Effects Approach: Agenda setting / Framing/ Priming

Dr. Attia Zulfiqar

The Effects approach to the study of communication focuses on the effects of mass communication

on the audience (listeners, viewers, readers, browsers). This model was developed by researchers

who argued against the dominant theoretical models in mass communication research during the

1950s and 1960s known as the Limited Effects model. Proponents of the limited effects model

such as Joseph Klapper maintained that mass communication does not have sufficient or direct

effects on the audience, but that it "functions among and through a nexus of mediating factors and

influences." On the contrary, the Effects model holds that mass communication does influence

people's attitudes, perceptions, opinions and behavior.

Agenda Setting Theory:

It was first put forth by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw in 1972 in Public Opinion Quarterly.

Originally suggested that the media sets the public agenda, in the sense that they may not exactly

tell you what to think, but they may tell you what to think about. In their first article where they

brought this theory to light their abstract states:

“In choosing and displaying news, editors, newsroom staff, and broadcasters play an

important part in shaping political reality. Readers learn not only about a given issue, but

also how much importance to attach to that issue from the amount of information in a news

story and its position. In reflecting what candidates are saying during a campaign, the mass

media may well determine the important issues—that is, the media may set the “agenda “of

the campaign”

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History: The fundamentals of the theory were derived from studies of political communication,

especially election campaigns in the USA. In the first of such studies known as the Chapel Hill

study, which led to the formulation of Agenda setting theory, McCombs and Shaw (1972) studied

Agenda setting in the 1968 US presidential campaigns. They assumed that the mass media set the

agenda for the campaigns in terms of deciding what were the important issues being discussed by

both the campaigners and voters. They interviewed a sample of 100 undecided voters in Chapel

Hill county in the state of North Carolina. At the same time they analyzed the contents of five

newspapers, two news magazines and two television networks' evening news broadcasts. The

respondents were asked what they saw as major problems in the country which were major issues

in the election. The results of the two-way study showed that there was a high correlation between

the major issues mentioned by the respondents and the highlights of the news coverage in the TV

networks news bulletins contents analyzed. McCombs and Shaw therefore concluded that there is

a strong relationship between the emphasis on different campaign issues by the media and the

voters' identification of what was important or salient. Shortly after the study by McCombs and

Shaw, Ray Funkhouser studied the relationship between news coverage and public perception of

the importance of issues. He conducted polls to ask respondents about the most important problems

facing America. He studied media content within the same period.

When analyzing agenda setting, there are two basic assumptions to be considered:

1. Media and the press filter and shape reality rather than reflect it.

2. When media focuses on just a few issues and subjects, the public tends to perceive those

issues as more important.

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3. Media influence affects the order of presentation in news reports about news events, issues

in the public mind. More importance to a news-more importance attributed by audience.

Media Priorities: It says what people should think about and how people should think

about.

These are the levels of agenda setting theory:

• First Level:

Mostly studied by researchers, media uses objects or issues to influence the people what

people should think about.

• Second level:

Media focuses on the characters of issues how people should think about.

Agenda setting theory used in political ad, campaigns, business news, PR (public relation) etc.

The main concept associated with the agenda setting theory is gate keeping. Gate keeping

controls over the selection of content discussed in the media; Public cares mostly about the

product of a media gate keeping. It is especially editors media itself is a gatekeeper. News

media decides ‘what’ events to admit through media ‘gates’ on ground of ‘newsworthiness’.

For e.g.: News Comes from various sources, editors choose what should appear and what

should not that’s why they are called as gatekeepers.

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 Priming

Activity of the media in proposing the values and standards by which objects of the media

attention can be judged. Media’s content will provide a lot of time and space to certain issues,

making it more vivid.

To say in simple words, Media is giving utmost importance to a news so that it gives people

the impression that is the most important information. This is done every day the particular

news is carried as a heading or covered every day for months.

Headlines, Special news features, discussions, expert opinions are used.

4. Media primes a news by repeating the news and giving it more importance E.g. Nuclear

deal.

Agenda building

Gladys Lang and Kurt Lang studied the relationship between the press and public opinion during

the Watergate crisis. They expanded the agenda setting research by breaking down the process into

six steps:

1. The press highlights some events or activities and make them special

2. Different kinds of issues require different kinds and amounts of news coverage to gain attention

3. The events and activities in focus must be 'framed' or given special meaning within which they

can be understood. Watergate was not a biased issue but a symptom of widespread political

corruption.

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4. The language used by the media can affect perception of the importance of an issue

5. The media link the activities or events that have become the focus of attention to secondary

symbols whose place in the context of the main story is easily recognized. people need to have a

basis for taking sides on issues.

6. Agenda building is accelerated when the well-known and credible individuals begin to speak

out on an issue.

Who sets the media agenda?

