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In this paper I am going to examine the main assumptions surrounding the Agenda Setting Theory. I will be identifying the theory as well as discussing many questions surrounding the theory and relating it to my final paper which will be examining Media Control in East Asia. Research on the Agenda Setting Theory was initiated by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw, theorists from the University of Texas, Austin and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. They chose to focus on the medias ability to filter information before it reaches the public in order to influence the publics’ opinion. The idea of agenda setting reflects how powerful the media can be in molding peoples agenda. The media is not asking us what to think, but what to think about. Agenda setting is very popular with influential people as it is a predictive power, if people are receptive to the same media they will feel the same issues are important. There are two levels of Agenda Setting, the first being that there is a focus on general issues that are considered more important and the second, highlighting parts of that subject are the most important to focus on. This then can potentially influence the way the public would view an issue and persuade us to