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It is widely accepted that the news media, especially in specific expressions of press opinion, have the effect of setting the agenda of issues in many political campaigns. The nature and extent of such agenda-setting is not yet established, although a study of two test newspapers tends to define further this effect. An analysis of the conservative "State Journal " and the liberal "Capital Times, " both of Wisconsin, shows that, indeed, press opinion has an influence on the rank-ordering of political issues by the readerships.. However, so many variables are at work in the formation of political attitudes that clear-cut methodologies do not yet exi-t.. A content analysis of these two sample newspapers does show, nevertheless, that in interpersonal communication (as opposed to intrapersonal) political opinions conform, to a degree, to pres