Which of the following best describes priming in media effects?

• A. Priming sets the length of time a news story runs.
• B. Priming uses frames to rephrase words.
• C. Priming influences the criteria used to judge leaders or issues; example: unemployment coverage leads voters to judge economic competence.
• D. Priming is about audience selection of content.

Answer: (C)

Priming in media effects is about how exposure to certain content makes related ideas more accessible in memory, shaping the standards people use when judging political leaders or issues. When unemployment is repeatedly covered, that topic becomes salient and people are more likely to evaluate a leader’s performance based on economic competence rather than other attributes. So priming changes the criteria of judgment, not the duration of a story, not the way words are framed, and not what content a person chooses to view. The other options describe different processes—story length decisions, framing that rephrases language, and audience content selection—rather than the way a media cue shifts the basis of evaluation.