But if you left it up to me..

Agenda setting is defined as the “media’s ability, through repeated news coverage, to raise the importance of an issue in the public’s mind”.

This phenomenon is commonplace nowadays, even on well respected news channels, such as CNN or BBC, whereby, more often than not, the personal lives of celebrities are given just as much attention as global issues.

(I apologise for the low quality of the video, as it was shotduring a concert, where most members of the audience were using mobile phones to capture the incident)

When singer Beyonce Knowles tripped and fell down a short flight of steps during one of her concerts, the incident was reported on CNN’s newsbar (at the bottom of the television screen), right after the announcement that 24 soldiers had died in Iraq from another bomb explosion. News of the media’s discovery that Jennifer Lopez was pregnant with a set of twins was also given equal coverage as the falling US currency. 

Just today, CNN’s lineup on World News consisted of updates on the ongoing US elections as well as the results of American Idol. This is real life evidence of priming, where the media attends to certain issues over others, thereby altering the standards by which people evaluate the issue.  

Another example of how the media uses agenda setting to exaggerate the importance of certain news items is the launch of the Airbus 380.

A friend and I were watching the morning news on TV Mobile, the day that the Airbus was to go on her inaugural flight to Sydney. The amount of news coverage that the event was given was astounding, not one but two reporters from local news channel Channel News Asia were on the scene; with one interviewing the other who was lucky enough to be a passenger onboard the plane. In the timespan of half an hour, the same video clip about the plane was shown at least three times. In between the repeated screenings of the video were more ‘live’ updates from the two reporters at the airport.

While I concede that the inaugural journey of the huge plane was a huge deal, especially sinc the plane took off from Singapore’s very own Changi Airport, I fail to understand why or how this news item was given precedence over other global issues.

One instance in which priming is put to good use is the recent nationwide manhunt for escaped JI leader, Mas Selamat. All four of Singapore’s telcos sent out 5.5 million MMS to their suscribers, containing a brief description and a photograph of the terrorist. Posters and notices with Mas Selamat’s face have also been posted at every public location, in different languages. All the hype about the escapee has guaranteed that every single Singaporean has been put on the look out. This particular news item has been given more coverage than any other local news, in an effort to not only make sure that the members of the public will be able to identify Mas Selamat if they see him, but also to ensure that the public knows that it is of the utmost importance that the fugitive is caught as soon as possible.

 Media, television in particular, is a powerful communication tool which has the ability to reach out to billions of viewers everyday, influencing the way they perceive global issues. Measures should be taken to guarantee that every news item is being given an appropriate amount of attention so as to prevent TV viewers from ranking the events in a celebrity’s personal life over issues involving world wide issues.