This article examines agenda-setting journalism not merely as a media effect but as a structured system of professional techniques embedded in contemporary news production. While agenda-setting theory has extensively demonstrated that media influence public issue salience, less attention has been paid to the concrete mechanisms through which this influence is routinely enacted. Drawing on a mixed-method research design combining qualitative and quantitative content analysis, structural analysis of print and digital news layouts, and interpretive examination of editorial discourse, this study systematically maps the techniques through which journalistic agendas are constructed, reinforced, and sustained. The analysis distinguishes between first-level and second-level agenda-setting while integrating insights from framing, priming, and gatekeeping theory to develop a comprehensive taxonomy of agenda-setting practices. Particular attention is given to structural cues such as spatial hierarchy, repetition, and serial coverage, as well as discursive strategies including lexical framing, narrative sequencing, authority signalling, and strategic silence. The study further examines how these mechanisms operate across print and digital environments, including algorithmically mediated platforms, where feedback loops between audience metrics and editorial decision-making intensify agenda effects. Rather than treating agenda-setting as an aberration or ethical failure, the article argues that it is an inherent and unavoidable feature of journalism arising from selection, prioritisation, and temporal emphasis. This reframing challenges traditional conceptions of journalistic neutrality and objectivity, suggesting that influence persists even under conditions of factual accuracy and balanced reporting. The article concludes by exploring the implications of agenda-setting for democratic discourse, particularly in high-trust media systems, and by assessing whether increased editorial transparency mitigates or legitimises journalistic power. By shifting analytical focus from effects to mechanisms, this study contributes to journalism studies, political communication, and media literacy research, offering a framework for critically understanding the machinery through which public attention is shaped.
Kim Robin Thuemler (Wed,) studied this question.