Cover not available

Article published In: The Agenda Setting Journal
Vol. 5:1 (2021) ► pp.56–83

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Mapping the intermedia agenda setting (IAS) literature

Current trajectories and future directions

 | Washington State University
 | Qingdao University
Published online: 18 January 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/asj.20001.su
Abstract
This study systematically reviewed empirical intermedia agenda setting (IAS) research published between 1997 and 2019, in terms of the level of agenda-setting, the methodologies – including the coding strategies and time-series analytical techniques – the types of media, and the flow of IAS effects. According to our results, previous IAS studies exhibited the following trends: (1) an overwhelming majority of the IAS studies was anchored by the first agenda-setting level, whilst examinations of the NAS model and multiple levels have increased in recent years; (2) excessive IAS studies performed content analyses, (3) applied manual coding strategies, (4) conducted cross-lagged correlation analyses to examine time-series effects, (5) and focused on newspapers and Twitter; (6) most IAS research confirmed the flow from one traditional media to another traditional media, whereas more recent studies also revealed the flow from traditional to emerging media, and their reciprocal relationship; (7) the majority of IAS studies confirmed the elite-to-non-elite flow of IAS effects. Based on these findings, this study encourages futures IAS researchers to attach more importance to (1) contextual diversity, (2) balanced examinations of each agenda-setting level, (3) methodological innovations, (4) technological pluralism, and (5) providing more evidence for the flow of IAS effects across different types of media.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Literature review
    • Theoretical and methodological patterns
      • Levels of agenda setting
      • Methodologies
    • Flow of IAS effects
  • Method
    • Search strategy
    • Inclusion and exclusion criteria
    • Coding
      • Year of publication
      • Author name(s)
      • Journal name
      • Country studied
      • Levels of agenda setting
      • Methodology
      • Coding strategy
      • Time-series analytical techniques
      • Types of media
      • Types of social media
      • Flow of IAS effects I
      • Flow of IAS effects II
    • Inter-coder reliability
  • Results
    • RQ1 asked about the number of IAS research published by year in the last 23 years
    • RQ2 examined the frequencies of the levels changed over time in the IAS literature
    • RQ3a asked about the most used method in the IAS literature in the last 23 years
    • RQ3b asked that among those content analyses, which coding strategy were most frequently used
    • RQ3c investigated the most frequently used time-series analytical techniques
    • RQ4a examined the types of media studied in the published IAS literature in the last 23 years
    • RQ4b examined the types of social media studied in the published IAS literature in the last 23 years
    • RQ5 investigated the flow of IAS effects between traditional and emerging media in the published IAS literature in the last 23 years
  • Discussions on future directions
    • Contextual diversity
    • Balanced examinations of agenda-setting levels
    • Methodological innovations
    • Technological pluralism
    • More evidence needed for the flow of IAS effects
  • Limitations
  • References
References (77)
References
Ader, C. R. (1995). A longitudinal study of agenda setting for the issue of environmental pollution. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 72(2), 300–311. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baruh, L., Secinti, E., & Cemalcilar, Z. (2017). Online privacy concerns and privacy management: A meta-analytical review. Journal of Communication, 67(1), 26–53. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Benton, M., & Frazier, P. J. (1976). The agenda setting function of the mass media at three levels of “information holding.” Communication Research, 31, 261–274. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Borah, P. (2017). Emerging communication technology research: Theoretical and methodological variables in the last 16 years and future directions. New Media & Society, 19(4), 616–636. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boumans, J. W., & Trilling, D. (2016). Taking stock of the toolkit: An overview of relevant automated content analysis approaches and techniques for digital journalism scholars. Digital Journalism, 4(1), 8–23. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boyle, T. P. (2001). Intermedia Agenda Setting in the 1996 Presidential Election. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 78(1), 26–44. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ceron, A., Curini, L., & Iacus, S. M. (2016). First- and second-level agenda setting in the Twittersphere: An application to the Italian political debate. Journal of Information Technology and Politics, 13(2), 159–174. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chomsky, N. (1997). What makes mainstream media mainstream. Z magazine, 10(10), 17–23.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cohen, J. (1960). A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educational and psychological measurement, 20(1), 37–46. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Conway, B. A., Kenski, K., & Wang, D. (2015). The rise of Twitter in the political campaign: Searching for intermedia agenda-setting effects in the presidential primary. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 20(4), 363–380. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Craft, S., & Wanta, W. (2004). US public concerns in the aftermath of 9–11: A test of second level agenda-setting. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 16(4), 456–463. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dearing, J. W., & Rogers, E. M. (1996). Communication concepts 6: Agenda-setting. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Denham, B. E. (2014). Intermedia attribute agenda setting in the New York Times. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 91(1), 17–37. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Denyer, D., & Tranfield, D. (2009). Producing a systematic review. The Sage handbook of organizational research methods, 671–689.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Farhi, P. (2009). The Twitter explosion: whether they are reporting about it, finding sources on it or urging viewers, listeners and readers to follow them on it, journalists just can’t seem to get enough of the social networking service. Just how effective is it as a journalism tool?. American Journalism Review, 31(3), 26–32.