The third-level agenda-setting study: an examination of media, implicit, and explicit public agendas in China

Through two separate studies in the context of Hong Kong, a Chinese society, this research tests the third-level agenda-setting effects and examines the differences between the explicit and implicit public agendas based on the attributes consciously and unconsciously reported by the public. A total of 1667 news reports and 680 responses to a public survey are collected for analysis. Evidence from both studies shows strong attribute agenda-setting effects at the third level, no matter the focus of the issue is obtrusive or unobtrusive. Results also demonstrate that the media agenda is positively associated at a higher level with the implicit public agenda than the explicit one. Findings well extend the network agenda-setting research.