week 10, post 1

The agenda-setting hypothesis is the belief that mass media has the ability to transfer the salience of issues on their news agenda to the public agenda. The theory was set in place by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw, and was used as an example during the watergate scandal of ex-president Richard Nixon's term. It is the desire of media assistance in determining political reality. What I find as being the most appealing in the agenda-setting theory is the idea of which came first, the media agenda determining voter's agenda, or voter's agenda determining media agenda. My guess would be a combination of both. If the media program has low ratings than it would align itself with the voter's agenda. If a voter is not apart of the norm, than he or she may align themselves with the media program.