Agenda-Setting and the Presidential Election:

The agenda-setting function of mass media has largely been influenced by concerns regarding news coverage and the public's view about the significance of the stories covered by mass media. Consequently, some theorists have stated that news editors and anchors have a relatively significant impact on determining the public's views of social reality. While there were concerns on the ability of a particular story covered by news media to affect the public's attitudes and opinions, mass media has a huge influence on people's thinking and perception. This is because mass media influence the amount of thinking that people engage in regarding a particular story, which can lead to an increase on the relative importance of that specific issue (DeFleur & Ball-Rokeach, p. 264).

One of the major influences that the agenda-setting function of mass media has had on shaping public perceptions is presidential elections. Based on...
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