Strangers on a Theoretical Train: Inter-media agenda setting, community structure, and local news coverage

Agenda setting and community structure theories are conceptual inverses of one another that are rarely considered in tandem. This study employs DICTION 6.0 and McCombs and Funk's research design to compare news coverage of immigration and abortion over a 10-year period in national, high-demographic interest, and low-demographic interest newspapers. Although only modest support is found for inter-media, second-level agenda setting, considerable support is found for community structure effects.