Research; Political Attitudes; *Press Opinion; Program Content; Social Behavior IDENTIFIERS *Agenda Setting

Although empirical research on the agenda-setting unction of mass communication dates only from the 1968 presidential election, historically there has been long-standing concern over the control of communication because of its assumed influence. Early communication research shared this concern and assumption, focusing on the ability of the media to change attitudes. While little attitude change was found, these studies did find substantial communication impact on cognitions. It is this cognitive impact of mass media--the ability of the mass media to shape our map of the world, to determine the priority of items on our personal agendas of issues--that agenda-setting research has been exploring in recent years. Agenda-setting research will explore the following areas in the immediate future: the causal link between media coverage and individual cognitions; establishing the contingent conditions affecting learning from mass communication; measuring and conceptualizing the difference in interpersonal and intrapersonal agendas; exploring the behavioral implications of agenda-setting, and extending the concept of agenda-setting to domains other than political behavior. (Author