Agenda Setting

When: Week 11

What: Lecture 10

Who: Dr. Bruce Redman

This weeks lecture was taught by Dr. Bruce Redman and was about Agenda Setting. This lecture was the third last lecture for JOUR1111 this semester, and I was, unfortunately, unable to attend. Instead, I listened to the lecture recording and viewed the powerpoint on Blackboard. 

The Pre-Amble: The Four Agendas

During the lecture, Dr. Bruce Redman identified four types of Agenda that together form Agenda Setting, and this is what they are:

1. Public Agenda - A set of topics that members of the public perceive as being important. 

2. Policy Agenda - Issues that decision makers think are salient or prominent and are of particular interest to the public (i.e. legislators). 

3. Corporate Agenda - Issues that big business and corporations consider important.

4. Media Agenda - Issues discussed in the media.

What is Agenda Setting

In this weeks reading "Agenda Setting" by Renita Coleman, Agenda Setting was described as "the process of the mass media presenting certain issues frequently and prominently with the result that large segments of the public come to perceive those issues as more important than others". 

This means that the more the media covers a story, issue or event, the more the audience will think about it and perceive it as important. 

Two Basic Assumptions of Agenda Setting in the Media

The first assumption is that the mass media does not merely reflect and report reality they filter and shape it. The second assumption is that media concentration on a few issues and subjects leads the public to perceive those issues as more important than other issues.

The History of Agenda Setting

The Agenda Setting theory can be traced back to the 1920s where American political scientist and communications theorist, Harold Lasswell formed the "Hypodermic Needle" model. The "Hypodermic Needle" model is where the mass media injects direct influence into the audience. The Agenda Setting theory can also be found in Walter Lippman's book "Public Opinion" where Lippman argues that the mass media creates images of events in the public or audience's minds. Lippman's notion has remained prominent even in contemporary times where images from things like the Queensland Floods and the Royal Wedding still linger in the back of your mind. Dr. Bruce Redman stated that this theory was also used in the 1930s, where Adolf Hitler and Leni Riefenstahl used the power of images to influence the public into supporting a particular ordeal and group. 

In 1968, the Agenda Setting theory, was developed by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw during the Nixon presidential campaign in  Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Dr. Bruce Redman stated that the theory was developed when McCombs and Shaw surveyed 100 undecided voters on the key issues and measured that against the content that was displayed in the mass media. Their survey resulted in the hypothesis that the mass media had set the agenda by emphasising specific topics more than others.

The Agenda Setting Theory

Dr. Bruce Redman identified two main types of Agenda Setting theory and these were first level Agenda Setting theory and second level Agenda Setting theory.

Dr. Bruce Redman stated that first level Agenda Setting theory is for the most part studied by researchers and emphasises the major issues and the transfer of the salience of those issues. At this level the media suggest what the public should focus on through coverage. Second level Agenda Setting theory is essentially, how the media focuses on certain attributes of an issue and how they suggest how people should think about an issue.

What Agenda Setting Does and Why

During the lecture, Dr. Bruce Redman identified what Agenda Setting does and why the mass media does it.

What Agenda Setting Does

• Transfer of issue salience from the news media to the public.
• Transfer of issue salience for both issues and other objects such as political figures.
• Elite media companies like the "ABC", "CNN", "Sky News", etc. often set the agenda for issues in other media. 

Why does the mass media set the agenda?

- Redman 2012

The Agenda Setting Family

1. Media Gatekeeping

Media gatekeeping is the exposure of an issue by the mass media and how the mass media reveals the issue to the public.

2. Media Advocacy

Media advocacy is the deliberate promotion of a particular message whether it's an anti-smoking, drug and alcohol campaign, or the promotion of healthy dieting and health issues, just to name a few.

3. Agenda Cutting

Most of the issues that are happening in the world are represented in the media. Instead of presenting large issues like HIV and Poverty, take a backseat to the engagement of Brad and Angelina or Lindsay Lohan starring on Glee. Because large issues like HIV and poverty don't receive as much time in the media, they are cared about less by the public.

4. Agenda Surfing

Agenda surfing is when the media "surfs" or follows a topic or trend. This notion is very prominent in contemporary times with the spread of the Kony 2012 video over various social websites and the internet on a whole. 

5. The Diffusion of News

The diffusion of news is When, where and how an important event or issue is communicated and released to the public. Dr. Bruce Redman demonstrated the diffusion of news using the announcement President Barack Obama made when Osama Bin Laden had been found and killed. He stated that the announcement had been rehearsed and prerecorded, and was released to the public days after the event took place.

6. Portrayal of an Issue

The portrayal of an issue by a media outlet can influence how that issue is perceived by the public. If media outlets portray the same issue differently the public can formulate their own opinion.

7. Media Dependence 

Media dependence is when a person is dependent on the media for information and news, and because of this, they are more susceptible to media agenda setting. In contemporary times a large majority of the public depend on social websites like Twitter and Facebook for information and news.  

Strengths and Weaknesses of Agenda Setting Theory

The Strengths of Agenda Setting Theory

• The agenda setting theory has explanatory power because it explains why people prioritise similar issues as more important than others.
• The agenda setting theory has predictive power because it predicts that if people are exposed to the same media, they will see the same issues as important. 
• The agenda setting theory has organising power because it helps organise existing knowledge of media effects. 
• The agenda setting theory can be proven false. If people aren't exposed to the same media, they won't find the same issues as important.
• Its meta-theoretical assumptions are balanced on the scientific side.
• It lays the groundwork for further research.

The Weaknesses of Agenda Setting Theory

• Media users may not be as ideal as the agenda setting theory assumes. The public may not be well-informed or completely engaged in contemporary news, which could cause them to be ignorant of certain details. 
• If a person has already formed an opinion on an issue, the effect of agenda setting theory is weakened. This usually applies with politics and elections because the public has already made up their mind on who they are voting for.
• News cannot create and conceal problems. The effect can merely alter the awareness, priorities and salience the public attaches to a set of problems.
• The internet, tablets and other types of new media have formed a whole new ballgame in terms of Agenda Setting. 

Agenda Setting Examples

In the lecture, Dr. Bruce Redman identified climate change as an example of agenda setting. Another example of agenda setting that I believe is very prominent in contemporary media is the war on terror.