Who does the media agenda affect?
McCombs and Shaw recognize that the media does not have the same effect on all members of society for a variety of reasons. Their research indicates that media significantly impacts those who have a high need for orientation. There are two factors that influence a persons need for orientation – relevance and uncertainty. Basically, a person will be influenced by the media if the issue being discussed is relevant to their life (affects them in some way), and they are unsure about their position on the issue (uncertainty). Which issues are affected? Just as people can be influenced differently by the media, the media can affect issues in a variety of ways. There are no conclusive theories that categorize whether an issue will be affected by media attention. Research has indicated specific instances in which agenda-setting affected a particular issue (for example, in political campaigns) but the question of which issues will be affected is still primarily unanswered. How do priming and fr
