Agenda setting is the process of the mass media presenting certain issues frequently and prominently with the result that large segments of the public come to perceive those issues as more important. This simple means the more coverage a stories receive means it is important enough to receive that amount of coverage. Media doesn't tell you what to think, but what to think about.
There are two levels of agenda setting. The first level focuses on the amount of media coverage and it's concerned with the influence the media on which objects are at the center of public attention. The second level focuses on how the media discusses those issues and how the people understand. The attributes and tone the media use in their descriptions are the attributes and tone foremost in the public mind.
The media constructs our view of society. An individuals conception of reality is socially constructed through a process of communication and using shared language. This constructed view of society is done through the process of framing and agenda setting. Framing is to select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient to promote a particular problem definition, casual interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation. Both framing and agenda setting call attention to the perspectives of communication and their audiences and how they picture topics in the news.
For example, the coverage of Hurricane Katrina after it hit New Orleans.
As you can see in these two different newspaper clippings, the difference in the way they described the efforts people were making just to stay alive. White people were described as finding food like they were surviving the tragedy. On the other hand, black people were described as stealing their food like they were taking advantage of the tragedy to get free food instead of trying to survive until they were rescued.
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