I found Griffin's discussion of agenda setting very intriguing as it has given me insight to some long standing questions I've had - does the public dictate what the media reports on, or does the media dictate what we think. The answer, as described in the text, is that the media inspires what we think about, not what we think.
This economic crises has been a good example of this. The pending disaster was looming on the horizon as people were over extending themselves and properties were being purchased with little or no money down. Then, the loans were re-packaged and sold to other investors as AAA rated loans, leading the investor to believe that they had highly-qualified borrowers on the other end. They in fact did not.
The media has covered this disaster step-by-step and fueled the issue and worries as the situations intensified. Had the media coverage not been so intense, I wonder if we would be in such a mess at this point. There was indeed reason for concern, but because the media pushed the issue so hard and wore down our (the Public) confidence, consumer spending has slowed, the economy has become extremely fragile, and now people are victims of layoffs, a violent and volatile stock market etc. The media is responsible for a lot of the panic, in my opinion. Again, there was legit reason for concern, but the media has created a frenzy that lead to the out of control downward spiral that we have witnessed as of late.
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Agenda-setting theory suggests that the media determine what people think about, but not necessarily how to think about a topic. How do we know about the economic crisis? By watching the news on tv or reading about it in the newspaper. Of course, we can also watch as the prices for consumer goods and services go up while our paychecks stay the same, become smaller, or vanish altogether. Who doesn't know someone who's been laid off or lost their house? Two of my brothers live in Michigan, which has the highest rate of unemployment in the country. Both have managed to keep their jobs, but one of them had those ARM loans and he lost his house. So economic times are bad. The subprime mortgages were a house of cards waiting to fall down. Still, as you point out, the media love drama, and if it's not there, they'll embellish. Media organizations are in the business to make money, so it's in their best interests to have compelling stories that people want to know about.
Agenda setting is interesting. i thought of our economic crisis too when i was reading through the chapter. The media has scared a lot of people into thinking the world is coming to an end. I know the state of the economy is serious but it is not the only news out there. The media has turned it into the disaster of the century, even at times overshadowing the presidential election, and almost cancelling the debates.
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