Agenda Setting:

-Lecture 11
Agenda setting is a theory where by the media, controls the focus of audiences attention on particular issues by ‘presenting certain issues frequently and prominently’ and this will therefore determine what the public deems to be of importance.

This means that the media is not only shaping and molding the overall resulting news but they are also filtering it and cutting aspects, which they believe to be of lesser importance to the general public. This has massive implications on perceptions of the reality of news, especially on those members of public which are not directly connected to newsworthy events and let’s face it…that’s a high percentage of the population, who are enmeshed in celebrity gossip aka the doings and screwing of the rich and famous! There is very little concern amongst this demographic regarding global warming, political power play and who even runs the country as long as the welfare commitment is upheld, jobs are up, taxes are down and there’s enough money at the end of the week for a little indulgence, and that’s the REALITY!

^^When looking at the diagram above^^

We can see that the information received by the public is certainly not the whole story. In fact the public is not even connected to the direct information; they are only getting a morsel of the reality behind an event.

 

ENTER ‘hypodermic needle theory’, 

this theory asks the question as to whether media has the ability to directly influence opinions and behaviors based on agenda setting. The answer to this question is a resounding YES as hypotheses based on this point have been proved time and time again. Mass Communication mediums such as television, radio and internet have swayed many an attitude towards various topics. This is most likely why powerful media is deemed to be a ‘magic bullet’- “after penetrating the body of the receiver, it is able to cause an immediate reaction.” (12 MANAGE, the executive fast track)

HIT ME WITH THE INTEL SO I KNOW WHAT TO THINK!

  

It is thought that the basis of this mass communication strategy was derived from behavioral physiology, where wider audiences where considered to be passive and thus subjective to influencing mediums.

Agenda setting encompasses to main theories, the first being ‘what the media thinks, public audiences should be focusing on’ and the later being how ‘the media suggests, audiences should be thinking about particular topics.’

HOWEVER…

“Agenda setting is not always the diabolical plan by journalists to control the minds of the public but ‘an inadvertent by- product of the necessity to focus’ the news”- McCombs 2004

The Agenda (setting) family…..snap* snap*

Journalists have often been deemed the gate-keepers of media, as they control the release and direction that information spills out into the pubic. This role as gate-keeper means that promotion of messages, agenda cutting, news diffusion and portrayal of issues are all carefully thought out and tweaked by the media in order for audiences to receive, not what they always want to hear but definitely what the trending information indicates they should need to hear.

Take the KONY 2012 campaign for instance…

This was trending information that audiences where moving towards, so what did the media do?

They covered it! From newspapers and television broadcasts, to tweets and Facebook updates, KONY 2012 was everywhere. The collective power of all of these media forms, delivered information on Joseph Kony into just about every household, creating a tsunami of people pouring in money and prayers for these Ugandan children.  Surprisingly, It also seemed to coincide with the release of the motion picture Machine Gun Preacher, a film about a wayward biker, who embraces faith and joins the fight against Kony to save a nation of displaced children, I mean Cynical is as Cynical does – or in the case of Journalism, rater sceptical is --- could this have been all part of a major Marketing blitz

BUT…………..what happened to this ‘band-wagon’ of Kony haters?

I guess they became as invisible as the children they were trying to help.

Media coverage ceased and the world moved on. If information is not being covered by the media it’s not important, right?

HOW DOES AGENDA SETTING HAVE SUCH A HOLD ON US??

In this day and age we are so extremely dependant on media for information that we make ourselves susceptible to agenda setting; we are just moving in and out with the tide of media.

When we think of the 24hour news cycle, we think of the most important happenings for that day. IF IT’S ON THE NEWS, IT’S IMPORTANT! We are still being subjected to agenda setting in news as they are only portraying what they believe to be relevant information to you…

Bring on the Doctors of SPIN!

For example:

“JULIA GILLARD, in hospital for CARBON dioxide poisoning”… oh the irony

OR

“Research into the extended hibernation of desert frogs, may shed light into muscle retention in coma patients”

In all honesty which do you think is going to get more coverage??

Agenda setting; its part of everyday life and its not going anywhere! So its up to public audiences to seek out the full story and get information on what THEY (not the media) DEEM IMPORTANT.