Agenda Setting by Media: Orchestrating Society's Priorities?

The paper examines the agenda setting role of media and its influence on society. It is an empirical study of the priorities of newspapers through a content analysis of the front page of three national English dailies over a period of one week. The organizational policies of individual newspapers decide the subjects chosen for lead projection. It is found that many developmental issues remain sidelined. Crime and terrorism has made it to the top bypassing politics, the favourite subject of media and therefore, of the masses, making a significant statement about the state of affairs in the country.