Abstract
A content analysis of 3,900 news stories examined how online news differs in coverage from newspapers, network television, cable television, and radio, finding that 60% of the top stories on news Web sites covered the same topics as covered by legacy media. But fewer than a third of news stories hyperlinked by blogs and social media corresponded with mainstream media top stories. The results indicate that journalism's agenda-setting role, though dissipating, remains viable in the fragmenting media universe. Audiences turning to news Web sites will find the dominant stories of the day plus fresh perspectives on national and world events.
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