Reading Guide Module 5
Agenda Setting Theory
To assist you with the assigned readings, I have developed an outline of questions for you to answer. Think about this as a key for what information to pay attention to in the reading. Research shows that students learn and retain information better when they can write it down in their own words.
Try to answer the questions within these guides in your own words rather than copying and pasting the content from readings/lectures. The idea is to see if you can succinctly answer the question in your own words based on the knowledge you gained from your readings/lectures. Try to answer each question within one to three sentences.
- How is the idea behind agenda setting theory different than selective exposure theory?
- How does agenda setting theory conceptualize media?
- How does agenda setting theory conceptualize media effect?
- Briefly describe the original two constructs and one proposition of agenda setting theory.
- What are the two foundational assumptions of agenda setting theory?
- What is the difference between first-level and second-level agenda setting?
- How does the internet influence the agenda building aspect of agenda setting theory?
- What kind of empirical support exists for agenda setting theory?
- How is agenda setting theory similar to and different from framing theory?
- What is the relationship between media, public, and policy agenda?
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Agenda Setting Theory
Agenda-Setting Theory
•For an issue to acquire public recognition its supporters must have either: (1) access to the mass media, or (2) the resources to reach people.
•Agenda-setting theory proposes that the news media determine the issues the public thinks about and talks about.
•The media don’t necessarily succeed in telling us what to think, but they are extremely successful in telling us what to think about (Cohen, 1963)
The Basic Concept
Issue Media Attention Public Perceptions
of issues
X1
X2
X3
X4
X5
1
2
3 4
5
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McCombs & Shaw’s (1972)
•Content analysis •Political news coverage
across 9 outlets
•Survey • N=100 undecided voters
• “what are you most concerned with these days?”
• “regardless of what politicians say, what are the two or three main things that you thing the government should concentrate on fixing?”
Public agendaMedia agenda
•Results: public agenda directly associated with media agenda (regardless of ‘real world’ indicators)
The mass media influence the public agenda Media Agenda
What the media cover
Public Agenda What the public considers as important
Policy Agenda What the politicians want to focus on
McCombs & Shaw’s (1972)
Media, public, and policy agenda
Media Agenda Public Agenda Policy Agenda
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Media agenda
The set of topics addressed by all members of news media Gate keepers of media set the agenda
Media agenda
• What stories to cover
• How frequently to cover them
• In how much detail to cover them
• What sources to use
• What headlines to use
• What pictures to use
• What times (positions) to place them
Certain decisions made by the news media can influence our perceptions of how important that story/topic is.
What gets covered as news?
November 13: attackers killed at least 43 people and wounded more than 200 others in Beirut.
November 14: attackers killed at least 100 people and wounded more than 200 others in Paris.
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What gets covered as news?
Source: Google Trends, Public Radio International: http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-11- 16/charts-worlds-differing-view-paris-beirut-attacks
What gets covered as news?
Source: Google Trends, Public Radio International: http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-11- 16/charts-worlds-differing-view-paris-beirut-attacks
N u
m b
er o
f se
ar ch
es o
n g
o o
g le
What gets covered as news?
Source: Public Radio International: http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-11-16/charts-worlds- differing-view-paris-beirut-attacks
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Media, public, and policy agenda
Media Agenda Public Agenda Policy Agenda
Correlation ≠ Causation
Explanations for a Correlation
Where X = Media Agenda; Y = Public Agenda; Z = Unmeasured factor
Iyengar, Peters, & Kinder (1982) Studies
In two six-day experiments, TV newscasts were shown to Connecticut residents for four days.
Day 1, participants reported how serious they thought several problems were (i.e., defense, inflation, energy, drug addiction, corruption, pollution, unemployment, civil rights).
Days 2-5, they saw a different version of the newscast with a daily focus (Experiment 1: defense vs. control; Experiment 2: defense vs. inflation vs. pollution).
Day 6, participants rated again how serious they thought the problems were.
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Iyengar, Peters, & Kinder (1982)
•Experiment 1 •Defense became a more serious issue for those who watched defense related news compared to participants in the control condition
•Experiment 2
•Participants rated the issue they were assigned to watch as a more serious issue than other issues in the defense and pollution conditions.
Iyengar, Peters, & Kinder (1982)
Why does this happen? Media increases the accessibility of
certain concepts in your mind
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Evolution of agenda setting theory
•First level • The media tell us which issues to think about.
•Second level • The media tell us which aspects (attributes) of those issues are
most important.
• Cognitive & affective attributes
• Third level • The media tells us how different
issues are connected to each other.
• Example: presenting welfare/affirmative action in the context of race
Evolution of agenda setting theory
• Fourth level: moderators of agenda setting effects • More salient issues in the media = higher perception of importance
• Need for orientation: strongest effects for moderate need for orientation
• Low interest and high uncertainty
• Fifth level: behavioral consequences of agenda setting • The Angie effect
• Sixth level: origins of media agenda • How the media, public, and political agenda influence each other
• Agenda building in the digital age
• Seventh level: agenda melding • People find communities to create their own collective agendas
Pros & Cons: Agenda Setting Theory
•Pros • Strong and consistent empirical support • Simple and logical • Original theorists adapted the theory to address criticisms
•Cons • Individual differences largely ignored
• Exception: need for cognition
• How are media agendas different in the digital world? • Agenda building
• Explanation of the reciprocal relationship between media, public, and policy agenda
• How long do the effects take? • Evolution of theory starting overlapping with framing theory