Why the Agenda-Setting Theory is Important



The Agenda-Setting Theory of media states that mass media determines the issues that concern the public rather than the public’s views. Issues that get the most attention in the media become the issues that the public deems most important. This means news organizations decide which issues are important based on what they publish. If an issue doesn’t get covered by the large, popular news organizations, then they do not get the public’s attention, and it kind of just evaporates because people aren’t talking about it. The media decides what issues people should think about. The theory has two basic core assumptions. The first rests on the idea that media filters and shapes what we see. It doesn’t just show us stories. This would be like when a trending, “scandal” or “cancellation” story would be pinned at the top of a new organization’s website rather than a story that was published more recently and actually directly affects the people of our country. The second assumption is that the more attention the media gives to an article, it is more likely to influence the public readers to consider the issue very important. Although mass media publications aren’t often very opinionated, they are influencing people to think more about specific articles than others. So why is this theory important to journalism? We as journalists are actively deciding what is important enough for the public to indulge in.