Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study implemented a post-test only control group design which provided evidence for second level agenda-setting effects of print media stories about the August 2006 war in Lebanon. Participants (n = 485) were randomly assigned to one of five groups, each receiving one of five different versions of a news story, consistent in length and formatting but differing in tone and frame. The investigators (1) measured readers’ perceptions of the war’s involved parties, Israel and Hezbollah, and (2) identified and compared the specific attributes that readers from each condition group assigned to Israel and Hezbollah. The results demonstrated clear and statistically significant differences in perceptions of Israel and Hezbollah among the five condition groups. Computer content analysis of open-ended responses demonstrated a clear relationship between the version of the news story read by participants and the attributes that the participants assigned to Israel and Hezbollah.