The Media’s Agenda Still Applicable in
the Online Realm
Introduction:
The
expansion of the Internet has brought about many changes in our society. For
example, one can find love on an online dating site, get a degree from a
university of higher learning, or watch live news while simultaneously running
a business. “Clearly the Internet has radically reshaped our social lives over
the span of a virtual metaworld where traditional interactions—living, loving,
belonging, and separating, as well as finding customers and keeping
them—require new protocols” (Brown, 2011). Because of these changes in our
society the landscape of cyberspace is constantly evolving and many traditional
media outlets are shifting toward the growing number of people using online
communities.
News
programming is now combining fantasy dimensions of traditional text-based
forums and intriguing its users to utilize a more Internet based communication
(Thurlow, 2007, p.187). Therefore, as individuals spend more of their social
lives online, the definition of relationships, families and business begin to
shift (Brown, 2011). This paradigm shift is causing many popular news programs to
utilize the online realm in order to maintain the media’s agenda. However, many
question whether the expansion of the Internet has negated the effectiveness of
the media’s agenda when crossing over to the online realm.
Traditional Agenda Setting moves to the online community
McCombs and Shaw are the individuals who first established
the agenda setting theory. Within their theory they state that the media
establishes salient issues or images in the minds of the public to influence
opinions (Littlejohn, Foss, 2011, p.341). McCombs and Shaw do not
propose that the media is deliberately attempting to influence the listener’s
opinion, but rather the public look toward the news professionals for
indications on where to focus their concentration. In other words, how the
public judges the importance is based off what the media feels is significant
(Griffin, 2012, p.378).
Historically, the traditional agenda used by the media has
been to set the stage for countless political debates. However, “[w]ith the
emergence of online media… the relevance of Agenda-Setting is being challenged”
(Berger & Freeman, p.3). Because the media is utilizing more avenues to
reach the public their agenda is getting diluted and this is creating a fragmented
division among the media. The availability of online sources for one to
research creates options not previously available and provides for new social
awareness. Individual awareness of the media’s agenda and swaying its
effectiveness is becoming more and more important in today’s news environment.
Individuals are gaining awareness by researching different sources of
information to obtain accurate news.
Studies
have shown that online blogging is affecting the traditional news media and the
effectiveness of their agenda. In this past election, one could not help but notice
the power of blogs and their ability to influence the traditional news media
outlets (Messner & Garrison, 2011, p.1). Shifting political conversations
on television to be based off of the political buzz from the Internet. Allowing
for individuals to easily recognize what blogs catered to the specific
opinions.“ [T]raditional news media is generally only [focusing] on ‘A-list
bloggers, those whose thoughts are heard and quoted far beyond the blogosphere
and in mainstream media’” (p.1). Many traditional news media outlets have also
started to adopt the blog format to direct traffic to their own websites to
regain some control over the opinions. This allows the media to still control
the flow of information and continue its agenda even in the online realm; all
in an attempt to have the cycle continue.
Reference:
Brown, A. (2011). Relationships,
Community, and Identity in the New Virtual Society. Futurist, 45(2), 29-34.
Littlejohn, S. W., & Foss, K. A. (2011). Theories of human communication. (10th
ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Pr Inc.x
Thurlow, C.,
Lengel , L., & Tomic, A. (2007). Computer
mediated communication social interaction and the internet . London,
England: Sage Publication
Griffin, E. (2012). A first
look at communication theory (8th ed.) Boston: McGraw Hill.
Berger, L., & Freeman, M. (n.d.). Relevance of agenda-setting theory to the
online community. Informally published manuscript, Chapman University
Department of Communication
Messner, M., & Garrison, B. (2011).
Study Shows Some Blogs Affect Traditional News Media Agendas. Newspaper Research Journal, 32(3), 112-126.