ABSTRACT
Now we return to our discussion concerning the theoretical issues raised in plotting out this area of research, particularly in engaging a multi-level approach to media production and control. We offer the Hierarchical Model as a framework through which scholars can discover relationships among old and new studies, because building connections between ideas is one of the fi rst steps in building theory. When these connections are made, the Hierarchical Model becomes a theoretical model, a structure that facilitates the building of many theories by many people. The Handbook of Journalism Studies lists the “Hierarchy of Infl uences” as a “key concept” (Franklin, Richardson, Hamer, Hanna, & Kinsey, 2005), which suggests that there is something about the model that gives it signifi cant value for research, and we assume that this lies in its theoretical utility.
