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The symbiosis of news coverage and aggregate online search behavior: Obama, rumors, and presidential politics

Publication ,  Journal Article
Weeks, B; Southwell, B
Published in: Mass Communication and Society
September 1, 2010

Using a relatively new approach, this study examines the agenda-setting effects of television and newspaper coverage of a prominent rumor from the 2008 presidential election: the rumor that Barack Obama was secretly Muslim. In doing so, we look at the relationship between online information-seeking behavior and mass media news coverage, expecting online behavior, such as search, to be a function of exposure to conventional news coverage rather than vice versa. Using Google search trends as a novel search behavior measure, we demonstrate that volume of news coverage positively predicts spikes in aggregate search. © Mass Communication & Society Division.

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Published In

Mass Communication and Society

DOI

EISSN

1532-7825

ISSN

1520-5436

Publication Date

September 1, 2010

Volume

13

Issue

4

Start / End Page

341 / 360

Related Subject Headings

  • 4701 Communication and media studies
  • 2002 Cultural Studies
  • 2001 Communication and Media Studies
  • 1608 Sociology
 

Citation

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ICMJE
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Weeks, B., & Southwell, B. (2010). The symbiosis of news coverage and aggregate online search behavior: Obama, rumors, and presidential politics. Mass Communication and Society, 13(4), 341–360. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205430903470532
Weeks, B., and B. Southwell. “The symbiosis of news coverage and aggregate online search behavior: Obama, rumors, and presidential politics.” Mass Communication and Society 13, no. 4 (September 1, 2010): 341–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205430903470532.
Weeks B, Southwell B. The symbiosis of news coverage and aggregate online search behavior: Obama, rumors, and presidential politics. Mass Communication and Society. 2010 Sep 1;13(4):341–60.
Weeks, B., and B. Southwell. “The symbiosis of news coverage and aggregate online search behavior: Obama, rumors, and presidential politics.” Mass Communication and Society, vol. 13, no. 4, Sept. 2010, pp. 341–60. Scopus, doi:10.1080/15205430903470532.
Weeks B, Southwell B. The symbiosis of news coverage and aggregate online search behavior: Obama, rumors, and presidential politics. Mass Communication and Society. 2010 Sep 1;13(4):341–360.

Published In

Mass Communication and Society

DOI

EISSN

1532-7825

ISSN

1520-5436

Publication Date

September 1, 2010

Volume

13

Issue

4

Start / End Page

341 / 360

Related Subject Headings

  • 4701 Communication and media studies
  • 2002 Cultural Studies
  • 2001 Communication and Media Studies
  • 1608 Sociology