The agenda-setting function of mass media

Abstract

In choosing and displaying news, editors, newsroom staff, and broadcasters play an important part in shaping political reality. Readers learn not only about a given issue, but also how much importance to attach to that issue from the amount of information in a news story and its position. In reflecting what candidates are saying during a campaign, the mass media may well determine the important issues-that is, the media may set the "agenda" of the campaign. © 1972 by Columbia University Press.