Agenda Setting #9

Agenda setting is all about having influence over the public eye. The power that comes with agenda setting could lead to many positives but also many negatives. Agenda setting could make a big, impactful influence on events like the election. If a certain news channel is only pushing out articles related more toward one party over the other, it could lead to persuasive thoughts influencing public views. It could also focus on unrealistic beauty standards that affect all genders and ages, especially the younger generation, which could also affect people’s mental health.

On the other hand, it could make a positive impact. If there is an issue like climate change and the public doesn't seem to be worried about it, that is when the public agenda could take place. Another positive impact agenda setting could have is influencing people to focus on positive topics like education or shared interests. It could also bring families together to have conversations and discussions, which could improve the communication skills of a family.

Public agenda is when the same topic keeps getting pushed to the public so much that it might spark interest or concern about the topic or issue. The media gets to choose what is shown to the public—negative news or positive news. The media can also influence what is considered the norm for the topic being shown.

Agenda setting could affect society as a whole by shaping people’s thoughts on certain issues and topics. It could also affect different segments differently—lower, middle, and upper-class incomes, gender, etc. If a type of media gets pushed to the public about an issue that isn’t right or is very negative, it could leave the impact of persuading people that it is good and positive when it really is not at all.

When it comes to me personally, it could affect my safety or rights if something negative is being pushed to the public. It could also affect my family and friends as well. When the media pushes out topics that become the focus of discussion within families, it could lead to ignoring issues that are personal and actually affect everyday life. It could also cause arguments within families about topics that are being pushed in the media that not everyone agrees with.

Especially when it comes to our generation, being at the college age, the knowledge we follow is often based on what we see or what our parents believe. If positive or negative topics are being pushed to the public, we could easily follow along, thinking it is okay, which could cause stress and weariness.

A great example could be something like the election. There are a lot of first-time voters, and if the same type of content is being pushed by the media to the public, favoring one party over another, it could easily persuade the first-time voter generation.

All in all, the power of agenda-setting media could lead to many positive aspects but also negative ones.

https://www.communicationtheory.org/agenda-setting-theory/