Japan’s paternity leave numbers have remained low, despite the efforts of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfares. Several cultural and work environment reasons are noted to have influence in individuals’ desire of using paternity leave, but the media's role of constructing the decision of utilizing it has not been studied so widely. Media has a huge role forming our pseudo environment and by giving news and facts it actuates how we construct our opinions toward important issues in society. This thesis investigates how the media impacts Japanese readers' mental picture of paternity leave and whether there is a change in the opinion of utilizing it. The study used the “agenda setting” theory, news articles about paternity leave harassment, and a survey answered by Japanese readers of childbearing age. The conclusion was that news articles with rather negative reporting toward paternity leave did not have a large unfavorable impact on readers’ desire to utilize the leave. This suggests that media's role can have a positive impact on the mental image of paternity leave, which could open a good basis for future investigations.