ABSTRACT

This book discusses the public opinion process with a focus on the role that the news media play in shaping public opinion. Although heavily influenced by the agenda-setting perspective -- the view that the news media define the important issues of the day and determine how these issues are presented -- the authors neither support nor refute this claim. They present instead a variety of contemporary scholarship integrated into a coherent picture of public opinion for a general audience.

part ONE|21 pages

Introduction

chapter ONE|8 pages

Communication and Public Opinion

chapter TWO|11 pages

The Agenda-Setting Role of Mass Communication

part TWO|17 pages

Exploring the News

chapter THREE|7 pages

Practices, Values, and Traditions in Journalism

chapter FOUR|7 pages

Framing the News

part THREE|21 pages

Reporting the News

chapter FIVE|7 pages

Shaping the News Agenda

chapter SIX|11 pages

Exposure to News

part FOUR|30 pages

Imagining the News

chapter SEVEN|9 pages

Knowledge of Public Affairs

chapter EIGHT|11 pages

Forming Images and Opinions

chapter NINE|6 pages

Participation in Public Affairs

part FIVE|11 pages

Creating Public Opinion

chapter TEN|9 pages

The Transfer of Interests