Agenda Setting Theory In The Media
806 Words
4 Pages
Media is an ever-changing field that has an important influence on societies around the world. The media has made individuals aware of many the social problems throughout the world like poverty, drug use, crime, homelessness, racism, etc. While this may be a good tool to use, media can also affect individual’s beliefs, attitudes, tastes, politics, and way of life. In today’s contemporary society, the mass media serves as a powerful socializing agent. This is why I believe the agenda setting theory is the best model to explain the impact media has on society. The agenda setting theory is the ability of news and the media to “Direct peoples attention toward certain issues” (Croteau & Hoynes 237). It also looks at whether certain news issues
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Research has been done to try and answer the question of how agenda setting influences human behavior and shapes individual’s social and political attitudes. Research done by Iyengar and Kinder (2010), did an experiment to understand the relationship between media coverage and the agenda of the audience. Participant’s viewed different videotapes of news broadcasts, the broadcasts were all the same with one exception. Researchers “Added stories to the tapes so that some participants saw pieces either on the environment, on national defense, or on inflation” (Croteau & Hoynes 237). Results concluded that participants were more likely to view the added story as more important than the others. Public opinion continues to say that media exerts tremendous power by molding and shaping social attitudes and public opinions. Agenda setting and socialization play important roles in influencing individual’s views and beliefs within the news they consume. These influences cause individuals to create meaning from their interactions. Theodore White, a political journalist wrote, “The power of the press in America is a primordial one. It sets the agenda of public discussion; and this sweeping political power is unrestrained by any law. It determines what people will talk about and think about---an authority that in other nations is reserved for tyrants, priests, parties, and mandarins” (Kourvetaris 108). In the end, agenda setting plays the most important role in the impact of the
Research has been done to try and answer the question of how agenda setting influences human behavior and shapes individual’s social and political attitudes. Research done by Iyengar and Kinder (2010), did an experiment to understand the relationship between media coverage and the agenda of the audience. Participant’s viewed different videotapes of news broadcasts, the broadcasts were all the same with one exception. Researchers “Added stories to the tapes so that some participants saw pieces either on the environment, on national defense, or on inflation” (Croteau & Hoynes 237). Results concluded that participants were more likely to view the added story as more important than the others. Public opinion continues to say that media exerts tremendous power by molding and shaping social attitudes and public opinions. Agenda setting and socialization play important roles in influencing individual’s views and beliefs within the news they consume. These influences cause individuals to create meaning from their interactions. Theodore White, a political journalist wrote, “The power of the press in America is a primordial one. It sets the agenda of public discussion; and this sweeping political power is unrestrained by any law. It determines what people will talk about and think about---an authority that in other nations is reserved for tyrants, priests, parties, and mandarins” (Kourvetaris 108). In the end, agenda setting plays the most important role in the impact of the