AGENDA-SETTING AND FRAMING THEORY
Agenda-Setting & Framing
Have you ever thought about what you think
and why you think?
Why we focus on some issues but not
something else?
Is there any relationship between what you
think and what media says to us?
If so, why? If not, then, what are the impacts of
the media on our daily lives?
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Agenda-Setting & Framing
Walter Lipmann, American journalist and
social commsentator, was the first who realised
the importance of the media and our way of
thinking.
In his book, Public Opinion (1922), Lipmann
argued that “mass media, primarily newspapers
and magazines… create our picture of the
world” (McCombs & Bell, 94).
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Agenda-Setting & Framing
The Beginnings
In 1968, McCombs & Shaw, from the
University of North Carolina, conducted a
research during the presidential elections.
Their research was the first research
depending on Lipmann’s thesis.
The research conducted in Chapel Hill.
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Agenda-Setting & Framing
The main issue in Chapel Hill study (1968) was
salience.
What is salience?
Salience means “whether or not something is
perceived as important or prominent” (McCombs
& Bell, 95).
The question of “what do you think is the most
important problem facing this country [the US]
today?” has changed by McCombs & Shaw.
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
During the presidential election McCombs & Shaw
asked to undecided voters as “what are you most
concerned about these days?” (McCombs & Bell, 95).
When McCombs & Shaw ranked the answers of the
respondents they realised that “[t]there was a strong
relationship between the public’s and the media’s
agenda of issues. McCombs and Shaw named this
transfer of salience from the media agenda to the
public agenda the agenda-setting influence of mass
communication” (McCombs & Bell, 96).
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
The Definition
Bernard Cohen defines the agenda-setting theory
without giving its name in his book, The Press and
Foreign Policy (1963). For him, the media “may
not be successful much of the time in telling people
what to think, but it’s stunningly successful in
telling its readers what to think about” (Quoted
in Soronka, 2002, 265).
McCombs & Shaw theorised Lipmann’s thesis as
“agenda-setting”.
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
Shaw & McCombs (1977) conducted a research about
the relationship between politics and media.
Palmgreen & Clarke (1977) “examined the differences
existed in the media’s agenda-setting role for local
and national media” (McCombs & Shaw, 97).
Palmgreen & Clarke (1977) found that ‘media’s
impact is weaker at the local level than national
level’ (McCombs & Shaw, 97).
Other significant researches are, Salwen (1988),
Winter & Eyal (1981), Smith (1987), Eaton (1989),
Brosius & Kepplinger (1990) etc.
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
Framing the News
Another part of agenda-setting is framing.
Why understanding framing the news is important
in agenda-setting research because “mass media
have a strong impact by constructing social reality”
(Dietram A. Scheufele, 1999, 105).
So framing can seen as a way of both
understanding the society and the media.
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
According to McCombs, Shaw and Weaver (1997),
“framing is… an extension of agenda-setting”
(Scheufele, 103).
According to Scheufele, “within the realm of
political communication, framing has to be defined
and operationalized on the basis of this social
constructivism. Mass media actively set the frames
of reference that readers or viewers use to interpret
and discuss public events” (105).
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
How can we define frames?
Before defining what the frames are, it is better
to look at the frames in general.
According to Scheufele, there are two types of
frames: media frames and individual frames.
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
Gamson and Modigliani (1987) define media
frames “as a central organizing idea or story
line that provides meaning to an unfolding strip
of events… The frames suggests what the
controversy is about, the essence of the issue”
(Quoted in Scheufele, 106).
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
For Tuchman (1987) “the news frame organizes
everyday reality and the news frame is a part
and parcel of everyday reality… [the frame] is
an essential feature of news” (Quoted in
Scheufele, 106).
Also for Gitlin, media frames serve as a
working routine for the journalists “to quickly
identify and classify information and ‘to
package it for efficient relay to their audiences
(Scheufele, 106).
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
For Entman (1993) frames are important because
with framing, some aspects of ‘perceived reality’ is
‘making more salient in communication’ (Quoted
in Scheufele, 107).
Hence, one can argue that media frames are re-
constructing the ‘realities’ in our lives.
Thus, as McCombs, Shaw and Weaver argue,
framing is a part of agenda-setting because by
framing the news media workers (journalists and
power elite) set the agenda.
