DISCUSSION 1:

Read the Encyclopedia of Communication Theory’s explanation of Agenda-setting Theory and listen to its founder explain its principles:

To deepen your understanding, you might watch this video for examples of the theory:

For fun, you might also watch this dramatization of how the theory can work :

Finally, you might visit the websites for the White House and the White House Correspondents Association.

Having access to the president and his cabinet members has been a key part of a free press in America. The White House Correspondents Association started a loose confederation of reporters seeking daily access to the Wilson White House.

News media outlets and reporters have always had a tense relationship with the various White House administrations. However, recent researchpaid for from a fund set up in memory of former White House correspondent Helen Thomas indicates that relationship already has grown steadily more distant since the administration of President John F. Kennedy.

For example, before there was President Trump and "fake news," the Obama administration took a great deal of flack for excluding reporters or media outlets from briefings or trips, and for editing the “pool reports” – the notes that reporters share with each other — about the First Family’s activities. And as pages 250–259 in Chapter 18 of theHandbook of Journalism Studies point out, the news media are being bypassed by many decision makers and power brokers across the globe now because they can now use social media to speak directly to specific audiences.

Activity:

Before you tackle this activity, please make sure you have read the materials at all of the links in this discussion prompt. Then, select and respond to one of these questions in a cogent response:

1. How do you think the merging Internet of Things will change the way current and future presidents seek to influence the American public?
2. What do you think is the best way to ensure that federal, state and local government agencies do not disseminate propaganda to domestic audiences?
3. What should the role of White House Correspondents be in covering the President and the White House? What challenges do they have in remaining objective with the President and his administration?
4. What guidelines would you offer to media consumers to help them evaluate the messages they receive about government programs?

DISCUSSION 2:

Activity:

Before you tackle this exercise, please make sure you have read the materials at all of the links in this discussion prompt. Then, consider their concepts and this World Bank video on media effects in light of our increasing reliance on the Internet and its social media:

Then select and review one of the following resources:

• Frontline’s video, "Digital Nation;"
• this journal article on the impact of media use on children and teens; or
• this report by the American Press Institute, which draws conclusions about three other reports ("How Teens Use Media" from Nielsen; "Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds" from the Kaiser Foundation; and "Generations Online" from the Pew Research Center).

When you have finished looking over your resource, please tell us:

• What are some of the concerns about Internet use that are raised in these reports?
• How do those concerns relate to the mass communication theories we’re studying?
• How might those concerns relate to the media of mass communication?

You might enliven our conversation by supporting your response with an example from the Internet of how the media are supplanting other forms of communication, such as this "Big News" commercial for Apple's iPhone:

(Please include the url for any resource you find in your post.)

You can take this conversation in a lot of directions. I'm anxious to hear what you have to say!