Number thirty four

JOUR 1111 

LECTURE WEEK 11

(I had a minor freak out because I couldn't find any lecture notes for week 10. But never fear Chloe, week 10 was a public holiday)

Agenda Setting

Firstly, how brilliant was the video shown at the start of the lecture!

What is agenda setting? Agenda setting is a theory

-Social construction of reality

1. concept of reality is socially constructed through communication using shared language
2. reality exists, but is meditated through social life
3. media play a large role in constructing social world

There are 4 main agendas

1. Public- topics public finds important
2. Policy- issues policy makers think are salient
3. Corporate- big business and corporations
4. Media- issues media finds important to discuss

Mass media decides what issues will be frequent and prominent- people come to believe these issues are the most important, therefore:

More coverage = More importance in public perspective

Basic assumptions of agenda theory:

• mass media filter and shape reality
• media concentration on a few subjects leads public to think they are the most important

Mass media "injects" direct influence into audience

Where did agenda setting come from?

Propaganda- used to shape image in minds- people use images to form judgements

What it does-

• transfer issue of salience from news media to public
• transfer of issue of salience for issues and objects i.e. political figures
• elite media often set agenda for issues in other media i.e. CNN, Fox, ABC (Why? Because they can)

THE AGENDA SETTING FAMILY

• MEDIA GATEKEEPING- how individuals control flow of messages through communication; what media choose to reveal
• MEDIA ADVOCACY- purposeful promotion of ideas
• AGENDA CUTTING- most of truth/reality that is going on isn't represented
• AGENDA SURFING- bandwagon; media follows crowd and trends; media surfs waves on topics
• DIFFUSION OF NEWS- how, when, where news is released; process through important events being communicated
• PORTRAYAL OF AN ISSUE- different ways of portraying an issue to influence the public a certain way
• MEDIA DEPENDENCE- more dependent people are on media, the more susceptible they are to agenda setting

STRENGTHS OF AGENDA SETTING

explanatory power

predictive power

organising power

proven false

scientific

WEAKNESSES OF AGENDA SETTING

media users not as 'ideal' as theory assumes

theory weakened on people who have already made an opinion

news can't create/conceal problems

new media upsets the theory

As I post this, I am watching ABC news. It is interesting as the news presenter at the end of the broadcast makes a statement on what news was "highest on the agenda", today it was Greece. Agenda setting seems very important in creating the most important news cycle possible for the day. However it is unsettling when considering that major media tycoons such as CNN, Fox, Fairfax, Newslimited etc. can have such an influence on what tops not only their own agendas, but also a chain reaction of smaller news broadcasts as well. 

As people of such a socially driven society, we are subject to the news that the media decides we should be subject to, no more and no less.