Research On Mass Media Participation Mechanism Based On Public Policy Agenda

Nowadays, as the information technology changes with every passing day, mass media are increasingly closely related to people’s lives. Enjoying the convenience and abundant information brought by mass media, people are inevitably impacted by them in thoughts and behaviors. As a result, mass media have become the fourth power of education affecting people in thoughts, morals, perceptions and behaviors after family, school and different social groups. Then are mass media simply power of education? The proposing of Agenda-Setting Theory makes people realize, the answer is not so simple; with the progression of times, mass media are playing an increasingly important role in public policy with their specific participating mechanism.The thesis explores and researches the mass media participating mechanism based on the public policy agenda-setting. It first gives a general account of the research development and status quo of Agenda-Setting Theory at home and abroad, and then further defines related concepts, theoretical basis and research methods. On this basis, the thesis divides the mechanism of mass media participating in public policy agenda-setting into internal control mechanism, focusing mechanism, spreading mechanism and external pressure mechanism, and researches the2009Wuxi Newsstand Event with the theories of the four mechanisms. With the analysis of the mechanism’s main problems, the thesis adequately expands the research experience of this case and brings up three deep causes including the dependence on political and economic authorities, uneven distribution of rights to speak brought by new technologies and the common phenomenon of "conformity mechanism." In the end, the thesis highlights several solutions from the aspect of mechanism innovation, including propelling the diversification of mass media, giving full play to the Agenda-Setting Theory, clearly defining the roles and positioning of media, establishing mechanisms to cope with the crises, and coordinating the relationship between media, government and the public.