Testing the second level of agenda setting: Effects of news frames on reader-assigned attributes of Hezbollah and Israel in the 2006 war in Lebanon

Abstract

An experiment involving 485 participants provided evidence for second-level agenda-setting effects of manipulated print media stories about the 2006 war in Lebanon. Investigators (1) measured readers' perceptions of the war's involved parties, Israel and Hezbollah, and (2) compared specific attributes that readers in each condition assigned to Israel and Hezbollah. Results demonstrated significant differences in attributes and perceptions of Israel and Hezbollah among five conditions. Computer content analysis of open-ended responses demonstrated a relationship between the version of the news story read by participants and the attributes that the participants assigned to Israel and Hezbollah. © 2008 AEJMC.