Agenda Setting Theory

A good example of Agenda Setting Theory is that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie adopting kids from other countries is newsworthy. The first level of agenda setting in this case is that they report every time Brad and Angelina adopt a new kid. I have seen pictures of the children that they have adopted, and I’m happy for them but there is no reason that this should be national news. The media’s agenda has made their adopting habit’s the public agenda. You see it on TV and in magazines, you can’t get through the line at any grocery store without seeing them with their newly adopted child. If it wasn’t for the media the only reason the public would care about Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie would be if they had a new movie coming out. I think that the gatekeepers in this situation are Jolie’s public relations people because they wanted to change her image. The media has told us to change our view of Angelina, we should be happy for her and be happy that she is adopting a child every other week, ok that’s a little bit of an exaggeration but you can see my point. The stories about these two shouldn’t be important but the media has made them important so we will continue to follow their family’s growth.