The Gay-Agenda Setting

LGBT periodicals act as a gateway of knowledge into the issues and topics that the LGBT community deal with on a daily basis. But is the content reflective of the community’s interest or is it the other way around?

Now, more so than ever, issues that affect the LGBT community have made their way into the public consciousness. Since the legalization of same-sex marriage in the US, there has been a giant push for other countries, particularly in the Western world, to follow in the pursuit for equality. But this is only one example of the many issues that affect the LGBT community that have become increasingly prevalent in public discussion.

Until recently, the thought of a transgender women becoming a worldwide phenomenon would’ve been laughed at, and yet it’s almost impossible to walk past a newsstand without seeing Caitlin Jenner’s picture splashed across it.

Despite the leaps and bounds the LGBT community has made in gaining public acknowledgment and acceptance, we are still a minority that faces prejudice, judgment, and mostly importantly, lacks representation in mainstream society. But this isn’t all doom-and-gloom; we are a proactive bunch who has ensured that our voices will be heard.

We’ve created award ceremonies to so that the people who make this community better are rewarded and recognized accordingly. We’ve started charities and organizations to take care of the mental and physical states of our community members. We’ve produced, written and starred in films and television programs to voice our truths with realistic and accurate depictions of our past and present. And, we’ve circulated online and print publications so that we can shine a light on the issues that concern our community.

With that being said, LGBT periodicals have proven to be one of the most effective means of connecting and informing members of this community. Coming from a small town and being the first ‘out’ person in my family, I knew very little about LGBT history, culture and equal rights. Turning to LGBT print and online sources meant I was able to expand my knowledge on the issues that myself, my friends, or my community will inevitably face.

According to the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives, there are over 1765 forms of LGBT periodicals that have been published across the world, ranging from community newspapers and magazines, to organizational newspapers and zines. Thirty-seven of these currently or previously circulated titles are Australian owned.

With distribution numbers this high, LGBT publications are clearly vital beacons of news and knowledge for the community. Much like mainstream media, these outlets have a responsibility to present unbiased and fair stories to their readership covering topics of interest to the community such as marriage equality, social events, mental and physical health, HIV/Aids awareness and celebrity/pop-culture.

But are the issues discussed in these periodicals a reflection of the shared interests of our community? Or does our interest in these issues reflect what we read in these periodicals?

The theory of agenda-setting suggests that news media is able to influence the salience of topics on the public’s agenda by frequently covering and giving prominence to particular issues. Underlying this theory is the assumption that the media filters and shapes reality rather than reflecting it. It further suggests that concentration on a small group of issues leads the public to perceive those issues as more important than others.

So is there an agenda - the gay-agenda if you will - that LGBT periodicals are setting? Are there topics that their readerships deem important as a result of the frequency in which they have been covered?

To get to the bottom of this, a content analysis was conducted on five leadings LGBT periodicals currently in circulation in Australia over a one-year period from March 2015-2016. To ensure the investigation was fair and inclusive to all factors, the chosen periodicals represented both print and online, ranged from monthly to bi-monthly, and were published in different Australian states and cities. The periodicals analyzed were Q Magazine (Melbourne), FNQ Magazine (Cairns and Far-North Queensland), Sydney Star Observer (Sydney), FUSE Magazine: Life, Love, Equality (Australian Capital Territory), and Blaze (Adelaide).

After the completion of this analysis, the content of these publications were divided and sorted into eleven categories that reflected the diverse interests of the LGBT community. These categories were trans rights and issues, HIV/Aids awareness and issues, mental health, laws, regulations and politics, Australian marriage equality, physical health, celebrity, popular culture and the arts, LGBT history, homeless LGBT youth, and LGBT events and tourism. The eleventh category was titled ‘other’ which would include topics that didn’t fit into the previously mentioned categories.

The analysis found that LGBT events and tourism was the most covered topic in the selected periodicals with 23.3% of content falling into the category. Following closely was the celebrity, popular culture and the arts category with 21.4%. The least covered category was homeless LGBTI youth with 0.57%. Content that fell into the ‘Other” category, which was 5.5% of all content, included LGBT members in the workplace, financial advice and LGBT parenting.

In combination with the content analysis, a survey was completed by 100 participants who identify as members of the LGBT community. The survey enquired if participants relied on LGBT periodicals for information on the issues they’re interest in and if their opinions on these topics were influenced after reading about them. Additionally, the survey probed whether the amount of importance the participant placed on particular issues was based on how frequently it was covered.

The majority of the surveyed participants identified as male (65%) with the remaining identifying as female (25%), transgender (3%) or preferred not to say (7%). Moreover, the vast majority were aged between 18-25 (81%).

Of the surveyed participants, 64% had read at least one the of selected LGBT periodicals; this included infrequent reading, browsing and social media interaction such as ‘liking’ or ‘sharing’ online posts.

Based on the results on the combined research methods, there are three key findings that can answer the question of whether there is agenda setting in Australian LGBT periodicals.

Firstly, 57.9% of survey participants said they had read an LGBT periodical to gain greater knowledge on an issue that affected their community. A further 38.64% said their opinion on an issue that affects the LGBT community was influenced or changed after reading one of the selected publications. This was in comparison to 26.14% who said it did not affect their opinion.

