Critical and Cultural Studies Commons^™

The Agenda Setting Function Of Mass Media, Tampa, John Howard, Print Media And Public Opinion: How It All Came Together In Melbourne, Rosemary Schultz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper will explore the ways in which the rhetoric of the Australian news media – the print media of Melbourne, specifically – has the power to shape and construct public sentiment toward national issues. Specifically, the paper explores the crafting of public opinion toward asylum seekers in the country through the use of specific rhetoric in print media outlets. The paper will focus on the “Tampa” incident of August 2001 as a basis for exploring asylum seeker issues in Australia. With the Agenda Setting Function Theory of Media Communications as a research base, and through personal interviews, extensive research …