Agenda-setting

What is the biggest social problem in the news today? Who makes issues newsworthy and important? Why do some issues receive more attention than others? Social issues that are widely recognized on the media's agenda often demand attention on the public agenda, and in turn influence the policy agenda, creating policy changes. James W. Dearing and Everett M. Rogers's research on social issues that hit the top of the media agenda - e.g., the war on drugs, drunk driving, the Exxon Valdez, the Ethiopian famine, and AIDS - provides important theoretical and practical insight into the agenda-setting…