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A First Look at
Communication Theory
9th edition
Em GriffinAndrew Ledbetter
Glenn Sparks
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Agenda-Setting Theoryof Maxwell McCombs & Donald Shaw30
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
The Original Agenda: What Not to Think, But What to Think About
Agenda-setting hypothesis – mass media have ability to transfer the salience of issues on their news agenda to the public agendaDo not make deliberate attempt to
influence listener, viewer, or reader opinionLook to news professionals for cues on
where to focus attention
Slide 2
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Media Agenda and Public Agenda: A Close Match
McCombs and Shaw’s first task was to measure the influence between the media and public agendasMedia agenda – pattern of news coverage
across major print and broadcast media, as measured by prominence and length of stories
Public agenda – most important public issues as measured by public opinion surveys
Slide 3
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What Causes What?
McCombs and Shaw’s findings were impressive, but equivocal True test of agenda-setting
hypothesis must show
that public priorities lag
behind the media agenda
Slide 4
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What Causes What?
Yale researchers established cause-and-effect chain of influence from media agenda to public agenda Viewers who saw media agendas that
focused on pollution and defense elevated those issues on their own lists of concerns
Confirmed cause-and-effect relationship between media agenda and public agenda
Slide 5
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Who is Most Affected by the Media Agenda?
McCombs and Shaw understood that “people are not automatons waiting to be programmed by the news media”People willing to let media shape thinking
when a high need for orientation existsIndex of curiosity – measure of extent
that individuals' need for orientation motivates them to let the media shape their views
Slide 6
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Index of Curiosity
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Framing: Transferring the Salience of Attributes
The media aren’t very successful in telling us what to think, but they are stunningly successful
in telling us what to think about
Framing – selection of a restricted number of thematically related attributes for inclusion on the media agenda when a particular object or issue is discussed
Slide 8
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Hillary Clinton'sGendered Attributes
ShrillBitchyEvery man's first
ex-wifeOut of controlStupidHysterical
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Hillary Clinton'sNongendered Attributes
ConfidentIntelligentPresidentialDecisivePowerfulPersonable
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Not Just What to Think About, But How to Think About It
Reporters inevitably frame a story by the personal attributes of public
figures they select to describe
“The media may not only tell us what to think about, they also may tell us how and what to think about it, and perhaps even what to
do about it.” (McCombs and Shaw)
Slide 11
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Who Sets the Agenda for the Agenda Setters?
Traditional ViewNews editors Political candidates Public relations professionals working
for government agencies, corporations and interest groups
Slide 12
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Who Sets the Agenda for the Agenda Setters?
Interest aggregations
Clusters of people who demand center stage for their one, overriding concern,
pressure groups.
Slide 13
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Who Sets the Agenda for the Agenda Setters?
Interest aggregations becoming increasingly adept at creating news that
must be reported
Contemporary view – anyone who knows how to use social media
Slide 14
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Contemporary View
PLAY
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Let's Play a Game
Agenda setting = media telling us WHAT issues to think about (salience)
Framing = media telling us HOW to think about them (interpretation)
Slide 16
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Let's Play a Game
McCombs argues in favor of a powerful media effects model that influences by
WORDS
IMAGES
SOURCE
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Critique: Are the Effects Too Limited, Is The Scope Too Wide?
Definition of framing doesn’t include the emotional connotation of key terms used in ongoing public debate of issues
Popularity of framing as an interpretive construct in media studies resulted in diverse and ambiguous meanings
Thus, a narrow view of framing would be advantageous when testing theory
Slide 18
