing digital literacy among seniors has been identified as one of the remedies, less attention has been paid to the role of news media on the wellbeing and connectedness of older people. Through the lens of the uses and gratifications theory, this article reports on the findings of a survey of 562 news consumers aged 50 years and above who live in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. The analysis highlights the important role of news in reducing feelings of social isolation, particularly for those who spend more time alone and older people with cognitive impairment. Older participants who had difficulty concentrating and learning new tasks were also more dependent on news. We suggest this is due to the habitual, predictable and concise nature of news. These findings contribute to our understanding of the role of news in the wellbeing of older people and point to the need for policymakers and those in the aged care sector to ensure access to news for older citizens to improve the quality of life.

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From audiences to data points: The role of media agencies in the platformization of the news media industry

Media Culture & Society ◽

10.1177/01634437211029861 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 016344372110298

Author(s):

Ida Willig

Keyword(s):

Digital Media ◽

News Media ◽

Media Industry ◽

Ethical Challenges ◽

Media Audiences ◽

Data Points ◽

The Public Sphere ◽

The Many ◽

Marketing Budgets

Media agencies have become one of the key actors in the contemporary media industry: by channelling marketing budgets to some media and some platforms and not to others, media agencies play an important role in creating the digital media infrastructure and laying the tracks of the public sphere. Yet we know very little about these commercial middlemen between advertisers and audiences, what they do, and how we should understand their role in the digital media ecology. This article discusses the role of media agencies in relation to platformization with a focus on the news media sector. Based on interviews, publicly available material and trade journals, the article depicts an industry deeply engaged in digitizing, tracking and commodifying media audiences, while at the same time aware of ethical challenges of the digital media infrastructure. This leads to a call for more political attention and critical research on the democratic implications of the new value chains between platforms, advertisers, audiences, media agencies and news media as well as the many tech companies providing derived digital services and products.

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The agenda setting power of news media in framing the future role of tourism in protected areas

Tourism Management ◽

10.1016/j.tourman.2017.04.011 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 62 ◽

pp. 241-252 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Stephen Schweinsberg ◽

Simon Darcy ◽

Mingming Cheng

Keyword(s):

Protected Areas ◽

News Media ◽

Agenda Setting ◽

Future Role ◽

The Future

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The Role of the News Media in the ‘Death of God’ Controversy

Journalism Quarterly ◽

10.1177/107769907204900110 ◽

1972 ◽

Vol 49 (1) ◽

pp. 79-85 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Frederick D. Buchstein

Keyword(s):

News Media ◽

Death Of God

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Trust in the European Union: Effects of the information environment

European Journal of Communication ◽

10.1177/0267323118810843 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

pp. 57-73 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Anna Brosius ◽

Erika J van Elsas ◽

Claes H de Vreese

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Content Analysis ◽

Survey Data ◽

News Media ◽

Information Environment ◽

Direct Effects ◽

The European Union ◽

The Past ◽

The Media

Over the past decade, the European Union has lost the trust of many citizens. This article investigates whether and how media information, in particular visibility and tonality, impact trust in the European Union among citizens. Combining content analysis and Eurobarometer survey data from 10 countries between 2004 and 2015, we study both direct and moderating media effects. Media tone and visibility have limited direct effects on trust in the European Union, but they moderate the relation between trust in national institutions and trust in the European Union. This relation is amplified when the European Union is more visible in the media and when media tone is more positive towards the European Union, whereas it is dampened when media tone is more negative. The findings highlight the role of news media in the crisis of trust in the European Union.

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