Noreen Joy A. Silao
COMMELECT2 (Mondays- 02:30- 05:00pm)

Setting the Agenda

The ‘agenda- setting’ theory of mass communication effects builds on Lippmann’s notion of media impact by distinguishing between “what we think about” and “what we think.”

Some says that those media practitioners are the best “PR” now a days, because they know how to communicate properly with a right attitude and of a good choice of words, but does good communication skills is enough to apply on this topic, setting the agenda?

Courting, is that doing such good things for a certain person with a certain purpose, commonly a boy is courting someone (girl) because he likes her to become his girlfriend, but before he wins the girls heart, he needs not just to say what he feels, but also he should give in efforts and this effort includes lot of thinking and commitments. First, a suitor need to make sure of what he really feels, and what does he wants to do, then he’ll think if what is the right move to impress the girl, of course, and lastly, he need to be ready for the consequences of what he’ll going to do. He needs to accept if he will be rejected and he needs to face the responsibility if he will be accepted. Going back, courting is quite hard thing to do, especially for those serious one, because they need to confer more effort to convince, accept and to be trusted. Like in agenda setting theory of mass communication, courting is somehow one way of agenda setting, from issue salience, which is the first concept in agenda setting that determines the prominence and penetration the issue has with the audience, which means that the issue that your going to discuss is close to your target audience interests for them to become intact and interested, Second concept is that cognitive printing which deals with the personal experience or connection someone have with the issue. Media need some sources on this concept, and these sources give the information of some personal experiences of your target audience, because if the media knew about his/ her target audience, it is easier for them to build an agenda on how they can attract their audience attention. Same as with a guy who’s courting, He needs to find out what his target girls’ interests, her likes and dislikes, turn on and turn off’s, then his target girls’ background or personal experiences, her past love life, if does this girl experienced a terrible heart ache before or family background, if does her parents are strict on her suitors or not. Some basic steps of an agenda, and more effective ways to become successful this agenda is.

Good communication skills is not enough for convincing target audience, but we also need to have knowledge about this agenda setting, which is to look over between what we think about and what we think. We need not just to look at it, but we should look beyond it, like researchers McCombs and Shaw said about agenda setting, “Media not only tell us what to think about, but how to think about it, and consequently, what to think”, and on my own sayings about courting is that, “Courting someone is not just simply saying you love her, but it is on how you show it, and on what purpose you have and lastly on how you’re going to control and manage the relationship that your planning to make.”

Diffusing Information and Innovation

From the agenda setting concept of cognitive, it is about on what sources you’ve gathered concerning your audiences and it is not always better to concentrate on the gathered information about your target audiences. Why? Because there is this so- called “diffusing information and innovation”, this advance information about a certain audience sometimes gathered by just heard from someone, and somehow untrue, but there are times that, these information are true but because of the diffusing innovation, the source of information will be transformed and changed so fast that even if these information will be discuss or it’ll be talk about, the impact of the issue on the receiver is not intimate and worst if he/ she’ll not be interested about the said issue.

Media are the one who’s gathering sources of information; they are the one responsible in researching, that’s why they are also the one who’s responsible in updating these gathered sources. Sometimes, this adopters influence the adoption process that’s why they need also to adopt and followed the changes because that changes also creates a huge impact to the audiences, that the media also need the innovation of the issue that they planning to make for a new type of your audience interest, for you to catch and completely have their attention.

Defining Social Support

Social Support is more likely determined as the backbone of the certain issue or simply a ‘message’. Media, when gathering sources of information they are undertaking lot of change, and that is the right time to pull in the social support for it.

From the illustration that I’ve seen upon this article, the influence of social support groups are applied after the persuasion of the message, which I think is that conveying a right message for the target audiences, then defining sociocultural process of groups or the so- called “social support”, which are the some alternative ways of discussing the issue or the message, then forms of alters definitions of socially approved behavior for group members which included for reservation of suggestions that will use as a revision of the original persuaded message. Lastly, is that achieved changes in direction of overt behavior, this are the final changes made and the converted, clearer way of giving message and information, that if it’ll not work again, in some reasons, like diffusing innovations, there’s no problem at all, because here in social support, there are some alternative ways in persuading a message and making it as effective as what the media wants and expected.

This sociocultural model of communication effects suggests that message 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, meaning media is the one who are responsible in providing the most credible message to the target audiences for their most motivating topic/ issue.