Journalism

The agenda setting theory is one of the ways that impact the way I understand journalism. I always look at the major headlines in a newspaper, online, or on TV. I always feel these are the most important issues because they are the top headlines of the day. But, this isn’t always true. The media impacts my thinking on the important issues at hand. People may be dying every day in small cities across the country, but if the media thinks that not standing for the national anthem is more important, that is what they will put into the public’s mind. Many people, like the author of this website, say that the media will not necessarily tell you what to think, but they tell you what to think about. I usually don’t think about what they don’t cover, I only pay attention to what they cover and think that that is important. Before this class, I would usually just take the media’s word for what they are saying. But now, I’ll probably look more closely into the facts so I can be more educated about what is actually happening instead of being blind to what is going on behind the headlines.