Mass Communication and Theories
Jenny Wunderlich
Comm 309
November 3, 2014

Introduction
Within Mass Communications, there are multiple theories that are presented. Two of the theories are the Cultivation Theory, and The Agenda-Setting Theory. I enjoy this area because these theories lie under media effects. Media effects expands our behavior whether its positive or negative, and has a huge impact on how people become. The media has become a huge part of society and how people live today. There are many forms of media, but these theories specifically talk mainly about television. People start at such a young age watching television and it affects how they are raised and how they percieve life.

Theory 1
The first theory is the Cultivation Theory. This theory is a social theory which examines the long-term effects of television. The primary concept this theory is that the more time that people spend absuing television, the more likely they are to conform to the ideas they are watching. This causes a misconception of reality and what is important. For example, when someone is watching a ton of violence, they are more likely to contribute to that lifestyle than one who didn't watch that. In our textbook, it states, “According to Gerbner, violence is one of the major staples of the TV world” (pg. 366). He is concerned that this changes people's beliefs which then alters their behavior and how they act and approach things. There is something called Institutional Process Analysis, which examines why the media shares the information and images that they do. In doing so, interviews really help understand the situation and people who work in the media industry. This is known as the first prong.
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The second prong, which is the message system-analysis involves the study of the actual content being hared. This involves a heavy study of research. Although a heavy concern is violence, research is done in all areas of media via television. The third prong, which is the cultivation analysis. This is where the evidence and support takes place of all the research, and saying that what people are watching go hand in hand with their behavior.

Theory 2
The second theory is the Agenda-Setting Theory. This theory describes the ability to influence audiences and the public with the media. This helps show how people prioritze what is important when it comes to media. For example, when something is covered multiple times on the news, people are more likely to take interest in it. Many people think that this story is mentioned frequently in the news because there is that much to say about it, but instead, the article is covered many times to emphasize more importance to it. This was developed by Dr. Max McCombs and Dr. Donald Shaw during a presidential election. This helped audiences find what stands out to them, and helped the presidents in running make for better stories. There are three different types of agenda-setting. The first type is public agenda setting, which the public's agenda is dependent. The second type of agenda-setting is media agenda setting in which the media is the dependent. This is also known as agenda building. The last type of agenda setting is policy agenda setting, which policy makers are treates as dependents. Griffin shares that interest aggregations are becoming “increasaingly adept at creatig news that must be reported” (pg. 386). Some news stories are not worthly enough of being front page on the Sunday paper, but reporters need to find a way to report the story while showing interest in
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their public. On another hand, other stories blow away all the other stories because they are so nteresting or important in today's world/society.

Compare/Contrast
These two theories of communication are similar in the sense that both have to do with media and how the public views/percieves it. The first theory, cultivation theory, shares more on how today's people will follow what the media says and does, even when it is not right. The second theory, on the other hand, explains how the media tries to persuade/emphasize certain things to create an interest for their audience. These two are related in the sense of the media tries really hard to lure people in to watching/listening/reading what they have to say, and in result, the audience listens to it and follows it.

Cultivation Theory
The idea that people obtain a majority of their media through television makes this theory important. It is assumed that on average people spend about 21 hours of their time watching television, per week, which translates into approximately 9 years of someones life. Kids are more susceptible to what is being shown on television, which is the basis of this theory. Cultivation theory propses the following assumptions: television media is more infleuncial than other forms of mass media, television shapes people's attitudes and beliefs about society and other individuals, television cultivates values and attitudes, too much television may lead to Mean World Syndrome, and television creates its own form of reality that people fall into.
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Agenda-Setting Theory
Agenda Setting is a form of public awareness. The two most basic assumptions of this theory are that the press and media do not reflect reality, and the media concentrates on few issues that makes people believe those are what is important. This explains how the more frequent a specific form of media is shown, the more that people will pay attention to it.

Study of Communication
Gavin Davie proposes that, The cultivation theory states that high frequency viewers of television are more susceptible to media messages and the belief that they are real and valid. Heavy viewers are exposed to more volence and therefore are effected by the Mean World Syndrome, the belief that the world is a far worse and dangerous place than it actually is” (MassCommTheory). Based off this article, it shows that this is creating a more vulnerable and timid populace. Expanding off that, it is believed that television is now creating a premis for people to follow. It creates a perception of the world and how it should be, and makes people believe they need to follow those guidelines. According to Cultivation Theory and Research by James Potter, cultivation is inevitable through media. They state that this theory forces researchers to think about some questions that should be taken into consideration. They state, “1. How should television exposure be measured? 2. How should cultivated perceptions be measured? And 3. What is the appropriate test for the relationship between exposure and perceptions?” (pg. 1). These are good questions to think about because all media across the board uses this theory. Researchers use this form of study to expand the ideas based off exposure to shows, genres, and practices.

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The Agenda-Setting theory can be very complex. There are multiple different topics and areas to be covered within this one theory. The first one is the public agenda which refers to the public and their behavior and attitude, and the conditions to be able to absorb and retain information differently. This is important because a big question that is asked is whether the media sets the tone of the agenda, or if it is the public. The idea is created somewhere and it is important to discover whether the basis of these ideas that are given throughout media is based off of what the media believes should be shown/portrayed, or because they know that is what the people want to see.

Conclusion
Both of these forms of media are used in all mass media, however, most popular via television. These theories emphasize how big of an impact these can have on people and society. As mass media changes, so does society and the culture within it. These two theories are very similar yet very different as well. Both of them portray images that are expected to be seen within the media and every day life. As time goes on, media is going to grow and theories are going to expand. It is crucial to pay attention to the impact of people and society as mass media grows, because it plays such a huge role in every day life.

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References

Griffin, Em. Communication. 8th ed. N.p.: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.

James, and Potter. OURNALISM ONOGRAPHS (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

"Mass Comm Theory." Mass Comm Theory. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2014.

"The #1 Resource for the Communication Field." Communication Studies. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2014.

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