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The media sets the agenda. Mostly the NYT and WSJ. Virtually all secondary market newspapers use reprints from the NYT, WSJ or LA Times to fill their international and national sections. Television outlets cull from the same pool of stories and adapt them for tv - only with more of an influence on popular culture.
A story runs in a major newspaper and about week later, the national tv news or television news magazines like 20/20 will do tv version the same story.
Media slant is not as evident on the items that happened that everyone knows about: the reporting on major news events can be slanted, true, but its basically the same.
The real media power with respect to agenda-setting comes into play when they choose which stories to cover and which not to. Coverage of lesser known events can result in a great deal of attention often leading to letters to congress and eventually legislation. Lawmakers seize upon the same issues to further their own ambitions. The issues that count the most are the ones people are most aware of. It works the other way also, the public can be sidetracked away from real issues just as easily.
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