Need for Orientation and Attribute Agenda-Setting During a U.S. Election Campaign

Authors

  • Lindita Camaj University of Houston
  • David H. Weaver Indiana University-Bloomington

Keywords:

Need for orientation, agenda setting, media effects, political communication, presidential election, candidate attributes

Abstract

This study analyzes the relationships between need for orientation (NFO), frequency of media exposure, attention to media coverage of the 2008 U.S. presidential election, and second-level agenda-setting effects. Results suggest that NFO was a better predictor of media attention than sheer frequency of media use, and that media attention was a better predictor of second-level agenda-setting effects than media exposure. We did not find that NFO predicted in any significant way opinions regarding candidate attributes during this election. Instead, our study found consistent and moderately strong support for political ideology as a predictor of peoples’ judgments about the most salient attributes of presidential candidates.

Author Biographies

Lindita Camaj, University of Houston

Assistant professor, Jack Valenti School of Communication at the University of Houston. PhD in mass communications in the School of Journalism at Indiana University-Bloomington. Her research interests include media effects on political attitudes and participation, the role of mass media in transitional societies, and freedom of information legislation.Address Correspondence: Lindita Camaj, PhD101 Communications Bldg, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-3002, USAE-mail: lcamaj@uh.edu

David H. Weaver, Indiana University-Bloomington

David H. Weaver is Distinguished Professor and Roy W. Howard Research Professor in the School of Journalism at Indiana University-Bloomington, where he has been on the faculty since receiving his Ph.D. in Mass Communication Research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in August 1974. His research interests include the agenda-setting role of news media and studies of journalists, as well as media effects on voter knowledge and public opinion.Addressee Correspondence: David H. Weaver, Ph.D.Distinguished Professor and Roy W. Howard Research Professor

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Published

2013-07-15

Issue

Vol. 7 (2013)

Section

Articles

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