Agenda Setting Theory Debbie Hilton and Alyce Miele

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History of Agenda Setting Theory: Lippmann 1922 The idea of Agenda Setting began in 1922 with Walter Lippmann’s Public Opinion book. In it, he stated that our perception of reality was skewed. The media’s portrayal of current events was only that of the media’s; viewers do not experience these events first hand. Therefore their own opinions originate more from the opinions of the news source.

McCombs and Shaw: Agenda Setting Case Study They did this by measuring the position and space given in the paper, or if it was on broadcast how long it was broadcast. The results were staggering: The study correlated almost perfectly. The importance of issues to the public had a statistical correspondent value to the issues that were prioritized in the news. The case study’s findings clearly supported the Agenda Setting theory: important topics in the news become important to the public, because it is featured by news media.

McCombs and Shaw: Agenda Setting Case Study (Cont.) In 1968 Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw conducted a research study to test the effects of media on the publics opinions. Using the 1968 Presidential Election They asked participants what they were most concerned about. Main topics included: foreign policy, law and order, fiscal policy, public welfare, and civil rights. After finding these main topics they researched local Chapel Hill, NC media to see what their priority issues during the campaign were.

Agenda Setting: The Beginning Stories that are deemed newsworthy become popular as public opinion. “Media’s priorities often become the priorities of the public and policy makers” (Salwen & Stacks,p.90) Influencing the importance of certain political and social issues through the media is considered Agenda Setting.

Five Aspects of Agenda Setting Basic agenda setting effects Contingent conditions for those effects Attribute agenda setting Origins of the media agenda Consequences of the Agenda-Setting process for people’s opinions, attitudes, and behavior. Source: (Salwen & Stacks,p.90)

How does it work? New York Times coverage study- (Winter and Eyal,1981) 4-6 weeks Agenda Setting Michael Salwen (1988), Longitudinal study: television news reporting on environment then 5-7 weeks later Agenda Setting occurs: public agenda reflection (Salwen and Stacks, p.93) Normal agenda setting effect is 1-2 months Media impact has its limits: Monica Lewinsky and Former President Bill Clinton. Media was centered around Monica. But the public still had a poor opinion of Clinton’s job performance.

How does it work? Psychology of Agenda Setting Individuals who have a greater need for orientation are more susceptible to Agenda Setting effects. Orientation is defined as the curiosity or need to know what is going on in the world around you as well as a “desire to become familiar with that world” (Salwen & Stacks, p. 93). Becoming oriented means gathering information about the world around is. This may happen by watching, reading, or listening to the news.

Need for Orientation:

Agenda Setting Effects In theoretical terms things that define an agenda are “objects” (Salwen and Stacks,p.94) Objects can be public issues, officials, organizations, countries, or anything that warrants attention from media and public. Two levels of Agenda Setting: Transmission of Object Salience Transmission of Attribute Salience

Comedy and Agenda Setting 12

13 Agenda Setting and Framing framing-The basis of framing theory is that the media focuses attention on certain events and then places them within a field of meaning agenda setting-states that news media has a large influence on audiences, in terms of what stories to consider newsworthy and how much prominence and space to give them ex: Matthew Nisbet and Mike Huge’s (2006) study of the framing of the plant biotechnology debate in the mass media

14 Who Sets the Media Agenda? the pattern of news coverage that defines the media’s agenda results from 3 key elements: 1. exchanges with sources that provide information for news stories 2. the daily interactions among news organizations themselves 3. journalism’s norms and traditions

15 Politics and the Agenda-Setting Theory policy agenda setting-the process by which governments make decisions about which social issues will be the focus of their attention and actions Stefaan Walgrave and Peter Van Aelst (2006) integrated model on how the mass media is able to focus political attention: 8 variables: issue type, media outlet, coverage type, electoral or nonelectoral context, existing institutional rules, internal decision-making practices of political actors, the government-opposition configuration and the personal traits of political actors

16 Consequences of Agenda Setting for Attitudes and Behaviors 3 distinct consequences of agenda setting effects 1. forming opinions 2. priming opinions through an emphasis on particular issues 3. shaping an opinion through an emphasis on particular attributes 16

17 Conducting Agenda-Setting Research one shot designs, longitudinal designs, trend studies Type I (Competition perspective) Type II (Automaton perspective) Type III (Natural history perspective) Type IV (Cognitive portrait)

18 New Arenas for Research one rapidly expanding research area is the business news agenda and its impact on corporate reputations and economic outcomes ranging from profits to stock prices the internet

#1: Citizen Journalism, Agenda-Setting and the 2008 Presidential Election Kristen A. Johnson at WJMCR 28, 2011 Conducted to study to look at intermedia agenda setting. Intermedia Agenda Setting happens when one media outlet influences another media outlets stories. She found that during the 2008 election story topics posted on CNN’s I-report positively correlated with story topics that CNN featured. Negative press about John McCain, Sarah Palin, and Barak Obama was also explored. The findings concluded that negative press surrounding candidates was fairly equal on both I-report and CNN. McCain receiving the most, then Palin, then Obama.

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#2: Agenda Setting for the Civil Rights Issue James P. Winter and Chaim H. Eyal, 1981 Research concluded that the New York Times front page is a “national media indicator” (p. 381, Public Opinion Quarterly Vol. 45, 1981) The research also concluded that for civil rights topics only agenda setting occurs four to six weeks after the topic is featured in the paper. Study authors say that “recent media” leads to public salience, or public intake of the information (i.e. recent information, that which occurs 4-6 weeks ago, is more likely to set an agenda.

22 #3: Agenda Setting, Public Opinion, and the Issue of Immigration Reform H1: As media coverage of immigration increases, the public will be more likely to rank immigration as an MIP H2: Local media in border states consistently offer more news coverage of immigration than local media in non-border states H3: Non-border respondents will be less likely than border respondents to rank immigration, as an MIP, unless the media is giving the matter heightened attention nationwide

Casey Anthony Project

Nancy Grace/Casey Anthony Project Casey Anthony: Media Agenda Setting How would you spin the media? Set the agenda the other way, make Casey seem not guilty. Research the case and the details. As a class, put yourself in a Public Relations job and as Casey Anthony’s personal attorney. How would you portray Casey Anthony as NOT GUILTY! (use agenda-setting theory) Have fun!

25 Let’s Discuss !

References Brown, B. (2008). Jon Stewart: The Daily Show, The Agenda Setting Theory. Retrieved from yahoo.com/jon-stewart Dunaway, J., Branton, R. P. and Abrajano, M. A. (2010), Agenda Setting, Public Opinion, and the Issue of Immigration Reform. Social Science Quarterly, 91: 359–378 Johnson, K. (2011). Citizen Journalism, Agenda-Setting and the 2008 Presidential Election. The Web Journal of Mass Communication. Winter, J. P., & Eyal, C. H. (1981). Agenda Setting for the Civil Right Issue. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 45(3), 376. Retrieved from