Table Of Content“Far from being outdated, agenda-setting theory continues to help explain much
of what we experience in a hyper-connected world. Guo and McCombs not only
demonstrate that networks deepen the agenda-setting effect, but also offer a mul-
titude of novel perspectives from other scholars on this exciting new direction in
media study.”
Harlen Makemson, Elon University
“This innovative book is a valuable and original addition to the voluminous litera-
ture on agenda setting. It includes chapters on the theoretical and methodological
foundations of this third level of agenda-setting research by two former students
of Maxwell McCombs, as well as case studies using this new approach in political
communication and public relations by a wide range of scholars from the U.S. and
other countries. It is essential and thought-provoking reading for those interested
in agenda-setting research.”
David H. Weaver, Indiana University
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THE POWER OF INFORMATION
NETWORKS
The news media have significant influence on the formation of public opinion.
Called the agenda-setting role of the media, this influence occurs at three levels.
Focusing public attention on a select few issues or other topics at any moment is
level one. Emphasizing specific attributes of those issues or topics is level two. T he
Power of Information Networks: New Directions for Agenda Setting introduces the new-
est perspective on this influence. While levels one and two are concerned with the
salience of discrete individual elements, the third level offers a more comprehensive
and nuanced perspective to explain media effects in this evolving media landscape:
the ability of the news media to determine how the public associates the various
elements in these media messages to create an integrated picture of public affairs.
This is the first book to detail the theoretical foundations, methodological
approaches, and international empirical evidence for this new perspective. Cutting-
edge communication analytics such as network analysis, Big Data and data visual-
ization techniques are used to examine these third-level effects. Diverse applications
of the theory are documented in political communication, public relations and
social media research.
The Power of Information Networks will interest scholars, students and practitio-
ners concerned with the media and their social and cultural effects.
Lei Guo is an assistant professor in the Emerging Media Studies Division of the Col-
lege of Communication at Boston University. Guo’s research focuses mainly on
agenda-setting theory, alternative media and international communication.
Maxwell McCombs is the Jesse H. Jones Centennial Chair in Communication
Emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin and has been a visiting professor annu-
ally at the University of Navarra in Spain since 1994. Professor McCombs is interna-
tionally recognized for his research on the agenda-setting role of mass communication,
and the influence of the media on the focus of public attention.
Routledge Studies in Global Information, Politics and Society
Edited by Kenneth Rogerson, Duke University and Laura Roselle, Elon
University
International communication encompasses everything from one-to-one cross-
cultural interactions to the global reach of a broad range of information and com-
munications technologies and processes. Routledge Studies in Global Information,
Politics and Society celebrates – and embraces – this depth and breadth. To com-
pletely understand communication, it must be studied in concert with many fac-
tors, since, most often, it is the foundational principle on which other subjects rest.
This series provides a publishing space for scholarship in the expansive, yet inter-
secting, categories of communication and information processes and other
disciplines.
1. Relational, Networked and 5. The Networked Young Citizen
Collaborative Approaches to Social Media, Political Participation
Public Diplomacy and Civic Engagement
The Connective Mindshift Edited by Brian D. Loader, Ariadne
Edited by R. S. Zaharna, Amelia Vromen, and Michael Xenos
Arsenault, and Ali Fisher
6. Framing War
2. Reporting at the Southern Public Opinion and Decision-
Borders Making in Comparative
Journalism and Public Debates on Perspective
Immigration in the US and the EU Francesco Olmastroni
Edited by Giovanna Dell’Orto and
Vicki L. Birchfield 7. Political Communication and
Leadership
3. Strategic Narratives Mimetisation, Hugo Chávez and
Communication Power and the the Construction of Power and
New World Order Identity
Alister Miskimmon, Ben O’Loughlin, Elena Block
and Laura Roselle
8. The Power of Information
4. Talk Show Campaigns Networks
Presidential Candidates on New Directions for Agenda Setting
Daytime and Late Night Television Edited by Lei Guo and Maxwell
Michael Parkin McCombs
THE POWER OF
INFORMATION
NETWORKS
New Directions for Agenda Setting
Edited by Lei Guo and Maxwell McCombs
First published 2016
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 Taylor & Francis
The right of the editors to be identified as the author[s] of the editorial
material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without
intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Guo, Lei, 1961- editor of compilation. | McCombs, Maxwell E.,
editor of compilation.
Title: The power of information networks : new directions for agenda
setting / edited by Lei Guo, Maxwell McCombs.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2016. | Series: Routledge studies in
global information, politics and society ; 8 | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015026473 | ISBN 9781138847743 (hbk) | ISBN
9781138847750 (pbk)
Subjects: LCSH: Mass media—Political aspects. | Mass media and public
opinion. | Press and politics. | Communication in politics.
Classification: LCC P95.8 .P68 2016 | DDC 302.23—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015026473
ISBN: 978-1-138-84774-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-84775-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-72654-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
CONTENTS
List of Tables xi
List of Figures xiii
Series Editors’ Foreword xv
Preface xvii
PART I
A Broader Perspective on Agenda Setting:
Theoretical and Methodological Foundations 1
1 A Theoretical Explication of the Network Agenda
Setting Model: Current Status and Future Directions 3
Lei Guo
2 Semantic Network Analysis, Mind Mapping and Visualization:
A Methodological Exploration of the Network Agenda
Setting Model 19
Lei Guo
3 Mapping the Contours of the Third Level of Agenda Setting:
Uniplex, Duplex and Multiplex Associations 34
Craig E. Carroll
viii Contents
PART II
International Studies of the Network Agenda
Setting Model 53
A. Public Affairs and Political Communication 53
4 Exploring the Network Agenda Setting Model with
Big Social Data 55
Chris J. Vargo and Lei Guo
5 An Expanded Perspective on Network Agenda Setting
between Traditional Media and Twitter Political Discussion
Groups in “Everyday Political Talk” 66
Sharon Meraz
6 Role of Tech Bloggers in the Flow of Information 88
Nirit Weiss-Blatt
7 From Compelling Arguments to Compelling Associations
at the Third Level of Agenda Setting 104
Magdalena Saldaña and Alberto Ard è vol-Abreu
8 Journalistic Role Performance and the Networked Media
Agenda: A Comparison between the United States and Chile 119
Lea Hellmueller and Claudia Mellado
9 An Issue Attention Cycle Analysis of the Network Agenda
Setting Model: A Case Study of the Nuclear Issue in
South Korea 132
Jisu Kim and Young Min
10 News Coverage of the Iraq War: An International
Comparison of Network Attribute Agendas 144
University of Texas International Journalism Research Coalition
B. Strategic Communication and Public Relations 159
11 Implications of Third-Level Agenda Building for Public
Relations and Strategic Communication 161
Spiro Kiousis and Matt Ragas
Contents ix
12 Third Level of Agenda Building and Agenda Setting
during a Corporate Crisis 175
Michael Etter and Anne Vestergaard
13 Corporate Agenda Setting at the Third Level: Comparing
Networks of Attributes in Corporate Press Releases
and Media Coverage 190
Laura Illia, Philemon Bantimaroudis and Katia Meggiorin
14 Attributes of a Cultural/Consumer Product: Oregon Wine 206
Lisa M. Weidman
PART III
Summing Up 221
15 Explorers and Surveyors on the New Agenda-Setting
Frontier 223
Lei Guo and Maxwell McCombs
Index 231
