Blog Post #9: EOTO Agenda Setting Theory

    My group was assigned theories, when I was assigned the Agenda Setting theory I was eager to learn more. Agenda Setting Theory describes the ability to influence the importance placed on the topics of the public agenda. In simpler terms it is suggests that the media can shape the public opinion by determining how much or little importance they put on a topic. This topic goes hand and hand with another theory, gatekeeping, both theories shape how people think about topics just by what they are told. 

    
    Now that we know what agenda setting theory is, lets back up and start with the history of this theory. Maxwell McCombs and Dr. Donald Shaw founded the Agenda Setting Theory in the year 1968. The two studied the 1968 Presidential Election and discovered that the media and news had an impact on the viewers opinions. This was based out of Chapel Hill, NC. They furthered their research by looking at the OJ Simpson murder trial as well as the attempted impeachment of President Clinton. When doing research these were the only two names that came up, that was until I stumbled on one website that brought two more people into the creation, Walter Lippman and Bernard Cohen. Lippmann, a journalist in the 1920's, argued that people were not capable of experiencing in the big world, instead they find out everything that has been constructed by the news. Cohen refined this idea by stating that the media does not tell people what to think, but what to think about. This was dated back to 1963. Then McCombs and Shaw were the first ones to put this theory to the test.

    There are different levels to agenda setting. The main two are First and Second Levels but there is also Priming, and Framing. So lets start with the First Level, this deals with how different media outlets use content to influence their audience. This is considered the traditional part of Agenda Setting Theory. It is where the media is seen influencing the what issues are included in the public agenda. Then there is the Second Level of the theory, this part deals with the study of how the media presents different issues. While they sound similar, first is the influence of issue while the second is the influence of attribute. Now, Priming comes into the picture. This is when news outlets show their set of values through the news stories that they prioritize. Priming impact the viewers since it highlights key stories as most important. And lastly there is Framing. This is how the news puts out content from a certain perspective. Different news articles approach stories and events in different ways. 

    Lastly, I wanted to quickly touch on the three types of Agenda Setting, public, media, and policy. Public Agenda Setting is when the public determines the importance of a story, this can impact the agenda of the news. Media Agenda setting occurs when the media determines the importance of stories. Policy Agenda Setting is when the media and public determine the agenda of the news. 

    Agenda Setting Theory affects yourself, family, and friends everyday and most of the time you might not even have a clue. We are so used to hearing the news and stories without even thinking that how the story is told to us affects how we view it afterwards, and that is Agenda Setting Theory.