While most agenda setting studies were about the possible effects of media effects on the public's

agenda, later studies tried to answer the question regarding who sets the media agenda?

Funkhouser 1973 is among researchers who tried to answer this question. He suggested five

mechanisms in addition to the flow actual events that influence the amount of media attention an

issue might get.

1. Adaptation of the media to a stream of events. As the same events pattern of events persists

it may be perceived as more of the same and cease to be seen as news.

2. Over-reporting of significant but unusual events. Some events though important, may receive

exaggerated coverage because of their sensational value or unusualness.

3. Selective reporting of the newsworthy aspects of otherwise non-newsworthy situations.

4. Pseudo-events or the manufacturing of newsworthy events (demonstrations, protests,

publicity stunts) help to put events into press agenda.

5. Event summaries or situations that are non-newsworthy events in a newsworthy way

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Who sets the media agenda boils down to what are the influences on media content? Shoemaker

and Reese (1991) proposed five major categories of influence on media content as follows:

1. Influence from other media workers such as professional backgrounds, personal attitudes and

professional roles

2. Influences of media routines. What gets into the mass media is influenced by the daily practices

in the newsrooms such as deadlines, news values, policy, ethical considerations and sourcing of

news.

3. Organizational influence on content. Ownership and media organizations have missions e.g.

making money, or promoting an ideology. These goals can have an impact on content in many

ways.

4. Influence on content from outside of media organization - interest groups, government which

regulate content directly through laws on libel, sedition or indirectly through intimidation and

extra-judicial sanctions.

5. The influence of ideology

Agenda setting and new media

New media have revolutionized communication patterns, media control, news sourcing, and access

to the global public sphere. Unlike in the past when primary news definers came only from the

high class in society, from royalty, those who are economically powerful, political leaders,

opposition leaders, and celebrities, social media today provide the platform for ordinary people to

make their voices heard. Many studies have pointed to the impact of new media in the Arab Spring,

a series of revolutions in regions in which the mass media are used to strictly operating in line with

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government wishes. It is therefore worth noting that the whole notion of Agenda setting might

have changed with the advent and continuing development of new communication technologies.

Framing: An extension of Agenda Setting Theory

Framing is a concept which is commonly used to understand the media effects. It is regarded as

the extension of agenda setting theory which prioritize an issue and makes the audience think about

its effects. The framing is based on the idea of how media base an event or an issue within a

particular field of meaning which plays an important role in people’s decision-making procedure.

Framing

Framing is used to represent the communication aspect which leads to the people’s preference by

consenting one meaning to another. Framing stimulates the decision-making process by

highlighting particular aspects by eliminating the others. For e.g. the newspaper frames the news

within a particular viewpoint. This can change the perception of the issue among the readers.

Framing is an important aspect where an issue can be highlighted to make sense of the events. It

can regulate the audience’s perception and also the acceptance of a particular meaning. As media

plays an important role in the people’s perceptions, the negative framing can create a huge impact

upon the people. For e.g. the sensitive issues that are coming in the media have been framed

diplomatically by not supporting any principles and thus the people can make their own decisions.

But a biased media can frame an issue negatively and can influence the mass. Intuition and careful

interpretation of the audience are inevitable when it comes to framing. Media is a powerful tool

and so the content must be framed with values as it influences and controls the audience.

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The journalists select the news stories influenced by many factors such as news values, editorial

policies, and interaction with the creamy layer of the society. These factors build the frame. With

the interaction between the media and the preconceptions of the people, Framing plays an

important role in how the particular issue is been presented before the people and how they

perceive it.

Framing techniques per Fairhurst and Sarr (1996):

• Metaphor: To frame a conceptual idea through comparison to something else. Stories

(myths, legends): To frame a topic via narrative in a vivid and memorable way.

• Tradition (rituals, ceremonies): Cultural mores that imbue significance in the mundane,

closely tied to artifacts.

• Slogan, jargon, catchphrase: To frame an object with a catchy phrase to make it more

memorable and relate-able.

• Artifact: Objects with intrinsic symbolic value – a visual/cultural phenomenon that holds

more meaning than the object itself.

• Contrast: To describe an object in terms of what it is not.

• Spin: to present a concept in such a way as to convey a value judgement (positive

or negative) that might not be immediately apparent; to create an inherent bias by

definition.

Example

Newspapers prioritize the news items and highlight according to policies of the agency. The

journalists decide the frame in which the information is presented accordingly. If a journalist

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reports on a pollution problem from a local river, it can be reported in the native’s perceptive;

where the problems faced by the people living nearby the river is highlighted, the perspective of

the company causing the pollution; highlighting the advantages of how the company can help In

development and employment opportunities, and from an outsiders perspective; highlighting the

pros and cons of the industry and also taking into account the problems faced by the people. Each

report can influence the mass in a huge manner and mostly the media stands diplomatically.