Eighth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

This study explores the perceived urgency of issues in our students’ population. Since McCombs and Shaw articulated the agenda setting effect of mass media, a plethora of studies has shown the relationship between the issue relevance in the media coverage and the weight in the public agenda. Both political actors and media professionals learned the lesson and have been instrumentally using those issues to extract political capital. This study aims to find out which are the current affairs that most concern the participants. The answers of our students allow us to establish a ranking of priorities, starting with climate change, to immigration, to police brutality to systemic racism. After assessing the hierarchy of worries, we study the intensity of the feelings. The outcomes render a map of the anxieties of our student population. In the second phase of the study, we establish a correlation between the perceived urgency of the issues and both ideological background and party affiliation. Finally, we bring media habits into the equation. We analyze, first, the level of information in the different issues. Then, we identify patterns of media usage, as well as the sources our students resort to for information. Our findings show a brutal penetrations of social media. These platforms have become the most frequent source of information for our students, practically wiping out the traditional news channels. Furthermore, the study also show a strong correlation between the perceived urgency of the issues, the level of information and the ideological inclination.