Media Entertainment and Political Agenda Setting

Entertainment Television and Agenda Setting
The media is a very powerful force, as it reaches everyone in America in some shape or form, everyday. Whether it is television, radio, outside media advertising, a magazine, or the Internet, media outlets find a way to reach the American people in as many ways as possible. Many people expect to see political messages when consuming media, but have a fair idea of what television station will be broadcasting coverage such as this. For example, if someone chooses to watch Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, or any other news outlets they will be intentionally engaging themselves in political communication through media messages. Unfortunately, there is no escape from these media messages as they are embedded in our media culture and cannot be escaped, whether or not the media consumer is aware. It is almost impossible for someone to enjoy entertainment television without being persuaded in one way or another about politics in some way. A prime example of this politically charged entertainment television was the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, which uses its popularity to invite political participation. It does this by using agenda setting to push issues on the viewers that are controversial in politics today, and doing so in a setting which is perceived by viewers as non-political.
Agenda setting, according to Thomas A. Hollihan, author of Uncivil Wars, is “that the media play an important role in determining which issues merit public attention…. And in shaping public attitudes” (Hollihan, 2009). MTV Video Music Awards host, Russel Brand, made politically charged statements throughout the entire show. As everyone knows, healthcare reformation is a very controversial issue right now. Many people are in favor of a change, but are skeptical that the plan formed for us by President Obama is insufficient and will hurt insurance companies and eliminate our freedom to choose caregivers. When Brand announced his heritage to the audience, he explained it as this, “I am from England, yeah, England… Where we don’t let people just die on the streets. We have free healthcare!” This message is agenda setting because this issue is the most prominent issue in politics today, and President Obama is struggling to receive the necessary support to pass the healthcare bill. By having a figure such as this promote the bill, it might help him Obama support. The demographic that MTV reaches is mainly 12-34 year-olds, and this is the same demographic Obama was so successful in appealing to during 2008 election.
The way that Brand approaches healthcare forces the audience to feel a sense of guilt and obligation. Regrettably, Brand makes it seem as if there are a large portion of those who wouldn’t mind if people were falling over and dying because they cannot afford healthcare. This is the way in which Brand invites political participation. He makes the viewers feel that if they do not support the healthcare bill, then they are in that large portion of people who could care less about those dying in the streets. By oversimplifying the issue and appealing to ethos, he is raising awareness and influencing people to support government run healthcare, even if the details are not fitting for our country. Because many young voters who do not educate themselves on the topic hear this, they think “Wow, well I really don’t want people to die on the streets, so I think I’ll support the healthcare bill” without any second thoughts of the consequences that could follow if it is passed.
Some could argue that MTV had nothing to do with Russel Brands commentaries, and that they are not representative of the station. This is invalid because it is not the first time that he has made politically charged comments while hosting an MTV event, in fact, last year at the VMA’s he insulted George W. Bush when saying, “Please elect Barack Obama on behalf of the world… Some people - I think they're called racists… may not be ready to elect a black man. It was nice of you to let that retarded cowboy have a go at it” (IMDb.com). Not only was this quote politically charged, but it was very inappropriate and Russel Brand barely received any “heat” about it after the awards show. In fact, he pointed out in the 2009 VMA’s that some people were bothered by that comment, but that it no longer mattered because Barack Obama is now our president, and that he guessed he was right after all. This shows that MTV fully supports Russel Brands views and delivery, which is agenda setting in itself.
When people watch MTV’s Video Music Awards, they expect to see music’s most popular artists perform, receive awards, and dress to the nines. They do not expect to see political encoding. This is another way that MTV is inviting political participation, by including political messages in a non-political setting to hopefully change the politically inactive to politically active. Only 47 percent of 18-24 year olds voted during the last election and the voter participation for ages 55 and over is about 72 percent (U.S. Census Bureau). MTV knows that its demographic is from ages 12 to 34 so it makes perfect sense that they are trying to interest this demographic in politics, to hopefully encourage more participation.
The problem with presenting political information in a setting where it is not expected is that the speaker is often disassociated with any type of political education, but still has an impact on its viewers. In Uncivil Wars, Hollihan states that “exposure to misinformation or distorted media messages will negatively affect a person’s political efficacy” (Delli Carpini, 2005). Those watching the VMA’s that do not have an adequate amount of knowledge on the subject could jump to the conclusion, without further research, that the healthcare reformation is a good thing and that they need to support it so that people do not die. Russel Brand is an ex-cocaine addict and alcoholic. He also has bipolar disorder and no form of secondary education. Yet this is the type of host MTV has chosen to portray their views, because they believe it will be effective to their audience. His words don’t give the viewers enough information to form an educated opinion, and those without an opinion on the subject already probably won’t research the issue further. Supporting any issue without having a broad knowledge base of the stipulations and causes of the issue negatively affects a person’s political efficacy. Those who are affected by these comments and decide to gain some type of stance on the subject are now engaged politically, the goal MTV had set and may have achieved.
Although many people enjoyed the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, I was not one of them. I cannot look past comments like this in a setting where people are not asking for political propaganda. To many, Russel Brand is a comedian, who makes light of everyday situations. What they don’t realize, is that he (and MTV) are influencing their views and engaging them politically. People should be able to enjoy entertainment sans bias and the agenda setting media trying to push their views on the audiences. Alas, our society today has formed into one that is politically charged in every aspect and it cannot be escaped.