EOTO 2 Reflection

     In this set of presentations, there were a large number of topics that immediately caught my interest. These broad topics of awareness, mediasphere, theories, and policy umbrella a lot of very important and interesting concepts that the average citizen likely doesn't know much about. One of these topics is the Agenda Setting Theory. This theory is actually really relevant in my major of Strategic Communications. Agenda setting theory is the idea that news organizations can pick and choose what to put in the forefront of the media. Doing this gets certain topics into the minds of the audiences. Agenda setting allows these news organizations to filter what information is brought into light for the public. It is used hand in hand with the theory of framing. Framing theory focuses on how the information is actually presented, whether it is in a negative or positive light. Agenda setting can be a good thing in the sense that it often filters out unnecessary information or irrelevant stories but mostly is used to push a specific news sources opinions. 

    An extremely intriguing topic discussed was the Spiral of Silence. The Spiral of Silence is a theory developed in 1974 that states that people in a group setting tend to censor their differing opinions to avoid pushback and isolation from others. There are four parts of this theory. The first of which is that individuals find the ability to determine the majority opinion. The second is the individual begins to silences herself when her opinion differs from that of the majority. The third part is that ever-present threat of isolations and exclusion from the group as a result of sharing an opposing opinion. The fourth part is that there is a likelihood that this will affect future opinions and expressions by the individual. This idea is so heavily present in today's society. When the presenter asked who had experienced something similar, each person in the class had their hand raised.

    Another topic in the category of media sphere is the main stream media (MSM). MSM includes the common newspapers and both local and national broadcasts. The large corporations that provide our media focus on covering a variety of content but do have a reputation for having biases heavily present in the way they practice agenda setting and framing. These sources of news cost money to consume but are foundational to our democracy. Because not all of the nation can constantly pay for more expensive sources of news, alternative media exists and follows the example set by mainstream media. Alternative media offers a less expensive option. These are just a few crucial topics that are part of our interaction with news and participating in democracy.