The lecture began by watching a short video by BBC Four journalist, Charlie Brooker (shown below).
From this clip, it was discussed of the media's influence in the social construction of reality. 'Reality exists, but the way we come to know it, talk about it, understand it, is mediated through social life.' From this, I began to consider how influential the media actually is in issues they portray. So, what is journalisms role in constructing public opinion? They hold all the power in determining opinion. This News clip is about the abduction of Jaycee Lee Dugard. The way ABC News portrays Phillip Garrido, sentenced sexual offender, as a horrible and disgusting man (all which is very true). The media does an excellent job of educating the public and positioning this man badly to the public. The clip is shown below.
We spoke about the interrelated Agendas, being public agenda (topics that members of the public perceive as important), policy agenda (issues that decision makers think are salient, ie. legislators), corporate agenda (issues that big businesses and corporations consider important, eg. coal seam gas) and finally the media agenda (issues discussed in the media). They all work together in forming an element of importance in the pubic eye.
"Agenda setting is the process of the mass media presenting certain issues frequently and prominently with the result that large segments of the public come to perceive those issues as more important than others. Simply put, the more coverage an issues receives, the more important it is to people."
-Coleman, McCombs, Shaw, Wever, 2008-
We looked at this image as a representation of agenda setting in the media. This image compares the relationship between reality and media reality, the media's sense of reality and the influence of this on a public perceptive - what the pubic actually thinks reality is. It directly identifies that the media shapes the way issues are understood with attributes paid to the media who provide information/importance.
I felt this image gave meaning to how important a certain issue is in the media in regard to the amount of attention paid to it.
Attention was brought to the two main assumptions of media agenda setting.
1. The mass media do not merely reflect and report reality, they filter and shape it.
2. Media concentration on a few issues and subjects leads the public to perceive those issues as more important than other issues.
I feel both assumptions are evident in media agenda setting in the current climate. The more attention that is brought to an issue - the more important it is regarded by the public. This is very evident with Climate Change and the Carbon tax. This lecture made it clear that the first mention this issue was made to the public back in 1988, and from then, its importance in society has never faded. Al Gore's, An Inconvenient Truth, released in 2006, is a prime example of the continuing impact of climate change talk throughout society and the media. The media has made this issue an important one.
This is the trailer to Al Gore's documentary - it is clear why the media and public see this issue as being of primary concern.
The origins of agenda setting dates back nearly a century. It was in the 1920s that Harold Lasswell came up with the Hypodermic needle model. I understood this model as being a metaphor in the mass media "injecting" direct influence into the audience. It was so accurate - the media has formed so much purpose in defining the means in which information is given to an audience.
The model appeared as below.
From this model, it becomes so evident of the development and power in propaganda in the media. Walter Lippman spoke of the media creating images of events in the publics mind. I thought about this idea and how correct Mr Lippman really was. When I think of 9/11 I think of a single image - an image that has defined that day to me for countless years. It is the image of The Falling Man.
For me, this image is September 11. I don't see a man committing suicide - a see a man plummeting to his death unwillingly, a man being forced to die due to the terrorist attack of this day.
'Propaganda is used as a tool to help shape images in the minds of human beings in support of an enterprise, idea or group. Propaganda can be used to substitute one social pattern for another."
This lecture highlighted two main types of agenda setting theory, being;
1st Level - media suggests what the public should focus on through coverage.
2nd Level - media suggests how people should think about an issue.
Both levels seem so important in the media. In regard to the 1st Level, I understand it as the medias responsibility in what is actually delivered to the public. It ultimately is centred around the content of the information shown. For the 2nd Level, it is all about the position the media takes in portraying an issue to the public. If the media wishes for its audience to feel negatively about a subject, therefore they would deliver it in that way.
I found this very clear in the coverage of OJ Simpson's case. Our lecture showed the cover of two magazines with his photo on the front.
Even though both photos portray him rather negatively, it is very clear of the varying approach both magazines took. I found this predominately evident in the titles of the article pieces.
I found this notion of 'Agenda Setting' quite interesting actually. Even though the basic content of the topic was very obvious, I loved the power in which came with the media. In learning of 'The Agenda Setting Family' it became so evident of the degree in power they hold. This family consisted of:
1. Media Gateway (the exposure of an issue)
2. Media Advocacy (the purposive promotion of a message)
3. Agenda Cutting (most of the truth or reality that is going on in the world isn't represented)
4. Agenda Surfing (media follows the crowd and trends)
5. Diffusion of News (how an important event is communicated to the public)
6. Portrayal of an Issue (the way an issue is portrayed will often influence how it is perceived by the public).
7. Media Dependence (the more dependent a person is on the media for information, the more susceptible that person is to media agenda setting).
In looking at the influence of 'Agenda Surfing', it was clear of its presence in the media. The way in which the media follows trends in what is being covered by varying media outlets powerfully determines this media agenda. A prime example of this is KONY2012. This YouTube clip seemed to go viral overnight, it was almost as if everyone knew about it and wanted to put it to a stop. Such a powerful promotion of Agenda setting.
Media Agenda setting is very powerful, however it relation to its strengths it does instigate many weaknesses.
Strengths include:
-explanatory power
-predictive power
-organising power
-proven false
-its media-theoretical assumptions are balanced on the scientific side
-it lays groundwork for further research
Weaknesses include:
-people may only pay casual attention to public affair issues
-people may have already made up their mind on an issue
-news cannot adapt an issue, but instead promote awareness of its salience
And so, it is proven that:
The importance of an issue on the media agenda determines how the public agenda is formed.
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