The recent transformation of cultural organizations has altered their relationship with the public, evidenced by their engaging in market research and analysis of public perceptions about their identity, mission, and services. Through the lens of agenda-setting theory, this paper examines whether, alongside other factors, media coverage of museums can drive museum visitation. We pursue a second level of agenda-setting analysis, examining the relationship between valence—the positive, negative and neutral portrayals of museums in the media—and visitation. We conduct an econometric analysis of monthly data for the period June 2004-June 2008 for a sample of major Greek museums. The study reveals that media coverage of cultural organizations and positive valence constitute significant elements of reputation, which subsequently drive museum visitation.

This study examines students’ social media interactions in relation to their subcultural explorations of a conspiratorial nature. A sample of 476 students from four European universities participated in a survey about conspiracy theories in social media group discussions. In the survey, we examined various social and media factors in relation to students’ beliefs in conspiracy theories. The results of this exploratory study reveal that students treat social media as news sources; furthermore, they trust social media more than traditional mass media. The study reveals demographic, personal and technological factors that encourage a mediated conspiratorial discourse.

This article examines significant changes in the television news industry, from 2015 until 2019, a period characterized by a severe financial crisis that swept throughout the country, bringing to the forefront of the Greek public sphere, new political voices of both the right and the left. Using secondary data to examine media ownership patterns, we adopted a political economic approach to highlight the ways in which television news have adopted a populist outlook that has its origins in similar practices in the 1980s political and media contexts, while reviewing and assessing long-term interactions between media (television) industries and the political system.

Gatekeeping theory has evolved in recent years to encompass new patterns and influences in a rapidly changing digital environment. The boundary between creating and disseminating digital content is increasingly blurred, as organizations adapt both content and services to the shifting needs of their audiences. In the current case study, viewing museums as content and cultural news providers, we examine digital gatekeeping influences that lead online visitors to museum websites. Recognizing vast changes in gatekeeping patterns, we revisit Shoemaker and Reese's hierarchical gatekeeping model, but in a cultural news context where consumers have evolved as gatekeepers and gate checkers. As we survey a multitude of data in this descriptive endeavor, we trace various gatekeeping nodes that lead users toward museum content.

This paper draws evidence from a national survey conducted in the Republic of Cyprus. Respondents provided evidence about their own self-promotion on social media while assessing other users’ personal salience online. Furthermore, they provided evidence about their own reactions toward other people’s personal salience. The study shows that respondents display affective, perceptional, as well as behavioral reactions toward other people’s online visibility. Demographic characteristics along with certain types of control variables are associated with individuals’ personal salience. Although transferring personal salience constitutes a segmented social media influence, this survey shows that it is recognized as a widespread objective and priority by ordinary individuals.

This paper explores the influence of digital technologies on media networks, in particular how they affect the traditional gatekeeping model. Wireless communications are the hot point of all digital technologies, and their application to the transmission of the Olympic Games is a milestone for the global creative industries every two/four years. The authors argue that the research and innovation (R&I) industries’ involvement with the media industries needs to be reconsidered within the framework of an updated media gatekeeping model. To investigate this research question, results are reported from a case study examining the gatekeeping processes in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and the subsequent Olympics up to 2016. Results show the need for a new gatekeeping model that takes into consideration the impact of digital technologies, especially wireless communications. Additionally, new decision models regarding innovation investment in the global media industry are suggested by the impact of R&I on the media gatekeeping model itself.