2. Agenda Setting describes a very powerful influence of the media…

3. …it’s the ability to tell us what issues are important

4. Intense media attention increases the importance of certain topics.

5. Remember when the media had a field day over President Obama’s birth certificate?

6. We all know about the scandal because the media thought it was important for us to know about it

7. There are levels of agenda setting.

8. The first level refers to the media using objects or issues to influence the people what people should think about

9. The second leveldecides what parts of the subject are important.

10. But how does this affect me?

11. We ALL consume media.

12. Therefore we all experience the media’s agenda setting

13. The relevance of information to a person and the level of uncertainty determine a persons need for orientation.

14. People with a high need for orientation are more likely to be influenced by the media.

15. However, some critics claim there is insufficient evidence to prove that the Agenda Setting Theory is real.

16. I’m Denis McQuail, a top scholar in the field of Communications He argues that the agenda-setting theory is “within the status of a plausible but unproven idea”

17. Next time you consume media, take a look at the stories being highlighted

18. Is the media influencing YOU?