Agenda-Setting, Gatekeepers, and Convergence
Tonight, I’ll be presenting a lecture to an undergraduate class in Media Criticism, which will discuss the contemporary roles played by mass media in setting public agendas, with a special focus on political communication. I’ll be presenting it to three classes this semester, adding to the other lectures in my little bag of tricks.
A couple of ideas that have emerged in my research in this area, which will be included in this lecture, are:
The “End of the Gatekeeper”. It is believed by some that media, before the broadening of media with cable networks, blogs, talk shows, the web, and other outlets, the limited number of outlets, and figures such as Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather, who were well-known celebrities, had the ability and motive to act as “gatekeepers” of news. In this model of operation, news was vetted carefully for accuracy (and some would argue screened to suit political agendas as well). With the broadening of media into a 24-hour news cycle, the emphasis is now believed to be on quantity and speed instead of quality and accuracy, and may be behind a number of recent highly-publicized goof-ups.
Convergence effect. This effect takes place when a combination of messages from political campaigns, independent groups, and media has a mutually reinforcing effect which can be far more effective than the positive or negative effects created by the direct strategies of political campaigns alone. With the growing amount of influence upon campaigns by independent groups, who work independently to develop their own messages and dissemination processes, it is believed to be an effect worth studying.
For those of you who may be curious, I have posted a PDF of my lecture. Feel free to download it, read it, and make any comments, criticisms, or suggestions that you’d like.
A couple of ideas that have emerged in my research in this area, which will be included in this lecture, are:
The “End of the Gatekeeper”. It is believed by some that media, before the broadening of media with cable networks, blogs, talk shows, the web, and other outlets, the limited number of outlets, and figures such as Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather, who were well-known celebrities, had the ability and motive to act as “gatekeepers” of news. In this model of operation, news was vetted carefully for accuracy (and some would argue screened to suit political agendas as well). With the broadening of media into a 24-hour news cycle, the emphasis is now believed to be on quantity and speed instead of quality and accuracy, and may be behind a number of recent highly-publicized goof-ups.
Convergence effect. This effect takes place when a combination of messages from political campaigns, independent groups, and media has a mutually reinforcing effect which can be far more effective than the positive or negative effects created by the direct strategies of political campaigns alone. With the growing amount of influence upon campaigns by independent groups, who work independently to develop their own messages and dissemination processes, it is believed to be an effect worth studying.
For those of you who may be curious, I have posted a PDF of my lecture. Feel free to download it, read it, and make any comments, criticisms, or suggestions that you’d like.
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