News Effects II: Gatekeeping , Agenda-Setting, Priming, and the Spiral of Silence

1. News Effects II: Gatekeeping, Agenda-Setting, Priming, and the Spiral of Silence COM 226, Summer 2011 PPT #5 Includes chapters 11 & 12, part of chapter 24, of DeFleur textbook

2. News-Related Media Effects Theories

3. Gatekeeping Gatekeeping is “the process of culling and crafting countless bits of information into the limited number of messages that reach people each day. . .” the center of the mass media’s role in society (Shoemaker & Vos, 2009) May have originated in sociologist Kurt Lewin’s investigation of social change and FOOD—who are the food gatekeepers? And, food gatekeeping includes not only the selection of foods, but also their preparation. An outcome of the news media’s surveillance function

4. David Manning White’s adaptation of the gatekeeping model:

5. Gatekeeping • Only a limited amount of time or space is available (the “news hole”) • Each news organization has a news perspective that guides its decisions on selection of stories • One criterion is the set of traditional or “classic” news values (textbook): • Impact • Proximity • Timeliness • Prominence • Conflict • Currency • The Bizarre

6. Gatekeeping • Another criterion is the set of organizational policies and beliefs • VIDEO: The Crisis of the Cultural Environment: Media & Democracy in the 21st Century • What trends in gatekeeping can you identify?

7. Agenda Setting • “The mass media may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but the media are stunningly successful in telling their audience what to think about.” • WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT AGENDA? That is, what have you been thinking about/talking to others about over the past day, and how much of a role do you think the media had in this?

8. The Process of Agenda Setting Agenda Setting Agenda Building Priming

9. Agenda Setting Evidence • Classic study: McCombs & Shaw (1972) of undecided voters in Chapel Hill, NC • Found correlation of .96 between major issues identified through content analyses and issues people said were important

10. Agenda Setting Evidence • Additional example: • Coverage of drug war and perceptions of the importance of drugs as an issue. • Can you think of any current, similar examples of this type of effect?

11. Agenda Setting VIDEO: Rich Media, Poor Democracy What examples of both gatekeeping and agenda-setting can you identify?

12. The Spiral of Silence • Developed by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann (1984; 1993), based in part on previous research on conformity: • Asch (1956) found 76% of research participants yielded to group pressure to agree that lines were the same length when they were not • Milgram (1974) completed a famous series of studies (see film Obedience) that showed subjects willing to inflict pain on others when urged to do so by a researcher

13. The Spiral of Silence • SOS Theory says two things contribute to the public expression of political opinion: • 1 – Fear of isolation (hence, conformity) • 2 – Mass media as creators of social reality through coverage of public opinion. . . Mass media serve as the representation of the dominant views in society • Thus, SOS predicts that unpopular public opinions will “spiral” downward, out of sight

14. Spiral of Silence Noelle-Neumann’s original research in West Germany supported her theory; subsequent research elsewhere has had mixed results

15. Spiral of Silence Jeffres et al. (1999; 2009) have found evidence for multiple spirals of silence. . . And even spirals of confrontation • OJ study: Whites interviewed by Blacks were more willing to be quoted than were Blacks interviewed by Whites • 2000 Election study: Those showing great interest in issues and those closest to candidates were most likely to express opinions to those with whom they disagree (confrontation)

16. News-Related Media Effects Theories