Mass Communication and Social Agenda-Setting

What transforms a disagreeable but widely accepted condition into an intolerable problem against which a society marshals its resources? How can social scientists and policymakers help bring about such a transformation for the issue of gun violence?
These questions were the focus of the conference "Mass Communication and Social Agenda-Setting," sponsored by The Annenberg Washinton Program and the Center for Health Communication of the Harvard School of Public Health. Speakers included public opinion analyst Daniel Yankelovich, who described the process whereby the public reaches a conclusi…