What is Important?

           http://thepeoplescube.com/current-truth/no-mosque-at-ground-zero-protest-6-6-10-t5426.html

            What is important? Something that affects us as individuals, generates arguments, or something that affects hundreds of people who we have never met and likely never will? Or is it simply whatever happens to make the Nightly News? Based on the discussion of the “Mosque at Ground Zero” that popped up seemingly at random in my theatre class the other day I’m inclined to agree with the latter.

            This example fits nicely with the theory of Agenda Setting, which, in simple terms, states that the national news media determines the directions that political discourse takes in this country. If the news at not for a time become so saturated with the debate on whether or not an abandoned Burlington Coat Factory several blocks away from Ground Zero, how many people with no connection to the city of New York would have a.) heard of and b.) felt the insatiable urge to spout off about it? Probably a lot less people than have done so, and the debate would certainly not reached Theatre 301 here at the University of Texas in Austin. This is why the theory of Agenda Setting carries weight. The more press an incident gets, the more people talk about it and so that press has affected the direction of the political conversation to go towards a particular direction, rather than another.

            Now because I unfortunately did not have a tape recorder on me on that faithful day I’ll include another example that shows just how far from Manhattan this story has traveled. Here it is:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38816495

Yes even Miss America has something to say on this topic. Now this may not be the most perfect of examples because this actually is something of an important issue in terms of freedom of religion as well as exposing some of the vicious stereotypes we have in this country, but it does stand as proof of agenda setting because according to the media, everyone cares about this debate and because of that, everyone does.