Agenda-setting describes the "ability to influence the importance placed on the topics of the public agenda". Agenda-setting is the creation of public awareness and concern of salient issues by the news media. Agenda-setting describes the "ability (of the news media) to influence the importance placed on the topics of the public agenda". Agenda-setting is the creation of public awareness and concern of salient issues by the news media. Agenda setting occurs through a cognitive process known as "accessibility". ... When respondents are asked what the most important problem facing the country is, they answer with the most accessible news issue in memory, which is typically the issue the news media focused on the most. Public opinion is an essential factor in setting the local agenda. Issues become items on the local agenda when they reach a certain level of public consciousness, and the community starts to consider them worthy of attention. ... Affecting this informal policy is a large part of getting an issue on the local agenda.