Daily Newspapers and Public Opinion on the EU and Croatian Integration Process – an Agenda Setting Perspective

Abstract

Agenda setting theory postulates that the amount of media attention given to an issue determines the importance the public gives to that issue. This article relies on the theory of agenda setting to determine the relationship between media presentation and public opinion about Croatia’s integration process into the EU. It looks at the importance of seven topics related to the issue in three subsequent periods from July 2002 to June 2003. It uses public opinion survey data and content analysis of daily newspapers to examine the relationship between topics in the media and their support among the public. The results reveal an indication of agenda setting only in the first period, while there is no support for agenda setting in later periods. A comparison between each topics’ importance scores on both agendas shows that the occurrence or absence of agenda setting is associated with either extensive or minimal coverage of the economy in the media during each period. The findings of this study contrast with studies that have found a link between the media agenda and the public agenda.