Sociologists credit the mass media as a significant force that reflects and creates modern culture. Society is regularly bombarded with messages from numerous sources that promote attitudes and a sense of what is and is not important.

From this, it is clear that LGBT periodicals do have a noticeable influence over their readership, particularly when it comes to informing them on issues that affect the community. Therefore, the potential for agenda setting in a plausible theory due to this level of influence.

Secondly, the survey results found there was a large discrepancy between the issues covered in the selected LGBT periodicals and the issues deemed important by the survey participants. Participants were most concerned with Australian marriage equality (73.96%), followed by mental health (66.67%) and laws, regulations and politics (56.25%). Conversely, the content analysis found that the selected periodicals focused the majority of their content on LGBT events and tourism and celebrity, popular culture and the arts, despite both of these categories ranking in the lower section of topics in the survey.

An argument for this discrepancy could be that the target readership for these periodicals may not be the same as the average survey participant who identifies as an 18-25-year-old male. Therefore, the salience of topics presented in these publications are not reflective of the interests that concern the younger gay-male community.

However, according to Shailendra Ghorpade’s research, agenda-setting through advertising is a mostly ignored tactic that can highly effect the behavior of readers. It can be assumed that LGBT events and tourism was the most covered category because of sponsorship and advertising deals with events such as Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and Queer Film Festival.

Not only were there single page advertisements of these events, but the majority of the content in this category consisted of testimonies from people who attended these events in previous years, information of the different parties to attended throughout the events, and how important the event is to the LGBT community.

It is clear that the intent of these articles was to promote the events and ensure their readers were aware of every detail that could persuade them to attend or at least be aware of it. For example, the February 2016 issues of the Sydney Star Observer filled 21 pages of information about the Queer Film Festival that consisted of single page advertising, film reviews, party timetables, and ticket-selling information. Sydney Star Observer was also an official sponsor of the event. The same tactics were employed by FNQ Magazine for the upcoming the Tropical Mardi Gras.

Similarly, popular culture and the arts category. Universally throughout all the selected periodicals, single page advertisements were used to promote upcoming theatre plays or live performances. These advertisements would be accompanied with articles that continued to promote what was being sold by means of an interview or a review.

There were also instances where celebrity interviews were conducted to help sell or plug a product or event. An example would be an interview conducted in the Sydney Star Observer with singer Deborah Cox who plugged her upcoming performance at the 2016 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras event.

Because the above mentioned publications saturate the content they produce with topics they stand to gain from, whether it be for the purpose of money or brand recognition, there is a clear indication of agenda setting. By frequently covering the categories of ‘LGBT events and tourism’ and ‘celebrity, popular culture and the arts’, these periodicals are aiming to persuade their readership into placing more importance on these topics over others.

Thirdly, 52.87% of the surveyed participants believe their interest in a topic is not increased even if it covered more frequently than others in LGBT periodicals. With this in mind, of the 29.89% of participants who said their interest was increased, the topics that saw increased interest were Australian marriage equality, mental health, homeless LGBT youth, and HIV/Aids issues and awareness.

Interestingly, the content analysis found that those categories were among the least covered topics in the selected LGBT publications. Collectively the categories only equated to 17.67% of the total content that was analyzed, compared to the survey results which saw the participants place these topics in the top 5 most important issues.

Despite little coverage, the few articles and journalism pieces that dealt with these topics had longer word lengths, used multiple sources, and were treated as feature articles with front-page advertising.

For example, FUSE Magazine published an article in their September/October 2015 issue on a drug that reduces the chances of new HIV infections called Truvada. The piece was over 2 pages long and was advertised on the front cover of that issue. That same issue, the ‘LGBT events and tourism’ and ‘celebrity, popular culture and the arts’ categories were the most covered topics but were either blurbs or featured on a page with multiple articles.

So, this begs the question: Does quality trump quantity when it comes to agenda setting?

According to the definition: No.

Agenda setting occurs through cognitive process where the more frequently the news media covers an issue, the more chances that issue remains the audience’s memories.

However, the survey has shown that although in-frequent the in-depth coverage of these issues have resulted in the selected periodicals setting the agenda for these particular issues.

The readerships of these periodicals appear to react better when more sensitive issues are dealt with and written about with sensitivity and accuracy. Because of this, readers engage with the text to the point of placing high importance on the discussed issue.

It might be worthwhile for future investigations on the agenda setting theory to study the effects of quality over quantity when it comes to judging the frequency of issues reported on in the news media.

To wrap up this investigation on agenda setting in Australian LGBT periodicals, there is no doubt that these publications hold enormous amounts of influence over their readership. They are beacons of information that connect members of the LGBT community by reporting on the issues that aren’t represented in mainstream media. However, in the cases of sponsorship deals and advertising, there are clear indicators of agenda setting particularly when there is money to be made and opportunities for brand recognition. More interestingly, when topics aren’t frequently featured but do receive in-depth and rich coverage, the readerships of these publications respond positively and show an increased interest on that topic.