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gan, C. (2018). Gratifications for using social media: A comparative analysis of Sina Weibo and WeChat in China. Information Development, 34(2), 139–147. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gitlin, T. (1980). The whole world is watching: Mass media in the making and unmaking of the New Left. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Golan, G. (2006). Inter-media agenda setting and global news coverage: Assessing the influence of the New York Times on three network television evening news programs. Journalism Studies, 7(2), 323–333. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Golan, G., & Wanta, W. (2001). Second-level agenda setting in the New Hampshire primary: A comparison of coverage in three newspapers and public perceptions of candidates. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 78(2), 247–259. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Groshek, J., & Groshek, M. C. (2013). Agenda trending: Reciprocity and the predictive capacity of social networking sites in intermedia agenda setting across topics over time. Media and Communication, 1(1), 15–27. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Guo, L., Chen, Y. N. K., Vu, H., Wang, Q., Aksamit, R., Guzek, D., … & 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Guo, L., Mays, K., & Wang, J. (2019). Whose Story Wins on Twitter? Visualizing the South China Sea dispute. Journalism Studies, 20(4), 563–584. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Guo, L., & McCombs, M. (2011). Network agenda setting: a third level of media effects. Paper presented to the International Communication Association, Boston, 2011.
Guo, L., & Vargo, C. J. (2017). Global intermedia agenda setting: A big data analysis of international news flow. Journal of Communication, 67(4), 499–520. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haim, M., Weimann, G., & Brosius, H. B. (2018). Who sets the cyber agenda? Intermedia agenda-setting online: The case of Edward Snowden’s NSA revelations. Journal of Computational Social Science, 1(2), 277–294. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heim, K. (2013). Framing the 2008 Iowa democratic caucuses: Political blogs and second-level intermedia agenda setting. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 90(3), 500–519. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huckins, K. (1999). Interest-group influence on the media agenda: A case study. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 76(1), 76–86. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johnson, T. J., Braima, M. A., & Sothirajah, J. (1999). Doing the traditional media sidestep: Comparing the effects of the Internet and other nontraditional media with traditional media in the 1996 presidential campaign. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 76(1), 99–123. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jørgensen, C. R. (2015). Three advantages of cross-national comparative ethnography–methodological reflections from a study of migrants and minority ethnic youth in English and Spanish schools. Ethnography and Education, 10(1), 1–16. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jungherr, A. (2014). The logic of political coverage on Twitter: Temporal dynamics and content. Journal of Communication, 64(2), 239–259. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kawamoto, K. (Ed.). (2003). Digital journalism: Emerging media and the changing horizons of journalism. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, Y., Gonzenbach, W. J., Vargo, C. J., & Kim, Y. (2016). First and second levels of intermedia agenda setting: Political advertising, newspapers, and Twitter during the 2012 US presidential election. International Journal of Communication, 101, 4550.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kiousis, S., Mitrook, M., Wu, X., & Seltzer, T. (2006). First-and second-level agenda-building and agenda-setting effects: Exploring the linkages among candidate news releases, media coverage, and public opinion during the 2002 Florida gubernatorial election. Journal of Public Relations Research, 18(3), 265–285. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kruikemeier, S., Gattermann, K., & Vliegenthart, R. (2018). Understanding the dynamics of politicians’ visibility in traditional and social media. The Information Society, 34(4), 215–228. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ku, G., Kaid, L. L., & Pfau, M. (2003). The impact of web site campaigning on traditional news media and public information processing. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 80(3), 528–547. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, J., & Xu, W. (2018). The more attacks, the more retweets: Trump’s and Clinton’s agenda setting on Twitter. Public Relations Review, 44(2), 201–213. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lim, J. (2011). First-level and second-level intermedia agenda-setting among major news websites. Asian Journal of Communication, 21(2), 167–185. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Liu, X., Vedlitz, A., & Alston, L. (2008). Regional news portrayals of global warming and climate change. Environmental Science & Policy, 11(5), 379–393. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Luo, Y. (2013). Mapping agenda-setting research in China: a meta-analysis study. Chinese Journal of Communication, 6(3), 269–285. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Luo, Y., Burley, H., Moe, A., & Sui, M. (2019). A meta-analysis of news media’s public agenda-setting effects, 1972–2015. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 96(1), 150–172. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mahrt, M., & Scharkow, M. (2013). The value of big data in digital media research. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 57(1), 20–33. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McCombs, M. E. (2004). Setting the agenda: The mass media and public opinion. Cambridge, UK: PolityGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McCombs, M., Llamas, J. P., Lopez-Escobar, E., & Rey, F. (1997). Candidate images in Spanish elections: Second-level agenda-setting effects. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 74(4), 703–717. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McCombs, M. E., & Shaw, D. L. (1972). The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(2), 176–187. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McCombs, M. E., Shaw, D. L., & Weaver, D. H. (2014). New directions in agenda-setting theory and research. Mass communication and society, 17(6), 781–802.
