Running Head: AGENDA SETTING THEORY
Agenda Setting in the Public Relations
Gabriella Fournier
Pennsylvania State University
Abstract
To excel in the communications industry, it is essential to understand communication theories. This paper specifically examines the agenda setting theory, its historical background and how it relates to public relations. Agenda setting theory effects how an audience views their content and what content they deem the most important. Understanding this theory aides public relations professionals achieve their goals by creating an effective campaign such as the revamping of the FOX Sports application and Nike’s campaign with Colin Kaepernick.
Keywords: agenda setting theory, communications theories, public relations
Agenda Setting Theory in the Public Relations
The largest driver of public opinion in the world today is mass media. The development of new technology in the twenty first century has created ample accessibility to mass media and enhanced interconnectivity tenfold. With the emergence of enhanced technology, media users interpret their news and read posts faster than ever. Public relations professionals have had to adapt to the ways of mass media and become experts in analyzing audience behavior. When constructing a public relations campaign, professionals must take into consideration how to attract the attention of their audience in an intriguing and concise manor. To do this, they must understand the agenda setting theory. Agenda setting theory is a tactic used by the media to tell the audience what to think about, rather than telling them what to think (Allen, 2017). Understanding the agenda setting theory is beneficial in public relations because it illustrates how to plan an effective campaign, present meaningful messages and captivate public interest.
One of the important jobs of the media is to select what news to broadcast to their viewers and to display the information in a specific order to emphasize and rank the information’s importance. One of the first experiments testing agenda setting theory was conducted by McCombs and Shaw in 1972. Their hypothesis examined why people exposed to messages from the media focus their attention on those issues. They analyzed a political campaign, specifically the candidates’ topics and issues the media covered and what the voters believed where key issues. McCombs and Shaw concluded from the experiment that regardless of voters’ opinions, there was a general concusses that the campaign topics the media covered where the most important (Glynn & Jeong, 2003). Additional research from Glynn and Jeong (2003) explains that audiences believe that the most important information is in the forefront of a newscast, newspaper or campaign. An example of this statement was after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, newspapers placed full page, color articles on the front page. This influenced Americans to view the terrorist attacks as the only important issue at hand, leaving the audience narrow minded on what was going on in the rest of the world.
The model on page nine from Drying (2016) provides a great visual representation of agenda setting theory. There are several steps that make up agenda setting theory that work interconnectedly to create the theory; breaking down the steps makes it is much easier to understand. The three main steps of agenda setting theory are reality, agendas and audience perception of reality. When thinking about agenda setting theory, it is important to remember that the media shapes what the audience thinks about, not what they think. In order to shape what audiences think about, there needs to be events to discuss and debate. This explains the media’s need for reality. If not for reality, there would be no news or information for gatekeepers to report on. The gatekeepers are those in the media that select what information from reality is most important to discuss. During the selection process, gatekeepers omit information that does not follow the current media climate and then they frame the stories to fit their medium- news, social media, campaign, etc. (Drying, 2016).
The next step in the theory is setting the agendas. By selecting, omitting and framing, the media creates their own agenda which in turn affects the public agenda and policy agenda (Drying, 2016). Gatekeepers are creating the content the public sees, by selecting, omitting and framing, to benefit their own strategic agenda for their current and future campaigns. Today with social media, content can be created, interpreted and shared in the matter of seconds. With the increase in speed that news is shared, gatekeepers must also create interesting content that attract viewers’ attention. Research by Araujo and van der Meer (2020) explains that when news spreads across social media, the stories get more attention which influences the online and offline public agendas. The public agenda is affected by emotions the media provokes. For example, with the debate pro-life v. pro-choice, emotions of anger and fear are evoked in Americans which lead to public action such as protesting- increasing the offline public agenda. Additionally, tweets, articles and posts will start to be shared and trend on social media which increases the online public agendas. These protests then affect the political agenda. When citizens want policy change, politicians start to discuss ways to improve society. This is seen in political debates for elections as well as what democratic and republican candidates may structure their campaigns on. Furthermore, the policy that legislators talk about is then talked about by the media and the cycle continues. The media, public and policy discussion have an interconnected effect on one another which also makes this a cyclic cycle (Drying, 2016).
