Agenda Setting Theory

Definition of theory

The agenda setting theory proposes that the media influences audiences’ thoughts regarding unobtrusive issues (Denham, 2014). The theory suggests that the media plays a central role in shaping the social reality of the public. It claims that the press molds their audiences’ opinion rather than reflect these opinions (Davis, 1952). The agenda setting system comprises of three variables: those that determine what news to select, those that determine the delivery and processing of news, and those that determine the selection of the audience and how the audience interpret information.

Explanation theory

The theory explains that members of the public lack first-hand information regarding most events that take place in their society. The media fill this knowledge gap by providing information about which members of the public have no accesses. The press makes the public aware of issues and events that take place in society. It calls people’s attention to events by providing a flow of information about the events. This awareness leads to the formation of attitude regarding the issues and events that the media has highlighted. Attitude, in turns, mold the behaviors of the public towards the events.

The press shapes the agenda on various issues by determining the kind of information that reaches the public. The press acts as a gatekeeper of information by determining which information should be presented to the public and which should be discarded. Similarly, the press sets agendas by giving different weight to different issues. The press does not give issues that manage to pass through their gate equal weight. Some issues get prime and frequent coverage while others get the peripheral positions. The media airs some issues longer than others. Therefore, a significant factor that shapes the agenda that the media sets is the belief of the reporters.

The values and beliefs of a given reporter influence the kind of issues and events that this reporter tends to follow. Another determinant is the nature of the news medium. Newspapers can report in depth while television can only devote a few minutes. On the other hand, television has an enhanced graphic appeal. Editors also influence the agenda that the media set by acting as additional filters of information. The conception of audience also determines the agenda set by the media.

Name of Researcher

The theory was founded by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw.

Articulating theory Strengths and Limitations

            A significant strength of the agenda setting theory is that it has predictive power. The theory identifies all factors that can affect the agenda that media highlights, as well as, those that affects the reaction of the audience to information. These factors can assists practitioners to predict the outcomes of different media actions. The theory is also effective in explaining why persons exposed to the same media coverage tend to assign importance to the same issues.

A significant limitation of the theory is that it assumes that members of the media are totally depended on the media for information that is outside their immediate environment. This assumption might have been true when the theory was formulated but can no longer hold in the modern communications environment. Advancements in the information and communications fields have created new and diverse sources of information; hence, have reduced people’s reliance on mass media. Today, social media such as blogs and networking sites have become essential sources of information; thus, have reduced people’s dependence on the press for information.

Applying Theory

The agenda-setting theory applies in different areas including research, politics, health, and public relations. Researchers apply the agenda setting theory as a framework for studying the media effect phenomenon. Practitioners in the political field also use the agenda setting theory to influence the public perception of various policies and political issue. The U.S. government applied the agenda setting principle during the Second World War to win the support of the American public. Public relations practitioners also utilize the theory to influence and shape the opinion and actions of the public towards their companies. Health practitioners also apply the theory to influence and change the behaviors of the members of the public.

Hypothesize of Theory

Scholars in the communications field hypothesized that the press had an important agenda-setting function. They argue that the mass media forces attention to certain issues, build up public figures, and suggest what people should think or act. A section of communication scholars, led by McCombs, founded the theory after they noted that news that the public dissipated news that would otherwise attract a lot of attention when the media downplayed such news. After reading Bernard Cohen and Walter Lippmann’s books, McCombs became convinced that the press influence on the public had to be studied. In 1968, Professor McCombs teamed up with Donald Shaw to conduct a study of how the press influenced the 1968 presidential campaign using the hypothesis. In this study, McCombs and Shaw hypothesized that the press had some power to establish agendas of political issues, which both voters and candidates come to consider as important. The hypothesis suggests that the press not influences the voter but also the candidate.

Barabas and Jerit hypothesized that the public level of policy-relevant knowledge is dependent on the volume of media coverage on a specific issue. The authors developed this hypothesis so as to estimate the causal effects of news coverage. This hypothesis was informed by the observation that many people dependent on the media for news relating to governance and politics. Denham (2014) also hypothesized that issues and events that one media outlet highlights manifest in other media news text. The author developed this hypothesis in order to examine the phenomenon of intermedia agenda setting. The authors also examined how routines and norms of journalists affected the agenda setting phenomenon. Davis (1952) hypothesized that the opinion of Colorado residents about crime reflected the trends in the newspaper coverage of crime rather than actual crime rates. This hypothesis is congruent with the agenda setting theory, which proposes that the media has the potential of molding their audiences’ opinions.  

Assumptions of Theory

A significant assumption of the theory is that the public has no other source of information about events outside their immediate environment apart from the press. The theory suggests that media possess the power to influence the audience’s thoughts about issues because the audience are dependent on these media to get information. Since they have no other source of information, the public has to perceive what the media communicates as true.

Another assumption is that people react to information when they believe that the information is real. The agenda setting theory suggests that the press can influence people actions about certain issues. In order to possess this capacity, the media must have a way of influencing people’s action. The theory, therefore, assumes that people always react to information when they perceive this information to be real. This assumption makes the element of media trust vital for the theory to work.  

References

Barabas, J., & Jerit, J., (2009). Estimating the causal effects of news coverage on policy-specific knowledge. American Journal of Political Science. 53 (1), 73- 89

Davis, J. (1952). Crime news in Colorado newspapers. American Journal of Sociology, 57(4), 325- 330

Denham, B., (2014). Intermediate attribute agenda-setting in the New York Times: The scenario of animal abuse in the United States’ horse racing. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly. 91 (17), 17- 37

Carolyn Morgan is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in custom research paper services. If you need a similar paper you can place your order from urgent essay writing service.