Agenda Setting

Regardless of how hard they try, mass media will always impact the way people think. Many publications and news sources attempt to stay objective in every package, podcast or headline. But it's impossible. In a newspaper, the editors will decide which stories to run, which photo to use, how many words to run a particular story. On TV, it's similar. Producers must ask themselves how long to run a package and the order of news stories in the program. Bias will be there and agenda setting as well. Editors determine what's newsworthy, which news element is more important, which angle to take on a story. Many mass media outlets are aware of the problem and will do anything they can to report a story in the most objective form as possible. They should let readers decide for themselves what to believe, but only the media can present a story to the consumer.

However, the media can make a greater effort. The media should shoot for objectivity all the time, but not lie to viewers or readers. They shouldn't hide their agenda or try to present it as something it's not. There will be an agenda with every news program and every issue of a new magazine. In an ideal world, there are no agendas, but this is not reality. The reality is that news sources can be objective all the time. They need to be.