Agenda Setting

Week 11's lecture on Agenda Setting focussed on how media platforms present information, in order to create particular meaning. How the public reacts to certain issues in the media, relies on how it has been treated in the past, and how it is being treated now. Many organisations and media outlets have agenda's which they communicate to the public through representation in the media.
This lecture stressed four "interrelated" agenda's that are communicated to the public:

"1) PUBLIC AGENDA - the set of topics that members of the public perceive as important.
2) POLICY AGENDA - issues that decision makers think are salient. (i.e. legislators)
3) CORPORATE AGENDA - issues that big business & corporations consider important.
4) MEDIA AGENDA - issues discussed in the media."

These agenda's are made prominent by the amount of media coverage they receive, which indicates to the public their degree of importance. e.g. an issue that an organisation thinks is very important, will receive much more media coverage than one that is not as important.

Similar agenda setting can be viewed in my annotated bibliography, relating to 9/11.

The way we perceive contemporary events and situations has a direct relation to how it has been represented in the media. Much of how we see things today has been influenced by the the way the media has represented it in the past.To gain a proper view of events, we must step back and critically evaluate what we are being told.

There are two theories relating to agenda setting:
1) That it focusses on what the public should focus on in the media.
2) That it focusses on how the public should receive an issue.

It is apparent that large media organisations set the media agenda. Issues that are published first by such organisations as the NY Times, are quickly gobbled up by smaller organisations, and broadcast throughout the world. This type of agenda setting is mainly for the public's benefit, and does not abide by political agenda's.

The 24 hour news cycle changes the way the agenda of the media is set. These news outlets must be constantly updated with information that is new, interesting and important.
Agenda setting changes the way the public perceives issues of importance in the media, which can be beneficial, although the public must also be aware that what they are reading is written for a particular purpose, and for a particular effect.