Agenda-Setting Theory

I agree most with the agenda-setting theory. The agenda-setting theory is the belief that mass media influence what you think about and your perception of what is important. I agree with this statement because after watching even one news segment, people begin to think about things they never would have thought about on their own. People sometimes will continue to think about these new ideas for days simply because they feel like they should since the news said it was important. For example, the OJ Simpson trial (again) has been the topic of many family dinners over the past few months. Why? It seems that an average Joe would never care about such a thing because it does not affect the every day person at all. But because we could not turn on the TV for about a week without seeing something about OJ Simpson, it became a topic that stuck in our minds and we were forced to think and talk about. Another example is the way the war in Iraq is presented on a lot of news networks. Even if someone had never watched the news and was extremely opposed to the war, it would be very hard them to continue to oppose the war if they saw pictures of Iraqi woman and children being killed by Iraqi troops who were controlled by Saddam Hussein. The way that the troubles in Iraq have been presented over the years in the media leaves little room for anyone to protest the war or consider it insignificant. The agenda-setting theory definitely makes sense when you consider issues like the ones I mentioned.