Unpacking the Nuances of Agenda-Setting in the Online Media Environment: An Hourly-Event Approach in the Context of Chinese Economic News

ABSTRACT

The study of agenda-setting has faced considerable challenges in the digital age. Not only are the existing conceptualizations inadequate regarding the new features of online media outlets, but traditional analysis has also become insufficient to address the nuances of agenda-setting in the dynamic online media environment. In this study, we refined assumptions of reverse and intermedia agenda-setting theory, introduced the news events and hourly intervals approach, and considered economic news events in China as an appropriate theme. Our analysis showed that the few popular media played a gatekeeping role in the Chinese online media environment, and the average time interval in which agendas transferred across media and netizens was about 4 h. This study, thereby, advanced the understanding of agenda-setting dynamics in the digital society and showed directions for future agenda-setting research in terms of establishing more up-to-date conceptual assumptions and employing more nuanced methodological approaches.

KEYWORDS:

• Agenda-setting
• online media environment
• news events
• hourly intervals
• economic news
• China

Acknowledgements

We appreciate Dr. Kaihua Deng’s guidance on time series analysis. We also thank the reviewers for the useful comments that helped us improve the manuscript.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Figshare at http://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.25497556

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Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article

Notes

1 An online database in China that registers the Top-100 trending news events on internet each year. https://ef.zhiweidata.com

2 An authoritative online opinion monitoring institution in China, which registers the Top-100 trending news events on internet in China each year.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) with a VIDI grant awarded to Dr. Mark Boukes under project number VI.Vidi.211.101.