AGENDA-SETTING THEORY
Communication researchers and public relations practitioners believe there is a middle ground between powerful effects and minimal effects of the media. This is explained by the agendasetting theory associated with Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw (1972). According to this theory, the news media are not powerful enough to force audiences to react in a certain way, but neither are they inconsequential. Rather, the media raise issues that both they and their audiences consider to be newsworthy. In simple terms, the news media tell us what to think about, but they don’t tell us what to think.