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Agenda Setting Theory: How Media Shapes Public Focus 

Agenda Setting Theory: How Media Shapes Public Focus 

Communication theories help us understand how information is transmitted and how it influences individuals, groups, and society. These theories matter because they allow us to critically examine the media’s role in shaping our worldview. One such theory is the Agenda-Setting Theory, which explains how media influences not what people think, but what people think about. In other words, the media has the power to decide which issues are seen as important by the public.

Agenda-Setting Theory was first introduced by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw in their 1972 study, “The Agenda-Setting Function of Mass Media”. This study focused on the 1968 U.S. presidential election and found that the issues emphasized in the media were the very issues that the public came to regard as most significant. The theory suggests that by giving more coverage to certain topics, the media can make those topics more noticeable, or salient, in the public’s mind.

The core concept of Agenda-Setting Theory is called salience transfer — the process through which the importance of issues in media coverage is transferred to the public agenda. Media outlets decide which stories to highlight, how often to cover them, and how much space or air time to give them. As a result, audiences tend to perceive those stories as more significant.

The theory operates on two levels:

  1. First-level agenda-setting: Focuses on the salience of issues, or which topics matter to the public.
  2. Second-level agenda-setting: Focuses on the salience of attributes, or how certain issues or candidates are framed — for example, what traits or characteristics the media emphasizes.

This theory rests on the assumption that media audiences often rely on media for information. The more the media covers an issue, the more important that issue appears to the public.

The Impact of This Theory

Agenda-setting doesn’t just affect how people talk about events; it has long-term impacts on:

  • Public Awareness: Making certain issues stand out from the rest.
  • Public Opinion: Influencing which topics people consider worth discussing and worrying about.
  • Policy and Political Action: Helping shape priorities for leaders and institutions.

In Indonesia, the extensive media focus on PPKM (Pemberlakuan Pembatasan Kegiatan Masyarakat), which is the policy that restricts community activities, and kept this measure at the top of the public agenda. The constant stream of information about case numbers, restrictions, and government policies made PPKM a priority in the public’s daily conversations and influenced behavior across the nation. Another example is the media coverage of climate change. The more media outlets report on rising temperatures, melting glaciers, and extreme weather events, the more these topics dominate public discussions and policy decisions, and the more the media puts a spotlight on them.

Agenda-Setting Theory highlights the powerful role media play in shaping public discourse. While it doesn’t target individual opinions, it sets the boundaries for what people discuss, worry about, and ultimately act upon. In a world full of information, understanding this theory is crucial for becoming more aware of how perceptions are formed and why certain topics dominate the conversation.

References

The Agenda-Setting Role of the News Media. (2019, march). ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332287520_The_Agenda-Setting_Role_of_the_News_Media

Agenda Setting Theory | Media’s Role in Shaping Public Opinion. (2023, April 8). Media Theory. Retrieved June 24, 2025, from https://mediatheory.net/agenda-setting-theory/

Maxwell E. McCombs, Donald L. Shaw. (n.d.). The Agenda-Setting Function of Mass Media. JSTOR, VoI.36(No.2), 176-187. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2747787?seq=7