1. 1 Chapter 9 Agenda Setting

2. 2 The media determines the importance placed upon particular issues. Gatekeeping: control exercised by media professionals over the flow of news information

3. 3 Conceptual Roots Walter Lippmann Public Opinion (1922) News media is responsible for shaping the public’s perception of the world. Media projections create a pseudo- environment for news consumers.

4. 4 Agenda Building Concept that allows for the collective influence of and reciprocity between the public and the media in setting the agenda.

5. 5 Research Tradition: Phase 1- Initial Study Chapel Hill study McCombs and Shaw The issues considered salient by the news media were also considered salient by the general public.

6. 6 Research Tradition: Phase 2- Replication Charlotte Voter Study (1977) Shaw and McCombs Voters who used mass media more often than others were more likely to have agendas that matched the media agenda. Laboratory Study (1982) Iyengar, Peters, Kinder Participants who viewed certain stories considered the issue more significant than those who did not see the stories.

7. 7 Research Tradition: Phase 3- Contingent Factors 1976 Candidate Study (1981) Weaver, Graber, McCombs, and Eyal Contingent factors found to affect the agenda-setting process: Voters’ occupations Education levels Geographic locations

8. 8 Research Tradition: Phase 4- Who Sets the Media Agenda Media Agenda Sources (1991) Shoemaker and Reese Many influences create the media agenda each day: Sociological factors related to the news organization and other organizations Ideological concerns Individual differences among reporters and editors Routine of media work

9. 9 Recent Research and Future Trends 3 types of studies that are part of agenda-setting research: Media agenda setting Public agenda setting Policy agenda setting News sources that set media agenda The president’s issue agenda strongly influenced the media agenda Verify the causal direction of agenda setting

10. 10 Agenda-Setting as a Theory McCombs and Shaw Steady historical growth of literature on agenda-setting research Ability to integrate several communication research sub fields under a single theoretical umbrella Continuing ability to generate new research problems

11. 11 Agenda-Setting: Not a Theory Kosicki Lacks agreement between conceptual and operational definitions among researchers Ambiguous methodology Insufficient theory and lack of specification