| agenda setting | The power of the media through news coverage to focus the public’s attention and concern on particular events, problems, issues, personalities, and so on.
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| common-carrier function | The media’s function as an open channel through which political leaders can communicate with the public.
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| framing | The process by which the media play up certain aspects of a situation while downplaying other aspects, thereby providing a particular interpretation of the situation.
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| news | The news media’s version of reality, usually with an emphasis on timely, dramatic, and compelling events and developments.
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| objective journalism | A model of news reporting that is based on the communication of “facts” rather than opinions and that is “fair” in that it presents all sides of partisan debate.
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| partisan function | Efforts by media actors to influence public response to a particular party, leader, issue, or viewpoint.
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| partisan press | Newspapers and other communication media that openly support a political party and whose news in significant part follows the party line.
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| press (news media) | Those print and broadcast organizations that are in the news-reporting business.
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| priming | The process by which a communicated message, because of its content, activates certain opinions but not others.
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| signaling (signaler) function | The accepted responsibility of the media to alert the public to important developments as soon as possible after they happen or are discovered.
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| watchdog function | The accepted responsibility of the media to protect the public from incompetent or corrupt officials by standing ready to expose any official who violates accepted legal, ethical, or performance standards.
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