(In) validating Cohen’s Assertion on Agenda-setting Theory using Media Coverage and What People Think about Muhammadu Buhari’s Campaign Mantra
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Date
2017
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Abstract
Bernard Cohen made an assertion that media may not tell people what to think but do tell them what to think about. That through agenda-setting, media provides salience to certain issues at the expense of other seemingly prominent issues. On the basis of this, we carried out a study to ascertain the fact that the agenda media set is related to what people think about with close reference to Muhammadu Buhari’s three point campaign promises during the 2015 presidential election. Population of study was Ilorin where a sample of 333 respondents was purposively drawn. Findings show that media emphasis on three major issues of President Muhammadu Buhari to curb corruption, eliminate insecurity and provide a platform for the unemployed to secure gainful employment correlate with what people thought were germane. The study recommends among other things that citizens should continue to rely on mass media messages on political developments to be better educated to be able to take informed decisions at elections.
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Agenda-setting, media, media agenda, public agenda, presidential election