CrossRef DOI logo with hyperlink to permanent DOI
Meraz, S. (2009). Is there an elite hold? Traditional media to social media agenda setting influence in blog networks. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14(3), 682–707. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2011). Using time series analysis to measure intermedia agenda-setting influence in traditional media and political blog networks. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 88(1), 176–194. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2016). An expanded perspective on network agenda setting between traditional media and twitter political discussion groups in ‘everyday political talk’. In L. Guo & M. McCombs (Ed.), The Power of Information Networks (pp. 66–87). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Neuman, W. R., Guggenheim, L., Jang, S. M., & Bae, S. Y. (2014). The dynamics of public attention: Agenda-setting theory meets big data. Journal of Communication, 64(2), 193–214. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nisbet, M. C., & Lewenstein, B. V. (2002). Biotechnology and the American Media: The Policy Process and the Elite Press, 1970 to 1999. Science Communication, 23(4), 359–391. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Noar, S. M., Francis, D. B., Bridges, C., Sontag, J. M., Brewer, N. T., & Ribisl, K. M. (2017). Effects of strengthening cigarette pack warnings on attention and message processing: A systematic review. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 94(2), 416–442. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Paulussen, S., & Harder, R. A. (2014). Social media references in newspapers: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as sources in newspaper journalism. Journalism Practice, 8(5), 542–551. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Perrin, A., & Anderson, M. (2019). Share of U.S. adults using social media, including Facebook, is mostly unchanged since 2018. Retrieved from [URL]
Protess, D. L., & McCombs, M. (1991). Agenda Setting: Readings on Media. In Public Opinion, and Policymaking. Hillsdale, NJ.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ragas, M. W., & Kiousis, S. (2010). Intermedia agenda-setting and political activism: MoveOn.org and the 2008 Presidential Election. Mass Communication and Society, 13(5), 560–583. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reese, S. D., & Danielian, L. H. (1989). Intermedia influence and the drug issue: converging on cocaine. In Shoemaker, P. (Ed), Communication Campaigns about Drugs: Government, Media, and the Public, (pp. 29–45). New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roberts, M., & McCombs, M. (1994). Agenda setting and political advertising: Origins of the news agenda. Political Communication, 11(3), 249–262. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roberts, M., Wanta, W., & Dzwo, T. H. (2002). Agenda setting and issue salience online. Communication Research, 29(4), 452–465. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rogstad, I. (2016). Is Twitter just rehashing? Intermedia agenda setting between Twitter and mainstream media. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 13(2), 142–158. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Salway, S. M., Higginbottom, G., Reime, B., Bharj, K. K., Chowbey, P., Foster, C., … & O’Brien, B. (2011). Contributions and challenges of cross-national comparative research in migration, ethnicity and health: insights from a preliminary study of maternal health in Germany, Canada and the UK. BMC Public Health, 11(1), 514. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shaw, D., & Weaver, D. (2014). Media agenda-setting and audience agenda-melding. In M. E. McCombs (Ed.), Setting the agenda: The mass media and public opinion (pp. 145–150). Cambridge, England: Polity Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shearer, E. (2018). Social media outpaces print newspapers in the U.S. as a news source. Retrieved from [URL]
Shearer, E., & Matsa, K. E. (2018). News use across social media platforms 2018. Retrieved from [URL]
Su, Y., & Borah, P. (2019). Who is the agenda setter? Examining the intermedia agenda-setting effect between Twitter and newspapers. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 16(3), 236–249. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Su, Y., & Hu, J. (2020). A territorial dispute or an agenda war? A cross-national investigation of the network agenda-setting (NAS) model. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 17(4), 357–375. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sweetser, K. D., Golan, G. J., & Wanta, W. (2008). Intermedia agenda setting in television, advertising, and blogs during the 2004 election. Mass Communication & Society, 11(2), 197–216. