Abstract
The mass media filters, structures information, emphasizes some issues and omits others. With this mechanism it creates a powerful symbolic effect on society, as it structures and shapes the image of reality that people have in relation to public events. This ability to define the public agenda has been called the agenda-setting hypothesis. This article reflects on the mechanisms the mass media has in order to turn a fact into a public issue and the devices it uses to create a meaningful symbolic context that gives the issue a socially intelligible meaning. It also investigates the professional criteria or the “newsability” criteria that determine the selection of the parts of social reality that are taken by the mass media to be presented as social problems of public interest.
Published Version
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