The agenda-setting theory holds that the power of the media lies in the selection of topics on which they report. The attention that journalism gives to certain topics determines our perception of what the most important topics are. The concepts of ,priming, and ,framing, are associated with agenda setting theory.
Agenda setting theory
The media determine the public’s agenda: they determine what people think. That is the core of the agenda setting theory. Three types of agendas are used, namely:
- The intrapersonal agenda: which topics the public finds important
- The interpersonal agenda: what topics the public talks about with others
- Perceived community agenda: which topics are important within the social environment
Agreement between media agenda and public agenda
The similarities between the media agenda and the public agenda are measured by models:
- The awareness model: the question of whether topics from the media agenda appear on the public agenda
- The salience model: whether topics appear on both agendas and distinction between important and unimportant topics
- The priority model: ranking of agenda topics
Agenda setting and reality
In addition to the media and public agenda, a third variable is sometimes included in research into agenda setting: real reality.
Agenda setting and political actors
Some researchers have linked the media and public agenda to the political agenda. It is examined whether topics that are on the public agenda also end up on the agenda for (government) policy and what role the media plays. Agenda building is the process by which demands and wishes of groups in society receive the attention of political actors, who try to influence the agenda of the media and the public.
Role of interpersonal communication in agenda setting
Interpersonal communication plays an important role according to agenda setting theory. Interpersonal communication can be an alternative source of information to the media, but can also function as an intervening variable that influences the agenda-setting process. Interpersonal communication can also be understood as the result of agenda setting
Priming, framing and agenda setting
The concepts of priming and framing are often associated with agenda setting theory. However, there is much debate about the relationship between these three models of media effects. Agenda setting is about influencing the agenda: what does the public find important? Priming assumes that the influence of the media goes beyond ,putting a topic on the agenda,: media determine the public’s standards of assessment. Notification activates knowledge units in memory, making them accessible. Framing concerns the production, content and effects of media messages. The concepts of ,priming, and ,framing, are briefly explained again below.
Priming
Media priming means that media determine the audience’s standards of assessment. A lot of emphasis on certain issues (and less on others) means that those issues receive the most attention: knowledge units become more accessible and used as an assessment framework.
Framing
Framing is the way in which journalists select their subjects, give them prominence, frame them, shape them and provide them with attributes. The frame that journalists present in the news is their perception of the subject. Frames can simplify the presentation of complex topics. Internal and external factors influence the way in which topics are presented by journalism. The media frame can then determine from which perspective the audience will view the subject.