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
According to Entman individual frames can be
defined as “mentally stored clusters of ideas
that guide individuals’ processing information”
(Quoted in Scheufele, 107).
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
According to the study of Princeton Survey
Research Associates, there are 13 types of
frames are using in newspapers. These are:
Straight News Account, Conflict Story,
Consensus Story, Conjecture Story, Process
Story, Historical Outlook, Horse Race, Trend
Story, Policy Explored, Reaction Story, Reality
Check, Wrongdoing Exposed, and Personality
Profile.
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Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
Straight News Account: No dominant narrative
frame other than outlining the basic who, what,
where, why, and how. In other words, straight news
account can be defined as the 5Ws and H principle in
journalism, which is known as inverted pyramid.
Conflict Story: A focus on conflict inherent to the
situation or brewing among the players.
Consensus Story: An emphasis on the points of
agreement around an issue or event.
Conjecture Story: A focus around conjecture or
speculation of what is to come.
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
Process Story: An explanation of the process of
something or how something works.
Historical Outlook: How the current news fits into
history.
Horse Race: Who is winning and who is losing.
Trend Story: The news as an ongoing trend.
Policy Explored: A focus on exploring policy and its
impact.
Reaction Story: A response or reaction from one of
the major players.
Reality Check: A close look into the veracity of a
statement made or information is given.
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
Wrongdoing Exposed: The uncovering of
wrongdoing or injustice.
Personality Profile: A profile of the
newsmaker.
The most common frame in the news is the
straight news account.
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
‘Frames are necessary way to organising the
information to make it more coherent and
interesting and to put it into perspective’.
‘Journalists may rely on certain frames too
reflexively, especially for certain kinds of stories’.
‘News that is too formulaic and familiar becomes
less interesting and less useful’.
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
Frames are important because:
with frames agenda can be set.
In all media (print, radio, TV, Internet etc.) space is
important, so journalists must frame the news and
present it.
frames make journalists work easy. By having certain
types of clichés journalists are writing their news easily.
Frames show how ideology works in the media.
For Edelman (1993), “the choice of frames often is
‘driven by ideology and prejudice’” (Quoted in Scheufele,
110)
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
So, by framing the news journalists contribute
the supporting of the status quo.
By framing the news journalists eliminate some
news but are they consciously choose some
other news for setting the agenda?
Framing is not only a part of ‘agenda-setting’
but also gatekeeping.
According to Scheufele “how people think
about an issue is influenced by the accessibility
of frames” (116).
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
The Importance of ‘Agenda-Setting’
‘Agenda-Setting’ theory is not only talk about how
people are influenced by the media but also how
media plays a big part in the maintaining the status
quo.
Wag the Dog, directed by Berry Levinson (1998), is
a good example of how media can manipulate
people.
it can be seen as both ‘mainstream’ and ‘critical’ at
the same time.
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
With ‘agenda-setting’ people realise the power
of the media, and how it works.
However, one of the main problem of ‘agenda-
setting’ is depending the idea of ‘passive
audience’.
That’s why, there are some theories in the
‘agenda-setting’ research that claims the
activeness of audience and argue that media
does not set people’s agenda but ‘people set the
media’s agenda’. Is it possible?
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
Conclusions
Agenda-setting research shows how the media
influence our way of thinking.
Like in the film, Wag the Dog, agenda-setting is
very useful to give an idea about the manipulation of
the mass media.
“Agenda-setting theory has opened many doors to
reveal the power and ethical responsibility of the
news media, and it continues to identify other
intellectual doors” (McCombs & Bell, 108).
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
The term framing was introduced by Todd Gitlin
in 1980 in his study of “how American television
network trivialized a major student political
movement during the 1960s” (McCombs & Bell,
106).
Frames can be very useful for journalists (media
labours) to frame the issues.
It can also be useful for journalists because by
having certain type of frames journalists can write
their news stories easily.
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
Framing is also a part of ‘gatekeeping’ because
by framing the news, some news are putting ‘on
the agenda’ however some are not.
In other words, by framing the news, agenda
can be set.
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
Lesson 3: Agenda-Setting & Framing
DISCUSSION TOPICS FOR THIS WEEK:
Have you ever thought about what you think and
why you think?
Why we focus on some issues but not something
else?
Is there any relationship between what you think
and what media says to us?
If so, why? If not, then, what are the impacts of the
media on our daily lives?
Metin ERSOY - Spring 2009
