Exciting intellectual frontiers are open for exploration as agenda-setting theory moves beyond its 25th anniversary. This volume offers an intriguing set of maps to guide this exploration over the near future. It is intended for those who are already reasonably well read in the research literature that has accumulated since the publication of McCombs and Shaw's original 1972 "Public Opinion Quarterly" article. This piece of literature documented the influence of the news media agenda on the public agenda in a wide variety of geographic and social settings, elaborated the characteristics of audiences and media that enhance or diminish those agenda-setting effects, and cataloged those exogenous factors explaining who sets the media's agenda. In the current volume, a provocative set of maps for explicating new levels of agenda-setting theory have been sketched by a new generation of young scholars, launching an enterprise that has significant implications for theoretical research and for the day-to-day role of mass communication in democratic societies.
At the first level of agenda setting are agendas of "objects"--the traditional domain of agenda setting research--represented by an accumulation of hundreds of studies over the past quarter century. At the second level of agenda setting are agendas of "attributes"--one of the new theoretical frontiers whose aspects are discussed in detail in the opening chapters. Other chapters offer maps of yet other theoretical frontiers, including political advertising agendas and their impact on behavior, the framing of various agendas in the mass media and the differential impact of print and TV, the theoretical role of individual differences in the agenda-setting influence of the news media on the public agenda, methodological advances for determining cause and effect roles in agenda-setting, and the application of agenda-setting theory to historical analysis. This volume is an invitation to others to become active members of the invisible college of agenda-setting scholarship. As such, the goals of this book are threefold:
* to introduce a broad set of ideas about agenda-setting;
* to enrich the exploration of these ideas by enhancing scholarly dialogue among the members of this invisible college; and
* to enhance the discussion of agenda-setting research in seminars and research groups around the world.
Agenda-setting has remained a vital and productive area of communication research over a quarter century because it has continued to introduce new research questions into the marketplace of ideas and to integrate this work with other theoretical concepts and perspectives about journalism and mass communication. Understanding the dynamics of agenda- setting is central to understanding the dynamics of contemporary democracy. This book's set of theoretical essays, grounded in the accumulated literature of agenda- setting theory and in the creative insights of young scholars, will help lead the way toward that understanding.

The role of the news media in defining the important issues of the day, also known as the agenda-setting influence of mass communication, has received widespread attention over the past 20 years. Since the publication of McCombs and Shaw's seminal empirical study, more than one hundred journal articles and monographs have appeared. This collection exemplifies the major phases of research on agenda-setting: tests of the basic hypothesis, contingent conditions affecting the strength of this influence, the natural history of public issues, mass media influence on public policy, and the role of external sources from the president to public relations staffs on the news agenda.

In this timely volume, the authors explore public affairs journalism, a practice that lies at the core of the journalism profession. They go beyond the journalistic instruction for reporting and presenting news to reflect on "why" journalism works the way it does. Asking current and future journalists the critical questions, "Why do we do it?" and "What are the ways of fulfilling the goals of journalism?" their discussion stimulates the examination of contemporary practice, probing the foundations of public affairs journalism.
With its detailed examination of factors influencing current journalistic practice, "The Two W's of Journalism" complements and expands on the skills and techniques presented in reporting, editing, and news writing textbooks. The perspectives presented here facilitate understanding of the larger role journalism has in society. As such, the volume is an excellent supplemental text for reporting and writing courses, and for introductory courses on journalism. It will also offer valuable insights to practicing journalists.

In this timely volume, the authors  explore public affairs journalism, a practice that lies at the core of the journalism profession. They go beyond the journalistic instruction for reporting and presenting news to reflect on "why" journalism works the way it does. Asking current and future journalists the critical questions, "Why do we do it?" and "What are the ways of fulfilling the goals of journalism?" their discussion stimulates the examination of contemporary practice, probing the foundations of public affairs journalism.
With its detailed examination of factors influencing current journalistic practice, "The Two W's of Journalism" complements and expands on the skills and techniques presented in reporting, editing, and news writing textbooks. The perspectives presented here facilitate understanding of the larger role journalism has in society. As such, the volume is an excellent supplemental text for reporting and writing courses, and for introductory courses on journalism. It will also offer valuable insights to practicing journalists.

