Agenda-setting in Australian newspapers - Book Report/Review Example

Agenda-Setting in Australian Newspapers (Recent Federal Election Campaign) What is Agenda-Setting Social scientists, especially those whose interest lies on media influence on general elections define agenda-setting as "the ability of the mass media to transfer the salience of items on their agendas to the public agenda" (Agenda-Setting Theory, http://www.afirstlook.com/manual5/ed5man28.pdf) Agenda-setting for many social scientists is a form or function of power. By setting the agenda of a particular event, a person exercises power because he/she limits the capability of other parties to negotiate with their own agenda. In the definition, it implicitly affirmed the fact that media is both a power holder and a channel for advancing its interests to the general public. Two assumptions are clear: 1) media has its own agenda, and 2) media has the capability to incorporate its agenda into the public agenda (since it has the means) (Althaus and Tewskbury, pp.180-183). This reaffirms the power of the press while maintaining individual freedom, as guaranteed by many constitutions. What is hegemony Hegemony is generally defined as the ability of a state, ethnic group, religion, and other socio-politico-economic entities to control the belief, actions, and values of others. Politically, hegemony is defined as the ability of a group to impose a predominant world-view or ideology to another group (exercised by the use of persuasion, not by force) (Raphael, http://www.dangerouscitizen.com/Articles/244.aspx). How then hegemony is related to agenda-setting Basically, agenda-setting is a form of power exercised through a channel. It is both a means and an end. Hegemony is the ultimate end of all forms of power. Once an entity, in this case, the media, was able to control a significant portion of a population (imposition of a predominant world-view), then it has achieved its purpose. Hence, the ultimate end of a power-seeking entity had been manifested in peoples' behavior, values, customs, etc, in short hegemony (Fallows, p. 281). Agenda-Setting in Australian Newspapers "The Australian". Let us look to one Australian newspaper that tackled Australian federal election campaigns. The newspaper "The Australian" is an example of an Australian newspaper that is moderately involved in agenda-setting. One of its articles, entitled "Howard vows to stay despite bad polls" is generally a serving bias to the Howard government (John Howard is the prime minister of Australia). The article was structured in this way. The first part is about the general reaction of the Prime Minister over the faltering standing of his party in the last polls. The second part is about the reactions of Howard's critics over his performance in office. The third part is about the plausibility that Howard's party will win the next election. The first part of the article presents the general mood of the story. The second part presents the opinions of opposing political actors although in very short and insignificant statements. The latter part affirms the statements positively of the "critical person." The article in general is structured in favor of the government, citing the opposition opinions as a way of strengthening the government stands on many of its policies. Let us examine it piece by piece. Here are some statements made by PM Howard in the first part of the article: "The party addressed this (leadership) issue last year and a decision was taken. The overwhelming view of the party then was that I should remain as leader and Peter Costello should remain as deputy leader and treasurer"; "That's been the position and that will remain the position"; "What we must now do is focus on what the public is telling us through the opinion polls and I think they are telling us a number of things, and focus on getting ready for the election battle ahead, which I do not in any way regard as unwinnable for the coalition"; "What I would say to my colleagues is: we can win this election"; "This is not regarded as an incompetent government. I don't regard it as a perfect government as I certainly don't regard myself as being without failings as a prime minister. I've made my share of mistakes"; As one may notice, most of the statements in part one are positive feedbacks for the PM. In the second part of the article, opinions against the PM are introduced. Here are all of the opinions presented by opposing political actors: "I think John Howard is there for the long haul"; "I think he can claw back enough ground for Labor not to win enough seats." As one may notice, the second part of the article was almost totally indistinguishable. Statements from the opponents of the PM are made insignificant and totally irrelevant. The third part affirms the first part of the article and generally blurs the second part, giving only one party a positive image in this light (newspaper articles ought to be neutral in its presentation of data). Here are some of the statements: "Once an election campaign is under way, people will turn their minds to the record of the Prime Minister compared to Mr. Rudd who stands for nothing and whose only approach to policy is to echo the position of the Government and on other issues to put off making hard decisions"; "It's been the finest political partnership in Australian history and long may it last"; "That's certainly not something I am thinking about," he told the Nine Network. "Our country is headed very much in the right direction"; "We are ready, all right." - (Franklin and Karvelas, http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22390609-11949,00.html) Statements in the third part of the article show a clear positive bias towards the PM. Statements are structured and selected from exaggerated comments of the PM's supporters. General Agenda of the "The Australian". For many analysts, "The Australian" was largely involved in improving the image of the government by presenting data and statements that generally favors the side of the government. Some analysts argue that Howard's victory in a number of electoral polls was attributed to the growing number of newspapers who support him. The chances of positive government exposure to remain in the public mind through newspapers is about 24%; high enough for one party to gain considerable seats in the Australian parliament. "The Australian" was no exception. It was reported that some editors of "The Australian" were involved in bribery with high government officials; most of which were members of Howard's ruling party. Field reporters however were essentially never accused of bribery because the reports drafted were screened and left to the judgment of the editors. Bribery would take place between the editors and the government official/s. In exchange for monetary rewards, editors would screen the reports made by field reporters, and making it favorable to one party. "The Australian" agenda-setting strategy is a light one precisely because only some of its editors were involved. The general aim of these editors is to preserve the "monetary relationship" between certain government officials and some editors of the newspaper. The effect though on the public is great. The whole government was viewed in a positive light. Partial hegemony has been exercised by the newspaper through some of its editors. In the next sections of the paper, we will examine one of the extreme newspapers that have considerable impact on public opinion with regard to Australian election and campaign. This is an analysis of the agenda-setting goal of the Australian newspaper: The Herald Sun. This newspaper (which is also posted online) is a typical pro-government newspaper. For many years since the Howard government is in power, the Herald Sun always praised the government for many of its long and short-term policies. In the recent Australian election campaign, the newspaper released a series of clips which implicitly praised the government of Howard for enacting new economic and migration laws. Here are some of the statements from the column of the newspaper (about the successor of Howard). "I'm going to this election as a team. John Howard asked me to go to this election with him as his deputy leader and his treasurer"; "People are entitled to know this: I stand for jobs, I stand for balanced budgets, I stand for low tax, I stand for enfranchising people who have been marginalised in our community and moving them into the economic mainstream"; "I want to fix our water crisis, I want to address climate change and I want to build the best education system that Australia can possibly afford"; "But you can only do all of these things with a strong economy"; "For all the bluff and bluster from Kevin Rudd all he ever amounts to is calling together a new committee"; "You can't run a country by committee, what you need is policy"; The content of the column was almost in favor of the government. Of course problems were cited but they serve as positive reinforcement of the statements of Howard's successor. The newspaper cited the possibility of a leadership breakdown in Howard's coalition. In the following statements, it was already a dead statement. Quotes from the "successor" of Howard revealed that there was no power struggle within the coalition. Supporting arguments and facts were also given. For example, the newspaper cited that during the past few months, there was no perceived struggle in the party or coalition. Nonetheless, it was also noted by the newspaper that Howard's coalition is making well in the recent election campaign. Also one may argue that this is a natural form of news opinion, taking into account the fact that almost all sides of the story are covered. This is not entirely true. In journalism, not only that all parties should be taken account but the statements should be balanced or well weighted (Kirkpatrick, 1994:104). Agenda-Setting of the "Herald Sun" This newspaper was one of the foremost critics of the pre-Howard government. The pre-Howard government was criticized for being overtly conservative in form. Nonetheless, it was also accused of graft and corruption. The allegations were not direct. The newspaper usually asked the critics of the government to write articles in its columns. In the same way, the newspaper today, puts up articles in its columns that tend to favor the Howard government (for many of its liberal laws). References Agenda-Setting Theory. URL http://www.afirstlook.com/manual5/ed5man28.pdf. Retrieved September 9, 2007. Althaus , Scott L. and David Tewksbury. 2002. Agenda Setting and the 'New' News: Patterns of Issue Importance Among Readers of the Paper and Online Versions of the New York Times. Communication Research 29. Fallows, James. 1996. Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy. Pantheon Books, New York. Franklin, Matthew and Patricia Karvelas. 2007 (September). Howard vows to stay despite bad polls. The Australian. URL http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22390609-11949,00.html. Retrieved September 9, 2007 . Kirkpatrick, Rod. 1994. Six Dynasties That Ended With a Whimper: The End of PNQ. Australian Studies in Journalism(3). Raphael, Chad. 2003. Theory of Hegemony and Ideology. URL http://www.dangerouscitizen.com/Articles/244.aspx. Retrieved September 9, 2007. Report on Howard and Rudd Showdown in Canberra - August 9th 2007. URL http://catchthefire.com.au/blog/2007/08/10/report-on-howard-rudd-showdown-in-canberra-august-9th-2007/#more-718. Retrieved September 9, 2007. The Herald Sun. Costello rules out leadership challenge. September 16, 2007 (Sunday). Read More