Theory?

    Heya! Today has been super fun and eventful. I first woke up and decided to tan because lately I've been looking like a ghost. I then went to my cousin's birthday party which was super fun because there was delicious food and a bunch of people I could talk to. Now, of course, I'm doing this blog, and later I'm going to go sleepover at my best friend's house!

    Anyways, Today I want to talk about media theories, and I'm going to focus on one specific one, the Agenda-Setting Theory.  

    The Agenda-Setting Theory was founded by Maxwell Mccombs and Donald L. Shaw. According to them, the theory states that communications, through the way they find and publish major issues, play a vital role in the problems that gets attention from the government, international organizations, and public opinion about certain issues. This theory is basically all about how the media plays a role in shaping the issues we as a society focus on, talk about, and act it. It's not necessarily telling us exactly what to think but it definitely does influence what we think about.

    The theory was first proposed by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw in 1972. They discovered that media doesn't tell people what to think but it does tell them what to think about. This is important because media can highlight specific topics like politics, climate change, and health issues, while hiding others, guiding public attention, and shaping what people talk about. Basically, if something is being covered extensively, it's likely to become a major topic in the media, such as the California wildfires that have been happening recently.

    There are 2 levels within the theory. The first level talks about object agenda setting which is the media's ability to emphasize certain issues or events. For example, if the media covers an upcoming election over and over again, there is a high chance that people will focus on politics. The second level is called the attribute agenda-setting. It looks at how the media actually shapes our perception of these problems by focusing on certain portions of them. If the news outlets focus on the negative aspects of a politicians past actions, if will change the perception of that person to the media.

    While agenda setting has been studied, its also important to know that other factors like social media can influence the process. With platforms like Instagram, stories can go super viral and impact public perception faster than conventional media ever could. (The Conversation 2024).

References

McCombs, M., & Shaw, D. (1972). The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(2), 176-187. https://doi.org/10.1086/267990

Pew Research Center. (2024, January 10). How the media covers climate change. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/climate-coverage

The Conversation. (2024, February 1). The role of social media in modern agenda setting. The Conversation. https://www.theconversation.com/agenda-setting-social-media