Can Attention to International News Predict Feelings Toward Foreign Countries?

This paper attempts to test the agenda-setting function of the media in shaping the opinions and attitudes of the general public on foreign countries. Data come from a quadrennial survey completed in 1998 by the Chicago Council for Foreign Relations. The analysis evaluates the unique relationship between international news attention and evaluations of 12 countries, controlling for nonmedia factors. Findings indicate that media exposure could hardly tell people how to think about other nations, despite their supposedly need for orientation in comprehending the outside world. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]