Nominal Agenda Diversity in a Media-Rich, Less-Developed Society

A study was conducted in Venezuela to explore the scope and the external validity of a model—nominal agenda diversity—representing the factors that lead people to identity a greater number of social problems as important. Using survey data gathered in an urban area of this media-rich developing country, three hypotheses were tested. The first two focused on those members of the society with a higher socioeconomic status (SES). Would they be more likely to attend to the information-and entertainment-oriented content in the mass media (television and newspapers) and be able to identify a larger number of problem areas in their region and in the country than those of lower SES? Further, it was hypothesized that the greater the exposure to newspaper content (both news and nonnews sections), as compared to exposure of people to television, the greater the nominal agenda diversity. A structural equation framework (LISREL) showed strong support for these hypotheses.