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Valenzuela, S., Puente, S., & Flores, P. M. (2017). Comparing disaster news on Twitter and television: An Intermedia agenda setting perspective. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 61(4), 615–637. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vargo, C., Gangadharbatla, H., & Hopp, T. (2019). eWOM across channels: comparing the impact of self-enhancement, positivity bias and vengeance on Facebook and Twitter. International Journal of Advertising, 38(8), 1153–1172. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vargo, C. J., & Guo, L. (2017). Networks, big data, and intermedia agenda setting: An analysis of traditional, partisan, and emerging online US news. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 94(4), 1031–1055. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vargo, C. J., Guo, L., Mccombs, M., & 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 logo with link to Google Scholar
Vliegenthart, R., & Walgrave, S. (2008). The contingency of intermedia agenda setting: A longitudinal study in Belgium. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 85(4), 860–877. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wanta, W., & Ghanem, S. (2007). Effects of agenda-setting. In J. Bryant & R. Carveth (Eds.), Meta-analyses of media effects. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wanta, W., & Foote, J. (1994). The president-news media relationship: A time series analysis of agenda-setting. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 38(4), 437–448. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wiegand, K. E., & Paletz, D. L. (2001). The Elite Media and the Military-Civilian Culture Gap. Armed Forces & Society, 27(2), 183–204. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Williams, J. R. (2019). The use of online social networking sites to nurture and cultivate bonding social capital: A systematic review of the literature from 1997 to 2018. New Media & Society, 21(11–12), 2710–2729. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zhao, D., & Strotmann, A. (2015). Analysis and visualization of citation networks. Synthesis lectures on information concepts, retrieval, and services, 7(1), 1–207. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (12)

Cited by 12 other publications

Cushion, Stephen, Richard Thomas, Chedza Simon & Wyl Jones
2025. Normalising right-wing alternative media perspectives: A cross-national study of US and UK mainstream media systems. International Communication Gazette 87:8 ► pp. 751 ff. DOI logo
Fürst, Silke
2025. Historical Roots of Information Flows in Hybrid Media Systems. Media and Communication 13 DOI logo
Huang, Zihan & Xiaoxiao Cheng
2025. Network Agenda Setting Between Vertical and Horizontal Media: A Case Study of the Russia–Ukraine War From China. International Journal of Public Opinion Research 37:4 DOI logo
Brannon, William & Deb Roy
2024. The speed of news in Twitter (X) versus radio. Scientific Reports 14:1 DOI logo
Olveira-Araujo, Rubén
2024. Who drives news coverage of trans issues? Intermedia agenda setting dynamics in Spanish digital press. Journalism 25:12 ► pp. 2661 ff. DOI logo
Su, Yan & Xizhu Xiao
2024. Intermedia Attribute Agenda Setting Between the U.S. Mainstream Newspapers and Twitter: A Two-Study Analysis of the Paradigm and Driving Forces of the Agenda Flow. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 101:2 ► pp. 451 ff. DOI logo
Tao, Yuzhou, Mark Boukes & Andreas Schuck
2024. Unpacking the Nuances of Agenda-Setting in the Online Media Environment: An Hourly-Event Approach in the Context of Chinese Economic News. Journalism Studies 25:8 ► pp. 856 ff. DOI logo
THESEN, GUNNAR, CHRISTOFFER GREEN‐PEDERSEN & PETER MORTENSEN
2024. From bonus to burden: The cost of ruling from a new(s) perspective. European Journal of Political Research DOI logo
Budak, Ceren, Natalie Jomini Stroud, Ashley Muddiman, Caroline C. Murray & Yujin Kim
2023. The Stability of Cable and Broadcast News Intermedia Agenda Setting Across the COVID-19 Issue Attention Cycle. Political Communication 40:6 ► pp. 827 ff. DOI logo
Buturoiu, Raluca, Nicoleta Corbu & Mădălina Boțan
2023. Introduction. In Patterns of News Consumption in a High-Choice Media Environment [Springer Studies in Media and Political Communication, ], ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Buturoiu, Raluca, Nicoleta Corbu & Mădălina Boțan
2023. New Avenues for Agenda-Setting Research: Network Agenda-Setting, Agenda-Melding and Intermedia Agenda-Setting. In Patterns of News Consumption in a High-Choice Media Environment [Springer Studies in Media and Political Communication, ], ► pp. 31 ff. DOI logo
Leidecker-Sandmann, Melanie, Lars Koppers, Markus Lehmkuhl & Quinn Grundy
2023. Correlations between the selection of topics by news media and scientific journals. PLOS ONE 18:1 ► pp. e0280016 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 1 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue