Marjorie I. Montefolka

Setting the Agenda

Agenda-setting theory of mass communication is all about distinguishing between what we think about and what we think. It includes what we know about or cognition and the latter refers to our opinions and feelings. Agenda-setting has an important impact on the cognitive level without affecting our opinion or feelings.

In the example about the presidential election, the media wants to emphasize the opinion or feelings of the voters rather the political agenda. Because we all know that media serves as the mediator of the public to know the information when it comes to political aspects. The media choose first to be in the side of the public rather in the politician.

In the media agenda setting, media coverage can lift up the stand of the public. A change in public priorities depends on the amount of media attention. If the public are concerned about the issue, the more they will learn about it. The stronger the opinion of the public is the more they will take action on it. The media coverage will affect the other public such as regulators and other policy maker when they give their side to the public.

It’s a good thing if the PR practitioners get an issue onto media agenda if an organization wants to raise awareness on the certain issue or when something dangerous happened in the organization. The Media agenda setting is a key to the strategic management of PR communication. The two concepts in agenda setting theory are the issue Salience which determines the prominence and penetration. The issue has with the audience for how it will resonate with each public. And the other one is the Cognitive Priming which describes the personal experience or connection someone has with an issue.

Diffusing information and Innovation

When we are spreading of new ideas, we tend to have a social communication or interaction to others. And we get those sources from different social and economic background. Those sources are accessible for the media, and for that, the media will provide the information on a certain issue to the public. When the people receive a information from the media, the people will start a conversation regarding the information that they received. The media serves as the provider of the information that we seek to know and then diffusing information to others will occur.

Diffusion of information and innovation theory, adopted if they are more advantageous, compatible with the other aspects of the situation, simple, easily tried, and observable. The first to adopt the new ideas will be the innovators and it followed by the majority. It only shows that the interaction in social system and social change occur in the diffusing information and innovation.

Defining Social Support

Individuals who think that their opinions conflict the opinion of other people tend to remain silent on that certain issue. “Spiral of Silence” referred to as the “SILENT MAJORITY”. Most of the publics are experiencing lack of social support; they can’t express their opinion totally because they are afraid if their opinion would worth listen to. The spiral begins when individual choose to remain silent or decide to express their views, and the other continue to observe the presence or absence of support for their own views. Media has a greater impact in defining the social support. They challenge the Spiral of Silence if it has effect on public opinions. Media would understand the dynamics of individual collective observation of their social environments and public opinions translate rather directly into public relations practice. Mass comm. plays a key role in redefining socially accepted expression on the many public issues. Socio-cultural model effects suggest that “messages presented via the mass media may provide the appearance of consensus regarding orientation and action with respect to a given object or goal of persuasion.