1. Agenda-setting function theory

2. Agenda Setting Function theory
Add to glossary:
Agenda Setting Function theory - This theory suggests that audiences are active and that media texts are ‘open’. This means that although the media can’t dictate to audiences ‘what to think’, it does have the power to dictate ‘what to think about’. This theory also suggests that the media has the power to set the agenda or terms of reference for any social, political or economic issue in society.
Selection and omission/gatekeeping – the process in which news items are selected for viewing by the editors of programs or newspapers, based on values, public interest and the ‘need to know’. Stories that are not selected are omitted (left out) because they conflict with the values and interests held by the publisher or network, or are deemed not important enough to be shown in the public.

3. Answer in full sentences:
Read the provided on the Agenda Setting Function theory, and then answer these questions:
Describe the theory in your own words.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of this theory?
In the September 11 example, it talks about which footage and viewpoints were given more or less coverage in Western media. Describe what this was in your own words.
How does ‘gatekeeping’ work within the Agenda Setting Function theory ?

4. Newspaper comparison
Look at the copies of today’s The Age and Herald Sun.
What do you know about the kinds of stories each paper publishes?
What story/ies is/are on the front page of each newspaper?
What are the similarities and/or differences for the kinds of stories included?
Why do you think these particular stories have been chosen by each of the papers?