Agenda Setting Chapter 11 PDF

Agenda Setting chapter 11 Dr. Mohamed Hossam Ismail Professor Dept. of Journalism Faculty of Mass Comm. Cairo University/MIU  Discussion What news have you seen in the Egyptian media in the last few weeks? Why do you think the media decided to cover these stories?...

Agenda Setting chapter 11 Dr. Mohamed Hossam Ismail Professor Dept. of Journalism Faculty of Mass Comm. Cairo University/MIU  Discussion What news have you seen in the Egyptian media in the last few weeks? Why do you think the media decided to cover these stories? Are the covered stories always the most important? Why do you think the media decided to cover these stories? Are the covered stories always the most important?  What is Agenda? An agenda is a list of items in order of importance, with the most important at the top.  What is agenda setting? The agenda-setting function refers to the media’s capability, through the repeated news coverage, of raising the importance of an issue in the public’s mind. Mainstream media attention to an issue causes that issue to be elevated in importance to the public. Textbook Example  Textbook Example: War on Drugs During the war on drugs, the reality was that the drug problem decreased. This was proven by statistics. Due to media coverage, the audience thought the drug problem was growing and should be a bigger priority for the government. Drugs became a higher priority for the public (Agenda-setting). Textbook Example: Crime Wave Textbook Example: Crime Wave The reality was that crime statistics had not changed. Media coverage made the audience think that crime was increasing and made people feel less safe. Crime became a higher priority for the public and public officials (agenda- setting).  Chapel Hill Study The first systematic study of the agenda- setting hypothesis was reported in 1972 by McCombs and Shaw. They studied how mass media set the agenda for each political campaign, influencing the salience of attitudes toward the political issues. The study focused on the “undecided” voters in Chapel Hill (North Carolina) during the presidential elections of 1968 (Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, George Wallace).  Chapel Hill Study cont. They made a list of the issues voter perceive as important and the issues the media emphasize. Results: The correlation between the two lists was high. The findings supported an Agenda Setting effect.  Chapel Hill Study cont. Weakness of the study: This study found a strong correlation between the media agenda and the public agenda during the 1968 elections, but it couldn’t show which is influencing which. The question here is whether the media emphasized the issues because the public was interested in them or vice versa. The Media Agenda and Reality The Media Agenda and Reality This study focuses on the 1970s where many issues were prominent. G. Ray Funkhouser was interested in the relationship between the news coverage, the public perception and the issues in reality. He obtained his data as follows: The media content: by counting the number of articles on each issue in 3 weekly local news papers. The issue in reality: based on statistics taken from a statistical Abstracts of the US.  Results of the study Funkhouser looked at the relationship between public opinion and media content, and the relationship between media content and reality. The results of the study showed a strong correlation between public ranking of an issue as important, and the amount of coverage given the issue by the media. On the other hand, it seemed to be that media coverage did not correspond very well to the realities of the issues.  Discussion Question Who sets the agenda for the MEDIA?  Who sets the agenda for the Media? There are several factors that affect the media agenda: 1. Intermedia agenda setting: It’s when the Elite media set the agenda for other media. Example: If the New York Times covers a story, then all other American media feel they have to cover that story. Example: If Al-Masry Alyoum newspaper or DMC channel covers a story, private Egyptian media may feel they also need to cover the story.  Who sets the agenda for the Media? 2. Influences from individual media workers/ communicators: Example: Reporters, editors, talk show hosts, producers, influencers, bloggers. The ones who choose whether or not to cover a story according to: their characters and attitudes, (liberal vs. conservative) personal background, professional background (studied in Egypt vs. Studied in the US).  Who sets the agenda for the Media? 3. Media Routines: deadlines, space or time constraints, reliance on official sources. Algorithms & trends for social media. (social media algorithm is a complex set of rules and calculations used by social media platforms to prioritize the content that users see in their feeds). Format; the successful 30 sec or one-minute reel. Who sets the agenda for the Media? 4. Organizational influences: All media organizations have specific goals they want to achieve (like making money), which affects the content (ad campaign vs. covering corruption).  Who sets the agenda for the Media? 5. Influences from outside media organizations: ex, pressure groups (Jewish lobby in the US), interest groups (Anti-harassment in Egypt), government. Pressures on Tik Tok to remove reels supporting Hamas.  Who sets the agenda for the Media? 6. Society Ideology: it represents a society-level phenomenon that affects media content. Ex: Believing in capitalism and democracy in USA will affect media content there. Ex: Ignoring topics socially considered taboo like having a communist rule. Mercy killing, nudity, in Muslim countries.