How the news media set the agenda

Abstract

The agenda-setting role of the news media is a powerful influence on what we pay attention to and how we understand the vast world of public affairs that lies beyond our personal experience. Subsequent to the seminal Chapel Hill study in 1972, agenda setting theory has expanded beyond the influence of the news media on the public to elaborate the broader process of agenda setting. The scope of the theory now extends from the elements that shape the media agenda to the consequences of agenda-setting effects for attitudes and opinions. This article presents the results of two empirical studies recently published in the United States that further elaborate this process. One explicates how the press shifts its spotlight from one aspect to another of a major news event to build the prominence of that event on the media agenda. The second explicates the implications of prominence on the media agenda for the public’s attitudes and opinions about public figures.