Wall Street Journal News: An Analysis of Agenda Setting Dynamics

This essay examines agenda-setting through an analysis of news articles featured on the Wall Street Journal's website. The analysis focuses on the top news stories, particularly those related to President Donald Trump and his administration, and explores how these stories influence the national agenda. The essay identifies key issues, such as the departure of John Kelly as Chief of Staff and fluctuations in job growth, and discusses their potential impact on political dynamics, particularly concerning the Democratic Party's prospects. The work references Baumgartner and Jones's theories on agenda dynamics and policy subsystems to provide a theoretical framework for understanding how media coverage shapes public discourse. Desklib offers this essay along with a wealth of study resources for students.

Running head: SETTING THE AGENDA
SETTING THE AGENDA
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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SETTING THE AGENDA
Answer to question 1:
The top five news articles on Wall Street Journal discuss issues mostly related to
President Donald Trump and his administration’s involvement in various incidences (Wsj.com).
The first article is about Trump’s announcement of John Kelly, the Chief of Staff leaving
towards year-end. The third significant issue reported was the lower rate of jobs added in
November as compared to the forecasts. The fourth article raised the issue of Trump’s former
lawyer giving aid to Russia-related matters. The fifth article is about Donald Trump naming
Army general as America’s topmost uniformed officer.
Answer to question 2:
The handful of news stories below the top five articles hardly focus on the issues
mentioned in the top four. The only link between the top and below articles is Donald Trump.
The article mentions Rex Tillerson’s, former aide of Trump “undisciplined” remark on the
president and the president’s reply. Apart from that, the other articles have no link to the issues
discussed in the top four articles. One article is about US’s reading charges against Chinese
hackers while the other is about Giuliani leaking FBI information. Other articles are also mostly
about Donald Trump.
Answer to question 3:
The most discussed issue in the website was the news on John Kelly, the Chief of Staff
leaving the office at the end of the year as announced by the President (Bender). A Democrat,
someone from Hillary Clinton’s ally put the issue on the national agenda as it discusses the
failure of the current government. However, it can also be noticed that since the issue involves
the President and his staff, it needed to be on the top of national agenda. The article also

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SETTING THE AGENDA
mentions the name of Kelly’s possible replacement, Nick Ayers who was Vice President Mike
Pence’s top aide.
Answer to question 4:
As evident from the content of the article, the issue would greatly advantage the
Democratic Party, as it is related to the mismanagement of the ruling government. The issue is
about the third change in less than two years at the top position in the Trump administration
“reflecting an extraordinary level of turnover in the White House’s senior ranks”. This is not
good news for the Republican but the Democrats could use it as an agenda for the next elections.
As Frank R Baumgartner and Bryan D. Jones note, when opponents successfully make an issue
generate the most news, it more likely generates publicity and gains for the opponent.
Answer to question 5:
The issue is the decreasing rate of jobs in America, the worst in the last few decades. The
article states that US employers reduced their process of hiring in November although the growth
in wage is at par with the highest in almost a decade. In addition, the article states that the rate of
unemployment is at its lowest in almost 50 years (Morath). The article further shows concern
regarding the signs that shows the economy is losing momentum after a good start. The article
mostly had positive remarks about the strong economy stating that despite slow growth, job
gains were continuing the record streak.

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SETTING THE AGENDA
Works cited:
Baumgartner, Frank R., and Bryan D. Jones. "Agenda dynamics and policy subsystems." The
journal of Politics 53.4 (1991): 1044-1074.
Bender, Peter. "Trump: Chief Of Staff John Kelly To Leave Toward Year-End". WSJ, 2018,
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-chief-of-staff-john-kelly-to-leave-at-year-end-1544293870.
Accessed 9 Dec 2018
Morath, Eric. "Hiring Slows As Wages Grow, Unemployment Holds At Multidecade Low".
WSJ, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-hiring-slows-as-wages-grow-unemployment-holds-
at-multidecade-low-1544189768?
tesla=y&mod=article_inline&mod=hp_lead_pos1&mod=article_inline. Accessed 9 Dec 2018.
Wsj.com. "US News, Breaking News And Headlines - Wall Street Journal". Wsj.Com, 2018,
https://www.wsj.com/news/us. Accessed 9 Dec 2018