THE AGENDA-SETTING THEORY

     Agenda-Setting Theory was first articulated in 1972 by UNC-Chapel Hill professors Dr. Maxwell McCombs and Dr. Donald Shaw. They published results from a survey that went out to North Carolina voters during the 1968 presidential election. The survey found that the issues of greatest importance to those North Carolina voters were the same ones that the media said were the most important.

     These results were interpreted to mean two main things. First, the media shapes what voters think are the most important issues in political campaigns. Second, when the media covers some issues more than others, then those issues being covered rise to the top of the public's mind, whether they were there in the first place or not. Stated more broadly, the Agenda-Setting Theory was born on the idea that mass media plans or creates an atmosphere for what the public should care about. 

     The main problem with this theory is that it is hard to measure. There is already a funky relationship between the public and the media. With there being so many media sites, many people only choose one or two, (and use those to confirm what they already believe--that's confirmation bias) so it is hard to change their opinions or ideas. 

     There are three types of agenda-setting. Public agenda-setting occurs when the audience gets to choose the program for which stories are covered. Media agenda-setting is when the media chooses the topics for which stories are covered. Finally, the policy agenda-setting is where both the media and the public choose which stories to cover. 



     In recent years, agenda-setting has been changing because of the impact of social media. That is because social media allows many more people to express their wishes about issues that they want to be covered. It will be interesting to see the evolution of agenda-setting and this particular theory will be over the next ten years.