Elections Versus Crimes: Which Topics Are More Effective Burglar Alarms in Online News Sites?

• In Event: New Research on Agenda Setting and Priming

Abstract

The notion of “media frenzies” (Zaller, 2003) has been signaled as key to the burglar alarm standard for news. However, there is little empirical research about the factors that shape the public’s uptake of media frenzies. This paper examines the divergent public’s uptake of media frenzies related to two events that took place in Argentina between October 2015 and January 2016: the 2015 presidential elections and the prison escape of three felons convicted for crimes linked to drug trafficking and the political establishment. The analysis reveals that while the presidential election and its immediate aftermath captured the attention of the public to a high degree, the prison escape did not achieve a comparable effect. We draw upon these findings to elaborate on some key factors driving the public’s uptake of media frenzies, and to reflect on broader issues concerning the dynamics of attention in an age of information abundance.

Authors

• Pablo J. Boczkowski, Northwestern University

• Maria Eugenia Mitchelstein, Universidad de San Andrs

• celeste Wagner, U of Pennsylvania