JOURNAL 300 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States Senate Committee On Foreign Relations, Lyndon B. Johnson
16 Aug 2016
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What is agenda setting? (of news media) The ability to influence the salience/impotance of topics on the public agenda. The importance of a certain topic is established among the public so that an issue becomes the focus of public attention, thought, & sometimes action. It is the beginning state in the formation of public opinion. News media exert a significant impact on our perceptions. Proposed by walter lippman in the 1920s (the world outside and the pictures in our heads) Found little evidence of major mass communication effects on attitudes & opinions. Studies proved that the media are trying to inform not persuade. Demonstrated that ppl acquire info from the mass media even if they didn"t change their opinions. Many issues competing for spotlight but only a few are successful in capturing public attention. Paul lazarsfeld & colleagues at columbia university collaborated w/ Roper to conduct interviews w/ voters in erie county, oh.
