Synchronization of Issue Agendas in News and Editorials of the Prestige Press in Germany

This article investigates the correspondence of issue selection in news and editorials. Media are viewed as autonomous actors in public discourse communicating their particular political positions not only through explicit opinion on certain issues but through specific 'relevance assignment' to selected issues. This article presents a content analysis of the issue repertoire of five national newspapers. The analysis tries to assess similarities and differences between news and editorials and relate them to the question of autonomous media activity' in these two genres. A high degree of synchronization was found between the genres paired with only minor differences among the newspapers. High degrees of synchronization can mean one of two things. It may indicate considerable levels of media autonomy regarding the establishment of a distinct issue agenda, with editorial relevance assignment spilling over into the news section'. It can also indicate a low degree of media autonomy in the sense that editorial writers do not take advantage of the opportunity to establish their own issue agenda in editorials, but rather 'react' to the news coverage. Our data do not reveal distinct differences among the newspapers and thus do not indicate that any politically biased issue selection occurs. A high degree of synchronization between genres, therefore, does not imply considerable autonomous media activity in the area of issue selection.