Issue Obtrusiveness and the Agenda-Setting Effects of National Network News

Abstract

This study examines the effect of issue obtrusiveness on the agenda-setting effects of the national network television news. Two competing models are tested: (a) the obtrusive contingency, which holds that agenda-setting effects decrease as the obtrusiveness of, or amount of personal experience with, an issue increases, and (b) the cognitive-priming contingency, which posits just the opposite−that agenda-setting effects increase as obtrusiveness increases. Findings provide no support for the obtrusive contingency; some support is found for cognitive priming. Only modest support for the basic agenda-setting hypothesis is found. Alternative hypotheses are suggested.