W. Russell Neuman receives Media Tenor’s Agenda Setting Theory Award

EMBARGOED UNTIL 8PM, OCTOBER 23.

Berlin. October 23, 2013. W. Russell Neuman received the Agenda Setting Theory Award at Media Tenor's 14^th International Agenda Setting Conference at the German parliament to honor his research and contributions to the field of communications.

In 1989, Mr. Neuman was the first of his peers to question the status quo of media research. He recognized that existing models for understanding the effects of communication fell short in accounting for the context-dependent phenomenon of real-world cues and individual experiences that were not easily measured in labs. His landmark study, “The Threshold of Public Attention,” featured in Public Opinion Quarterly, was the first of its kind to measure the early stages of public awareness and the need for a critical mass or threshold to shift a matter of private concern to a public, political issue.

Understanding and working with Neuman’s awareness threshold concept has been a core tenet of Media Tenor research has been relevant to understanding what moves and shapes public opinion on a variety of issues, including consumer economic sentiment, political awareness, and company images.

For over 20 years Media Tenor's mission has been to contribute to objective, diverse and newsworthy news by bringing together the diverse parties who both impact and are affected by the news. Media Tenor's global research projects include analyses of election campaigns, investor relations, public diplomacy, corporate communications and other topics critical to news makers and news audiences. The annual Agenda Setting Conference brings together these diverse constituencies for data-driven workshops, panels, case studies and keynote speeches.