Being Blind to Agenda-Setting: A Reporter's Journey

Abstract

Various studies have shown that the news media can set the agenda for what issues the public thinks about, along with how they should think about them, which could lead to significant consequences in both positive and negative ways. To help shed more light on this issue, I used an autoenthographical and grounded theory approach to look at whether I participated in the process in a negative way when I covered the Lake Superior School District as a reporter at the Lake County News-Chronicle in Two Harbors, Minnesota. While doing this research, I found I did partake in the negative style of agenda-setting. This has led me to develop a plan of action, through the use of autoethnography, for how other journalists can avoid it to an extent in the future by being more conscious of their own biases. Through this process, I also advance a strategy teachers can use to educate journalism students about how to cope with negative agenda-setting: by using more self-reflections when writing journalistic articles. Problems related to the application of agenda-setting theory are also brought forth.