REVERSE AGENDA-SETTING AND PROPAGANDA IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Abstract

This paper examined the changing dynamics of the agenda-setting theory in the context of a new-media-dominated information age and the fast-evolving media audience responses to these new dynamics. The study employed an exploratory research design, using a literature review as a research instrument. Analysis of secondary data gathered from reviewed literature, Internet resources, and library materials form the basis for discussion of the changing meaning of agenda setting in light of new key players – the new media users, its attendant effect on gatekeeping, and the media audience’s propensity to employ the new media as a propaganda tool. Concrete examples of how this is already playing out in society were examined, including the George Floyd-related “Black Lives Matter” movement in America and the EndSARS series of protests in Nigeria. Agenda-setting theory and Gatekeeping theory form the theoretical underpinning for this study, and recommendations that hinge on new media-specific regulations were put forward to potentially prevent the new media audience or masses from being lured by propaganda peddled by anti-state players.