Agenda Setting Theory (Example)

Agenda setting theory was drafted by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw in 1972 when through survey and interview research they discovered a correlation between issues voters believed were important and those the mass media gave prominence in news coverage. This led them to assert that the media do not reflect reality. Rather they filter and shape it, setting the public agenda by what stories they report on. This meme (also see: http://memegenerator.net/instance/45605657 )  shows "success kid" congratulating himself on the fact that his daily tweets reflect both what the twitter sphere and the press considered the most important stories of the day. However agenda setting theory argues that media only highlight a few stories each day and so that “agenda” makes the public to perceive those are the most important, which may not be the case.