Theory of Agenda Setting

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Theory of Agenda Setting

• Here may lie the most important effect of mass
  communication, its ability to mentally order and
  organize our world for us. In short, the mass
  media may not be successful in telling us what to
  think, but they are stunningly successful in
  telling us what to think about." Donald Shaw
  
• Maxwell McCombs,
• 1977

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Does the Media Dominate Your Life?
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Mass Communication

• Communication from one person or group of persons
  through a transmitting device (medium) to large
  audiences or markets.

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Communication Model
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The Communication Process

• Sender (e.g. local cable company)
• Receiver
• Message
• Channel (e.g. the line that hooks into your
  television)
• Feedback

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3 Characteristics of Mass Comm

• Message is
• Sent out on some mass comm system (e.g. internet,
  print, broadcast)
• Delivered rapidly
• Reaches large groups simultaneously

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Average Number of Hours Each Person Spends Using
Each Medium
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Mass Media Industries

• Books
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Recordings
• Radio
• Movies
• Television

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Media is Profit-Centered

• 399 Billion
• ACCCs Budget 35 Million

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3 Vital Mass Media Concepts

• Profit-Centered Businesses
• Technology changes the way mass
• media is delivered and consumed
• Both reflect and affect politics,
• society, and culture.

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Media is Owned by Corporations

• These are vast businesses
• Small number of companies control most media
• The Press of Atlantic City is owned by South
  Jersey Publishing (still family run). 74,655
  daily and 93,129 on Sunday.
• The Philadelphia Inquirer is owned by
  Knight-Ridder. Their Newspaper Division oversees
  32 dailies in 29 U.S. markets, with 8.1 million
  readers daily and 11.5 million on Sunday.

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• 2004 revenues 65.5 billionHoldings include
• NBC Universal and Telemundo
• Universal Pictures and Focus Features
• 30 television stations in the U.S
• Cable networks such as MSNBC, Bravo and the Sci
  Fi Channel.

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Time Warner

• 2004 revenues 42.1 billionLargest media
  conglomerate in the world
• Holdings include
• The WB Television Network, CNN, HBO, Cinemax,
  Cartoon Network, TBS, TNT
• America Online, MapQuest, Moviefone, and
  Netscape,
• Warner Bros. Pictures, Castle Rock, and New Line
  Cinema
• 150 magazines such as Time, Cooking Light, Marie
  Claire and People
• Atlanta Braves baseball team.

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• 2004 revenues 30.8 billionHoldings
• ABC Television Network
• Numerous cable networks including ESPN, The
  Disney Channel, SOAPnet, AE and Lifetime
• 71 radio and 10 television stations
• Music and book publishing companies
• Production companies such as Touchstone, Miramax
  and Walt Disney Pictures
• Six theme parks around the world.

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Types of Ownership

• Chainscompanies that own multiple newspapers.
• Largest
• 74 newspapers including USA Today

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Types of Ownership

• Broadcast Networksa collection of radio or
  television stations that offers programs during
  designated times.

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• FCC regulates broadcast networks
• Kevin Martin is chair of the FCC
• Deregulation began in 1980

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Affiliates

• Stations that use network programming but are
  owned by companies other than the networks.

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Types of Ownership

• Cross-Media Ownershipcompanies that own more
  than one type of media.

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Types of Ownership

• Conglomeratescompanies that own media and other
  types of businesses.

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Types of Ownership

• Vertical Integrationone company controlling
  several related aspects of the media business at
  once.

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Why Media Properties Sell

• Strong Profits
• Scare
• Inheritance
• Expensive to start up
• Deregulation

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Concentration

• Large companies offer advantages such as
  resources, training, higher wages, and better
  working conditions.

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Dark Side of Concentration

• Message Pluralism diversity of opinion and
  quality of culture.

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Advertisers and ConsumersPay the Bills

• Advertising directly supports
• Newspapers (Sears spends 300 million)
• Radio
• Television
• Split between Advertising and Consumers
• Magazines
• Consumers
• Movies
• Recordings
• Books

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3 Information Communications Revolutions

• Phonetic Writing 1000 BC
• Printing Press 1445
• Johannes Gutenberg
• Computers 1950

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The New Communications Network
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Reflecting and Affecting

• Selective PerceptionThe concept that each person
  processes messages differently.

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Shaping Attitudes, Beliefs, and Values

• Attitude
• A predisposition to respond to people, ideas,
  objects, or events in evaluative ways.
• Beliefs
• The ways people perceive reality to be.
• Our conceptions about what is true and what is
  false.
• Values
• Peoples most enduring judgments about whats
  good and bad in life.

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By the Numbers

• 399 billion Annual Income for Media Industries
  or 1,350 for every woman, man, and child in the
  United States
• 14,000,000 number of blogs
• 13,000 number of radio stations in the U.S.
• 1,600 number of television stations in the U.S.
• 37,000 number of movie screens in the U.S.
• 18,000 number of magazines in the U.S.
• 1,500 number of daily newspapers in the U.S.
• 400 number of new feature films made by
  Hollywood each year

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Top Radio Formats

• News and News Talk 17
• Adult Contemporary 14
• Top 40 11
• Urban 10
• Country 9
• Spanish 9