Beyond Agenda-Setting: The Influence of Partisanship and Television Reporting on the Electorate's Voting Intentions

This study explores the effects of the media agenda on partisanship of (former) West German voters using time series analyses, data from major television news programs were compared with data from representative surveys that asked about vote intentions. Results show that media — by putting issues in the public spotlight, as described by Walter Lippmann in the 1920s — can influence party preferences. Issue salience in the media seems to have a positive influence on preferences for small parties, but a negative influence on major party preferences.