Agenda Setting Theory

AGENDA-SETTING THEORY McCombs and Shaw

BASIC THESIS
News agenda determines the public agenda
We look to news media to cue us as to where we should focus attention
Media don’t tell us what to think , they tell us what to think about

SIGNIFICANCE
Agenda-setting theory countered the “limited effects” school of thought
(“Limited effects” = selective exposure, attention, retention)
Showed that the media ARE powerful, yet also recognizing that public was free to choose

FOCUS OF THEORY
Election campaigns
Establishing cause-effect relationship between media agenda and public agenda
Quantitative research techniques

MEASUREMENT ISSUES
Media agenda revealed by POSITION and LENGTH of story
Stories had to be about SUBSTANTIVE issues
Public agenda was revealed by what (undecided) voters said were key issues of the campaign, regardless of what the candidates were saying

SHOWING CAUSE
Strong correlations b’n media + public agendas are insufficient proof
Public agenda has to TRAIL media agenda (shown to be the case, by 4-6 weeks)
Historical research demonstrates media and public agendas don’t simply mirror real-world events (no “third party” cause)
Experimental studies demonstrated causal media effect in lab

WHO SETS THE AGENDA FOR MEDIA?
Media “gatekeepers”
The candidates themselves
Public relations / “spin” professionals and interest groups
Compelling news events

WHO IS MOST EFFECTED BY MEDIA AGENDAS?
People with “high need for orientation” as determined by the perceived RELEVANCE of stories to their interests, their feelings of UNCERTAINTY about those stories, and the particular ASPECTS of the stories that media deal with.

FRAMING
Media not only influence what we think about, they influence they WAY we think about them
They do this by “framing” : i.e. through selection , emphasis , exclusion and elaboration .
These determine the salience of particular attributes of a story of issue

FRAMING NOT AN OPTION
Framing promotes a particular:
problem definition
causal interpretation
moral evaluation and/or
treatment recommendation

ILLUSTRATION
In one piece of research:
Public concern about crime increased
Yet actual crime levels were falling
Because media were intensifying their focus on crime, in particular framing crime as
“something that can happen to anyone” and
“something most fearsome when local”

New Statement of Agenda-Setting
Media may not only tell us what to think about , they may also tell us how and what to think about it, and perhaps even what to do about it
Media may also affect behavior, for example, influencing sentiment about the economy, about travel etc.

CRITIQUE
Can only show that media agendas affect some people, on some issues, some of the time
Has cognitive rather than affective focus
Does not deal much with presentational factors
Does not deal with competing agendas

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Agenda Setting Theory

by Arun Jacob on Nov 11, 2009

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Agenda Setting Theory — Presentation Transcript