The last step in agenda setting theory is the audience perception of reality. By this step, the audience has been told what to think about, now each person in the audience forms their own opinions regarding the topics at hand. Drying (2016) explains that the audience’s perception of reality is influenced by several factors. The first factor is the three agendas; media, public and policy. Gatekeepers have filtered their content to fit their medium, the public is taking action on controversial issues while politicians and legislatures are advocating for a change in policy coinciding with their party’s beliefs. The second factor that influences audience’s perception is reality. People do not only get news from the agendas, they live in reality and see how different things affect them, their communities and families. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans have been heavily split on the virus and are realizing how inefficient America’s health care system is. Additionally, people living in New York City experienced a true quarantine and thousands of people died each day, whereas some parts of the country did not have it nearly as bad. Living the pandemic has created a non-manufactured, raw emotion that has not been affected by any agenda leaving the audience to create their own perception of reality.
Understanding agenda setting is crucial in public relations because it helps create an effective campaign, present meaningful messages and captivate public interest. FOX Sports recently launched their revamped sports application and Nike launched their Colin Kaepernick campaign. It is crucial for FOX Sports’ public relations department and the Nike public relation teams to do their research on each stage of agenda setting theory so the application is up to the standards the public and gatekeepers hold and to ensure Colin Kaepernick’s campaign accurately represents his message and displays it to gatekeepers and the public in a positive and motivational light.
When revamping the FOX Sports application, it is crucial for the public relations team to help the design team create an application that is user friendly, useful and is also attractive to non-sports fans. To achieve these goals, the public relations team has to analyze agenda setting theory to set their own agenda and how reality, media/public agenda and audience perception would help them make effective changes to the application. When looking at reality, the team understands that ESPN is the hub for sports fans. If FOX Sports wants to compete with ESPN, they have to see what gatekeepers are saying about ESPN and FOX and how gatekeepers’ reactions are affecting the audience’s agenda. The audience’s agenda includes downloading the application and if they will continue to use the application or if they delete it. If the application is deleted more than it is used, then the public relations team will know that the audience’s perception of the application is negative. That is not what the public relations team wants, so they will have to reflect on what users are saying they do not like about the application and make the accurate changes. Lastly, the team must captivate public interest. They will be able to do this by having their FOX Sports commentators talk about the application and show how it works. This will captivate the public because they trust the commentators, it is a different application for them to try and the application will be continually changing for the better with the help of FOX Sports University teams presenting different ways to engage sports fans and non-sports fan to use it.
In 2018, Nike started a campaign with Colin Kaepernick and it has had quite the success. The campaign would not be as successful as it is without using the agenda setting theory. To start planning an effective campaign, Nike had to analyze what was buzzing in reality and the media. Kaepernick and other professional athletes were kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality. Americans were divided, and still are, on whether kneeling was disrespecting the flag. By accessing reality, the public relations team had to analyze what gatekeepers were saying and what the media’s and audience’s agendas response to kneeling was. To create a positive message, Nike created an advertisement with Kaepernick that left viewers speechless. The advertisement included some of the greatest athletes of all time giving back to their communities, overcoming their weaknesses and winning world-renowned titles with the final statement being, “It’s only crazy until you do it. Just do it.” The message is so powerful and it creates a positive audience perception. Additionally, this helped to put the media and audience agendas into perspective because it shows what the campaign is about- doing good to change for the better. The campaign captivated the audience’s attention and it also increased their sales. Recently, Nike released a black Kaepernick jersey that sold out in minutes compared to the sales in 2018 that sold out in ten hours (Kim, 2020). How quickly the jersey sold in September 2020 compared to 2018 shows how effective the campaign still is two years later. Without understanding agenda setting theory, Nike and Kaepernick would not have been able to impact the lives of athletes around the world or shed light on the need for reform.
The media both on and offline is incredibly influential. In order to understand how to effectively use the media, it is important to understand communication theories and how they work. Learning about agenda setting theory is essential for those who work in public relations because it aides in the examination of the campaign’s target audience by analyzing their reactions to reality and the media’s agenda. Lastly, by using the agenda setting theory, public relations professionals can create effective messages that captivate the public’s interest.
Conceptual Model
Reference: Drying, Charlie. (2016, July 17). Media Influence – Agenda-Setting Function Theory. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_anPE39wZn0&t=611s
References
Allen, M. (2017). The Sage Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods (Vols. 1-4). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc
Araujo, T., & van der Meer, T. G. (2020). News values on social media: Exploring what drives peaks in user activity about organizations on Twitter. Journalism, 21(5), 633–651.
Drying, Charlie. (2016, July 17). Media Influence – Agenda-Setting Function Theory. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_anPE39wZn0&t=611s
Glynn and Jeong (2003). Encyclopedia of International Media and Communications. Elsevier BV.
Kim, A. (2020, September 17). Nike’s all-black Colin Kaepernick jersey marking 4 years since he took a knee sells out in less than a minute. Retrieved September 20, 2020, from https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/17/us/colin-kaepernick-nike-jersey-trnd/index.html