The agenda setting

function theory

Media influence

How did it come about?

Developed by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw as

result of their 1968 study of Nth Carolina voters during a
Presidential election campaign

Found a correlation between issues that voters believed

were important and issues that the media gave
prominence to

How does the theory work?

The agenda-setting function theory proposes that the

media cannot tell audience what to think but they can tell
them what to think about

The media has power to set agendas

By selecting certain topics as the agenda of discussion

they tell audiences what to think about (but not exactly
what to think).

Also can affect the tone of the agenda

Processes used by the media

Gatekeeping: editors perform this function when they

decide which topic will be allowed to feature and which
will not be covered at all.

Priming: the media can kick-start certain issues by

pumping them up (thus some issues get sensationalized
and others ignored)

Framing: the media can select certain facts to present a

particular version of events thus packaging stories to
encourage a certain kind of thinking

The power of the news media to set a nations

agenda, to focus public attention on a few key
public issues, is an immense and welldocumented influence. Not only do people
acquire factual information about public affairs
from the news media, readers also learn how
much importance to attach to a topic on the
basis on the emphasis placed on it in the
news.
-Maxwell McCombs

Not only do people acquire factual information about

public affairs from the news media, readers and
viewers also learn how much importance to attach to
a topic on the basis of the emphasis placed on it in
the news. Newspapers provide a host of cues about
the salience of the topics in the daily news lead
story on page one, other front page display, large
headlines, etc. Television news also offers numerous
cues about salience the opening story on the
newscast, length of time devoted to the story, etc.
These cues repeated day after day effectively
communicate the importance of each topic.
-Maxwell McCombs

These cues repeated day after day effectively

communicate the importance of each topic. In other
words, the news media can set the agenda for the
publics attention to that small group of issues around
which public opinion forms.
-Maxwell McCombs

APPLICATION OF THE THEORY

The Kylie Effect

Researchers in the Medical Journal

of Australia identified a
phenomenon they dubbed The
Kylie Eect

Found a correlation between

media reports of Kylie Minogues
breast cancer scare and an
increase in the number of bookings
for breast cancer screening tests

Found a 20-fold increase in the

number of breast cancer related
articles led to a 40% increase in
the number of breast cancer
screenings during the 2 weeks of
intense media coverage

APPLICATION OF THE THEORY

Four Corners: Live Exports

May 2011: ABCs Four Corners

broadcast an episode on the cruel
treatment of live Australian cattle
exports in Indonesian abattoirs.

Program featured graphic footage of

cattle being abused

In the weeks following the episode,

the Australian Meat Industry Council
reported a 10-15% drop in meat sales.

This incident would appear to support

the Agenda Setting Function Theory.
People werent told what to think but
they were told what to think about and
this awareness of animal
crueltyinfluencedconsumer
behaviour.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths
Explains how the media media can
influence society and culture

Weaknesses
Media fragmentation has lessened
the ability of just a few news media
to influence the audience

Works best in a traditional media

Works particularly well when applied
environment with limited numbers of
to the news media
media
Recent increases in concentration of
media ownership around the world
have sharpened interest in this
theory