Today's news media exert a host of influences over individuals' attitudes, cognitions, and behaviors. This entry provides an overview of three widely studied theories and mechanisms of influence: agenda-setting, which occurs when increased media coverage of an issue leads to increased perceptions of salience of that issue; priming, the process by which the salience of an idea becomes the basis for judgment and evaluation; and framing, a set of processes by which news content is created and shapes individuals' perceptions and behaviors.
