The role of the Internet in shaping news agenda: a critical analysis of the agenda-setting theory

For four decades, studying the agenda-setting theory has resulted in five main areas of research: the analysis of the basic agenda-setting effects; studying the attribute agenda-setting; psychology of agenda-setting effects; studying sources of the media agenda; studying consequences of agenda-setting effects. However, the number of researchers, criticizing the basic characteristics of the theory, has been increasing in recent years. They argued that the spread of the Internet, online and social media platforms usage brings the efficiency of various aspects of the theory in explaining the process of agenda-setting in the virtual public space into a question. The basis of agenda-setting theory says that agenda-setting is the ability of the media to determine the influence of certain topics in the "social agenda". It was described by M. McCombs and A. Reynolds in the "News Influence on Our Pictures of the World". In other words, if particular news is often discussed in the media, the audience (society) considers this issue to be more important than others less (or not) represented by the media. The process of agenda-setting is important not only for the media, but also within the definition of it as a social process indicating the interdependent relationship between the problems that are generated in a society and then are moved to the level of governmental decision-making process. In this paper, main points of criticism of the "classical" agenda-setting theory are reviewed. These points appeared under the influence of studying the processes occurring in the Internet. The following aspects are described. The Internet is not only changing methods of obtaining information, but also the source specificity. Web 2.0 technologies massively involve network users in the process of agenda-setting. An online community can also help to ensure that their own topics of discussions become public issues, i.e. "appear" in the public agenda, in the agenda of the media (traditional and new) and thus reflect in political decisions. The virtual space of "endless news" of the online media, alternating with information from individuals, is getting an open interactive platform for discussion of a wide range of news and events for anyone having access to the network. The influence of electronic media on agenda-setting sets the problem associated with using online technologies to solve urgent problems affecting some social groups or society as a whole. One of these problems is the "digital divide": the lack of ability of some social groups to present their interests in the public space through the virtual discourse. Thus, the basic settings of the agenda-setting theory are reviewed, as amended, in the virtual public space; scholars accepted the importance of studying the influence of online media and blogosphere on public opinion formation, the functioning of these phenomena in the modern information society.

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