Mass Media and the agenda sitting theory.

Saud AL-Harbi

Student

A lot of scholars and educated people whom took the time to research and understand this theory agree that it's real and happening within the media. The theory of "Mass media and the agenda sitting" is something that obvious yet unbelievable to some people. The simple explanation of the theory is that mass media and world press use their influence over the large population that they reach to change or shift the public opinion to what it's best for them. In other words, the media can direct the focus on the news they want, for example; if a news cast channel is democrat it will chose stores and news that in their best interest. And also we see this every time we watch the news or read the paper. Also most of the time, the media shows news that sell's and interesting to the average person. This type of thing is happening all the time, wars starts and wars ends while what the news channels shows is what the actress X is wearing in the awards show.

 

 

 

Cartoonist Darkow, paint what I'm trying to explain. we see in the picture how the media can point the camera away from something important for people wouldn't even here about it. This theory is real and happening, and it affect everyone who takes their information and build their opinion on what they see in the news. Bas van Doorn, the professor in The College of Wooster, in his article, “What is Important? The Impact of Interpersonal Political Discussion on Public Agendas” the ways the media uses to shift public opinion. The manipulation of media is far more grater then we think, “The concept of agenda-setting finds concise expression in Cohen’s claim that the media ‘may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about"'.

 

 

Another evidence is given by the author Stephanie, Edgerly investigate the role of ownership in her article "Red Media, Blue Media, and Purple Media: News Repertoires in the Colorful Media Landscape".How the ownership or the same goals for people in power effect news casting and what gets the most attention. This is happening a lot then we expect, major media channels and newspapers use their influence to help politicians that they support. “Ownership influence, pressure to fill a large news hole, and increased competition have resulted in news content that shies away from traditional notions of neutrality and objectivity” (Edgerly). She goes on to give an example to support her claim, “For example, FoxNews’ coverage of the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003, displayed significantly more support for the Bush Administration than did ABC, CBS, CNN, or NBC”. What we see here is a lot of power and influence directed to what benefit the network and it's owners. To me really its a big power play that pollinations use to their own gain. The evidence provided and shown are nothing to what is going on in the media everyday. Knowledge and choosing our argument carefully is our best weapon.