Agenda-Setting Theory

The movie Anchorman points a finger and laughs at how influenced people can be by what they watch on TV. One of the quotes in the movie proclaims, "If Ron Burgundy says it...it's the truth!" The movie reflects the culture of America in the 1970's. Action news was just becoming big in this time, so what the news anchors would say, people would believe.

According to the theory of agenda-setting, the media tells people what to think about and how to think about it. In the movie, although humorous, this is exactly what the various news stations in the movie did. There was a competition for the highest ratings, leading to competition to having the best stories. The news stations would elaborate a little, and stories would be evaluated as to whether or not to be shown. They were in control of what was seen, and how it was reported upon. It seemed like every story they reported on would start with the graphic of "breaking news." This supports the media agenda by trying to show the public what is important.

News reporters had reputations back then also. The news was personal, people knew who you were if you were a reporter. It was almost this celebrity status, and that was clearly shown in the movie. This gives a backbone to how people were influenced, because they would watch the people they liked and wanted to watch. So if Ron were to say something, they listened, believed it, and almost in a sense, worshiped his words. The movie shows people just staring at their tv screens taking in each and every word. This point is even more prominent when one of Ron's co-workers messes up the teleprompter and makes him say the f-word. Ron doesn't realize he says that, and once the segment is over, all chaos breaks loose. Ron gets hate mail from fans, he gets fired from the station, and people throw trash in his face. That was the impact a news reporter had on the public. Regardless of a comedy movie or not, there is an underlying truth to how our culture was and still is in the face of media. And shows just how manipulative to a point the media really can be.