Introduction
The mass media significantly influence society, as they have power over what and in what way to present information. The press and television use the formation of public opinion to achieve specific goals. This paper aims to investigate how the appearance of printed newspapers affects the perception of facts and the reader’s selection of the essential from among the secondary.
In addition, the critical purpose of such actions on the part of the media will be explained from the perspective of agenda-setting theory. Having highlighted the theory’s fundamental concepts, it will be possible to more comprehensively outline its role in forming thoughts, moods, and attitudes. The means of mass communication, using the methods of influence, in particular, guided by the framework of agenda-setting theory, have considerable power over convincing the masses of the importance of the covered topics.
Key Concepts of Agenda-Setting Theory
Agenda-setting theory works effectively thanks to applying three leading factors: priming, issue intrusiveness, and framing. Priming is used to highlight the importance of some news, among others. It is achieved by attributing influential persons to the topic, allocating significant airtime, or even creating headlines to emphasize importance (Rosenberry & Vicker, 2022). Another essential concept is issue intrusiveness, which prioritizes topics unobtrusive to the audience’s perception (Rosenberry & Vicker, 2022).
Thus, by raising public awareness of specific issues, the mass media can tell us what to think about (Mr. Sinn, 2019, 00:00:48-00:00:52). Finally, framing means adapting the look and manner of presenting information to stand out favorably from others (Rosenberry & Vicker, 2022). The formation of content using framing corresponds to the purpose of conveying information and the desired level of influence.
Description and Link of Media Example
While influencing the peculiarities of human perception, agenda-setting manifests in various types of media, particularly in print news. Thus, the front page of The New York Times, dated November 20, 2023, shows a thought-provoking view where elements are arranged according to the purpose of giving importance to the reader (The New York Times, 2023). One can see how a large image stands out, referring to the article about the evacuated newborns in Gaza, the title of which is the only one written in capital letters.
Furthermore, the article about the war in Ukraine, “Invisible Battle Is Being Fought Above Ukraine,” although it attracts attention with a catchy headline, does not even contain an illustration (The New York Times, 2023). Thus, the appearance of the newspaper page and the corresponding page on the website guides the reader to the information that should be presented as the most meaningful.
Application of Theory to Example
The editorial team primed the material with proper information to grab the reader’s attention. Therefore, the phrases ‘Death Zone’ and ‘Hamas Hideout’ immediately stand out among others and provoke further reading (The New York Times, 2023). Moreover, the issue of infants appears to concern the reader, as the narrative is framed in such a way as to emphasize the salience of the subject. In this context, the concept of issue intrusiveness is designed not only to establish importance but also to form an opinion on this topic, which the reader will consider his own (A First Look at Communication Theory, 2014, 00:02:18-00:02:25). Finally, the framing of an article manifests itself in the noticeable difference in the presentation of articles on the same page, from the narrative to the font size.
Conclusion
Mass media influences not only the importance of specific issues but also the shaping of opinions on them. The agenda-setting theory and the application of priming, issue intrusiveness, and framing explain this significant impact. Using the example of The New York Times page, this paper outlined how the components of agenda setting form the reader’s perception of the covered topics. The comprehensive application of this framework and its effectiveness confirm the power of the media in people’s lives.
References
A First Look at Communication Theory. (2014). Max McCombs on agenda-setting theory [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Mr. Sinn. (2019). Agenda setting theory: Media theories [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Rosenberry, J. & Vicker, L. (2022). Applied mass communication theory: A guide for media practitioners(3rd ed.) Pearson.
The New York Times. (2023). Today’s paper. Web.