A Review Of The Agenda Setting Studies In China

Since agenda-setting hypothesis was put forward by McCombs and Shaw in 1972, the research on it has a history of more than 30 years. During the period, the researchers keep enriching and developing the theory. They did a lot of empirical studies and diachronic studies; they brought forward "the Acapulco typology" and "need for orientation" theory; they studied the contingent conditions during the courses of setting agenda and "the second- level effects and framing" and they began to discuss the question "who sets the media agenda" and investigate the effects of the agenda setting.The essay firstly sorts out the agenda-setting research abroad, especially American studies, and then relates briefly the agenda-setting research in China, setting in the development of communication. It chooses four professional periodicals Journalism and Communication Research, Modern Communication, International Journalism, and Journalism University as study samples and analyses the essays on the agenda-setting research about the essay quantity, essay type, and the research methods, trying to reveal the current state, the characteristics and also the problems in the agenda-setting research in our country. What's more, the essay analyses especially the traditional research methods in view of the importance of the scientific research ones and at last put forward some views on the current state of the agenda-setting studies in our country accordingly.