Who sets the cyber agenda? Intermedia agenda-setting online: the case of Edward Snowden’s NSA revelations

Since the early introduction of the notion of agenda-setting, researchers have attempted to determine the factors that shape media agendas. One of the key sources of media agenda has been identified as intermedia flow, which various studies revealed in the offline-to-online-to-SNS media context. While most of them focused on the offline-online flow, the present study examines agenda-setting within the new online platforms in various countries, thus allowing for cross-country and cross-media comparisons. We applied time-series analysis to new online media and to traditional online media samples in the context of Edward Snowden’s NSA revelations. Our findings of intermedia agenda-setting effects show a moderate but consistent flow from new online media to traditional online media. This highlights the importance of studying these new directions of agenda flow. Apart from that, no profound agenda-setting patterns can be found elsewhere. Possible reasons and implications are discussed.