%0 Journal Article %A Hardy, Anne %A Sevenans, Julie %T Het politieke agendasettingeffect van mediastormen %D 2015 %J Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap, %V 43 %N 4 %@ 1875-7286 %R https://doi.org/10.5117/2015.043.004.318 %K media storms,effects,political agenda-setting,content analysis,story-level approach %I Amsterdam University Press, %X The political agenda-setting effect of media storms. A story-level analysis The political agenda-setting effect of media storms. A story-level analysis This paper studies the political agenda-setting effect of media storms. Over an eight-year period (2001-2008), it examines the extent to which media storms in Belgium (Flanders) led to action in the Belgian federal Parliament. It then compares the agenda-setting effect of those media storms with the effect of a random sample of general (‘non-storm’) news coverage. Quantitative story-level analyses show that media storms, more than non-storms, lead to political reaction. In particular, they generate more consequential types of political reaction such as mentions by the Prime Minister or bills. However, an in-depth look at those instances where media storms led to the initiation of a bill, nuances these findings, in the sense that media storms not often lead to ‘new’ bills; rather, they accelerate or highlight the existing legislative process. Politicians strategically use media storms as a ‘window of opportunity’ to get their bills on the political agenda. %U https://www.aup-online.com/content/journals/10.5117/2015.043.004.318