There are many theories when it comes to communication and the media. One major theory is called agenda setting. This theory was proposed by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw in 1972 in Public Opinion Quarterly. They originally suggested that the media doesn't necessarily tell the public what to think but they will tell the public what to think about. Agenda setting occurs when the publics' minds are affected by the organization and presentation of newsworthy stories. The media will spend more time on a certain story to make the public assume that it is more important than stories that don't get as much coverage even when this may not be the case. This perception by the public is automatic and doesn't require too much effort by the larger media groups. The media decides which stories people should care about. This theory happens through something called accessibility; it's a cognitive process.
Within agenda setting, there are different levels. The first level deals with research. Before the media can start influencing anyone, they have to do some digging on how stories actually influence people. They are trying to find out what types of thoughts people will have when exposed to certain kinds of information and stories given to them by the media. The second level deals with how people are supposed to think about the general idea of the information. Media outlets will sensationalize stories in order to both draw their audiences' attention in and also hold onto them. This allows the media to embed certain ideas into the minds of their audience to ensure the issues they want to stay viral actually stay viral.
Agenda setting is used everywhere ranging from public relations, campaigns, political ads, general news, and much more. Another theory that is closely associated with agenda setting is called gatekeeping. This theory describes the process in which media stories are selected and filtered for an audience. Gatekeepers are in sole control of what content the public gets to see. They select their stories based on their personal biases, what will bring in the most attention, and what the public should be interested in. In the media, the main gatekeepers are the editors because they choose what is going to appear in their publication.
There are things that affect agenda setting as a whole. For example, people and organizations like editors and government officials act as gatekeepers to control the content before it even gets to the agenda setting stage. There are some criticisms when it comes to agenda setting. For example, media users don't always pay attention to the details so they might not be as influenced. Also, agenda setting has virtually no effect on an audience that already knows what they think about a certain situation because they will most likely stand by their original decision. Another criticism is that the media can't really do much besides make things seem important or less important. Other than that, they are powerless regarding the content they discuss because they're not the ones creating the stories, they're just reporting on them.
Let's think about this theory in terms of our own lives and how we are affected by it. Everyone has their own values and beliefs. Everyone has things that they're interested in and things they couldn't care less about. The media has to navigate these waters to try and find something most people might care about. They can also do this in reverse by pushing down and hiding stories by promoting other ones. Now to apply it to our own lives. For the purpose of this example, let's assume we all live in a nice neighborhood out in the country. We don't have a ton of money but everyone is living just fine. One night, after you get home from a long day at work, you decide to turn on the tv to your local news channel while you start to cook dinner. You tune out most of what they're saying until you hear them say "breaking news." Your ears perk up and you stop what you're doing to see what's so important. The news anchor begins to talk about something happening with the President. You think it might be very important, but it turns out to be the same thing they've been airing for the past week. There is no actual new information; the media just wants to ensure you don't forget what's going on with the President so that the issue begins to seem very important. When they finally get back to the normally scheduled news, they briefly mention a new sewer system being put up in your county, but they don't list any specifics. What the media didn't tell you was that the county would be ripping up your backyard to put in a sewer system that your neighborhood doesn't want or need and on top of that, your neighborhood has to pay for it!
This shows that the media can decide what stories they want their audience to care about, because they care about it. They can decide to shove down stories they don't particularly care about or won't get too many viewers tuned in even if that story is more important in the long run. The media decides what stories are important and what stories get left in the dust.
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