Exciting intellectual frontiers are open for exploration as agenda-setting theory moves beyond its 25th anniversary. This volume offers an intriguing set of maps to guide this exploration over the near future. It is intended for those who are already reasonably well read in the research literature that has accumulated since the publication of McCombs and Shaw's original 1972 "Public Opinion Quarterly" article. This piece of literature documented the influence of the news media agenda on the public agenda in a wide variety of geographic and social settings, elaborated the characteristics of audiences and media that enhance or diminish those agenda-setting effects, and cataloged those exogenous factors explaining who sets the media's agenda. In the current volume, a provocative set of maps for explicating new levels of agenda-setting theory have been sketched by a new generation of young scholars, launching an enterprise that has significant implications for theoretical research and for the day-to-day role of mass communication in democratic societies.
At the first level of agenda setting are agendas of "objects"--the traditional domain of agenda setting research--represented by an accumulation of hundreds of studies over the past quarter century. At the second level of agenda setting are agendas of "attributes"--one of the new theoretical frontiers whose aspects are discussed in detail in the opening chapters. Other chapters offer maps of yet other theoretical frontiers, including political advertising agendas and their impact on behavior, the framing of various agendas in the mass media and the differential impact of print and TV, the theoretical role of individual differences in the agenda-setting influence of the news media on the public agenda, methodological advances for determining cause and effect roles in agenda-setting, and the application of agenda-setting theory to historical analysis. This volume is an invitation to others to become active members of the invisible college of agenda-setting scholarship. As such, the goals of this book are threefold:
* to introduce a broad set of ideas about agenda-setting;
* to enrich the exploration of these ideas by enhancing scholarly dialogue among the members of this invisible college; and
* to enhance the discussion of agenda-setting research in seminars and research groups around the world.
Agenda-setting has remained a vital and productive area of communication research over a quarter century because it has continued to introduce new research questions into the marketplace of ideas and to integrate this work with other theoretical concepts and perspectives about journalism and mass communication. Understanding the dynamics of agenda- setting is central to understanding the dynamics of contemporary democracy. This book's set of theoretical essays, grounded in the accumulated literature of agenda- setting theory and in the creative insights of young scholars, will help lead the way toward that understanding.

The role of the news media in defining the important issues of the day, also known as the agenda-setting influence of mass communication, has received widespread attention over the past 20 years. Since the publication of McCombs and Shaw's seminal empirical study, more than one hundred journal articles and monographs have appeared. This collection exemplifies the major phases of research on agenda-setting: tests of the basic hypothesis, contingent conditions affecting the strength of this influence, the natural history of public issues, mass media influence on public policy, and the role of external sources from the president to public relations staffs on the news agenda.

The Future of News
Will it be defined by a declining legacy media; the diminution of important journalism like international reporting; the end of whole disciplines like photojournalism and investigative reporting? Or will the old be replaced by robust new ways of learning and sharing the news, like participatory journalism, ambitious freelancing, and news satire? What s clear is that the shift from analog to digital is more than just technological it is a rift between eras. Reporting has evolved from one-way to many-to-many; from exclusive and expensive to accessible and cheap. The ability to create and share news is now handheld and ubiquitous.
But it would be a grave mistake to forget the fundamental role of news to nourish an informed democracy. As Thomas Jefferson noted in 1789, Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government. With that in mind, our task in this second edition of "The Future of News" is to explore whether today s news is intellectually closer to broccoli or bon bons.
In this edition of The Future of News: An Agenda of Perspectives we examine:
- The tension and congruence between legacy and new media and the evolving economic models of both.
- What the lessons of the past can teach us about the future of news.
- The journalistic value and importance of international reporting and quality photojournalism, and how they re compromised by declining budgets.
- The virtual explosion in the amount of information now available and why today s mandate is less about the availability of information and more about curating the "right" information.
- Left, right and center a debate on the impact of media fragmentation on the quality and credibility of news.
- How social media creates an opportunity for an ever-more satisfying and engaging user experience with news.
- Some really different ways of thinking about information, including the blurring line between journalism and satire and the value of games in news.
Join us as we share the perspectives of seasoned journalists, highly trained academics, and new media visionaries as they explore and predict the "Future of News."
Kelly Kaufhold, Amber Willard Hinsley and Seth C. Lewis are former journalists with years of experience at news organizations including the "Los Angeles Times" and the "Miami Herald." Kelly is an assistant professor in the College of Mass Communications at Texas Tech University; Amber is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Saint Louis University; Seth is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota.