Breaking Agenda Setting Boundaries: A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Understanding Salience of Gun Control in the Polarized Public Sphere

ABSTRACT

We reexamine agenda setting by analyzing the salience of gun control within diverse U.S. audience groups. Utilizing data spanning from 2015 to 2022, we investigate the impact of traditional media, partisan media coverage, discourse on Twitter (now X), real-world gun-related events, and Google Trends search behavior on the perceived importance of gun control. Our findings indicate that while traditional media and Twitter discourse do not significantly sway the salience of gun control, partisan media coverage and specific information-seeking search behaviors do. Notably, media opposing an audience’s political ideology and searches for gun-related information are influential. The effect of real-world shooting events on issue salience is complex, with shootings influencing liberals, but with conservatives showing an initial decrease in perceived importance. Our approach explains issue salience for all ideological groups quite well and offers the most comprehensive understanding of the interplay between personal experiences, search behaviors, and a polarized media environment in shaping public salience on gun control to date.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

¹ In this paper we refer to the social media platform “X” as Twitter because the data used was pulled from a period before Elon Musk purchased the company.

² The Gallup Poll Social Series (GPSS) employs a dual-frame design to survey adults aged 18 and up living in the United States. This method involves random-digit-dialing to both landlines and cellphones, with Survey Sampling International (SSI) providing the samples. A minimum quota of 70% cellphone respondents and 30% landline respondents is set, as well as additional quotas by time zone within region. Furthermore, those who primarily speak Spanish receive interviews conducted in Spanish. For further details, please refer to https://www.gallup.com/175307/gallup-poll-social-series-methodology.aspx.

³ For instance, Fox News and MSNBC are not listed as partisan media. Instead, more blatant examples are presented. Left-leaning sources include newrepublic.com and slate.com. Right-leaning sources include cnsnews.com and dailycaller.com.

⁴ This is according to Google Trend’s FAQ page. See https://support.google.com/trends/answer/4365533?hl=en&ref_topic=6248052.

⁵ According to Gun Violence Archive’s Mass Shootings in 2018 Report. See https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/reports/mass-shooting?year=2018.

⁶ The dataset and full methodology can be downloaded here: https://data.world/associatedpress/mass-killings-public.

⁷ Mass shootings are operationalized as the number of events with deaths greater than 3.

⁸ For a review of Twitter’s Academic API, see: https://developer.twitter.com/en/products/twitter-api/academic-research.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chris J. Vargo

Chris J. Vargo is an associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder specializing in data analytics and mass communication. Chris employs computer science methods to research social media, news, and advertising data using theories from communication, psychology, and political science. He holds a PhD, MA, and BA in advertising & public relations from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The University of Alabama, and The Pennsylvania State University, respectively.

Milad Minooie

Milad Minooie is an associate professor of communication at Kennesaw State University, where his research focuses on agendamelding. He earned his MA in communication from the University of Texas at Arlington and his PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before academia, he was a journalist.