Gatekeeping
According to Pamela Shoemaker and Boris Johnson, gatekeeping is the "process of culling and crafting countless bits of information into the limited number of messages that reach people everyday, and it is the center of the media's role in modern public life. This process determines not only which information is selected, but also what the content and nature of the messages, such as news, will be."
Origin of Gatekeeping
Kurt Lewin
Kurt Lewin, a German psychologist, developed the word gatekeeping. The theory of channels and gatekeepers was introduced in Lewin's Field Theory of Social Science in 1951. Lewin's theory was based on food. Lewin recognized that for food to go from a store or a garden to the dining table, there were various decision-making processes it had to pass on the way there. Entering or not entering a channel and moving from one section of a channel to another is affected by a ‘gatekeeper’”. The gatekeeper in this case was typically the housewife, or sometimes a maid in more affluent households. Lewin’s research demonstrated that not all members of a family have equal weight in making household food decisions, and that the wife, who typically shops for and prepares the food controls the gates, based on a variety of considerations.
Lewin's Model
Lewin's gatekeeping model demonstrates that:
-Food reaches the table through channels e.g. grocery store.
-Some food items may be selected or not.
-Sections: multiple decision points
(Should the food be purchased or not?).
-Gate: the entrance to each channel or section of a channel.
-Movement from one channel to the next is determined by the gatekeeper.
-Positive and negative forces surround the gate.
-Food reaches the table through channels e.g. grocery store.
-Some food items may be selected or not.
-Sections: multiple decision points
(Should the food be purchased or not?).
-Gate: the entrance to each channel or section of a channel.
-Movement from one channel to the next is determined by the gatekeeper.
-Positive and negative forces surround the gate.
Gatekeeping Model
Process of the gatekeeping model:
1. Information moves step by step through channels. The number of channels varies and the amount of time in each channel can vary.
2. Information must pass a “gate” to move from one channel to the next.
3. Forces govern channels. There may be opposing psychological forces causing conflict, which creates resistance to movement through the channel.
4. There may be several channels that lead to the same end result.
5. Different actors may control the channels and act as gatekeepers at different times.
1. Information moves step by step through channels. The number of channels varies and the amount of time in each channel can vary.
2. Information must pass a “gate” to move from one channel to the next.
3. Forces govern channels. There may be opposing psychological forces causing conflict, which creates resistance to movement through the channel.
4. There may be several channels that lead to the same end result.
5. Different actors may control the channels and act as gatekeepers at different times.
Westley & MacLean's Model
Westley and MacLean's model is based on Newcomb’s idea of co-orientation.
Multiple events (X), some are discovered by the sender (A), then travels to the mass media (C -gatekeeper), then to the receiver (B).
Multiple events (X), some are discovered by the sender (A), then travels to the mass media (C -gatekeeper), then to the receiver (B).
David Manning White's Study
David Manning White, of the University of Iowa, developed the research agenda for media gatekeeping. In 1949, Manning asked newspaper editor Mr. Gates to keep all copy that came into his office from three wire services in one week. Gates agreed to provide and explanation why rejected stories were not used. White’s conclusion was that the selection decisions were “highly selective” and very influential.
Levels of Media Gatekeeping
1. Individuals – Decisions are personal.
2. Routine Practices of Communication Work – Decisions are made according to a pre-established and generalized set of practices.
3. Communication Organizations – Exists within an environment of social institutions that affect the gatekeeping process.
4. Social Institutions – Events vary to a degree that they are culturally available as news items.
5. Societies – Culture, indicators of social significance, including political, influences selection decisions affecting the extent to which different parts of the world are covered and how they are covered.
2. Routine Practices of Communication Work – Decisions are made according to a pre-established and generalized set of practices.
3. Communication Organizations – Exists within an environment of social institutions that affect the gatekeeping process.
4. Social Institutions – Events vary to a degree that they are culturally available as news items.
5. Societies – Culture, indicators of social significance, including political, influences selection decisions affecting the extent to which different parts of the world are covered and how they are covered.
Gatekeeping Example
An international news channel receives numbers of news items within day like international terror issues, UN discussions, Texas bull fighting and religious abuse on international community.
A news channel can’t show all those news items to audience because it may affect the channel reputation in public and organizations policy. Here, editor decides the news items especially he can’t show the Texas bull fighting because it is not internationally popular story. But the same time the news channel can’t show the religious abuses also because it may hurt audience directly and it may affect organizations policy also. But international terror issues and UN discussions are universal common news that won’t affect the channel reputation in public and organizations policy.
News items:
N1: Texas bull fighting, N2: International terror issues, N3: UN discussions, N4: religious abuse on international community
Gatekeeper:
Chief Editor
Selected News Items:
N2: International terror issues, N3: UN discussions,
Discarded News Items: (on popularity)
N1: Texas bull fighting
Discarded News Items: (on policy)
N4: Religious abuse on International community
A news channel can’t show all those news items to audience because it may affect the channel reputation in public and organizations policy. Here, editor decides the news items especially he can’t show the Texas bull fighting because it is not internationally popular story. But the same time the news channel can’t show the religious abuses also because it may hurt audience directly and it may affect organizations policy also. But international terror issues and UN discussions are universal common news that won’t affect the channel reputation in public and organizations policy.
News items:
N1: Texas bull fighting, N2: International terror issues, N3: UN discussions, N4: religious abuse on international community
Gatekeeper:
Chief Editor
Selected News Items:
N2: International terror issues, N3: UN discussions,
Discarded News Items: (on popularity)
N1: Texas bull fighting
Discarded News Items: (on policy)
N4: Religious abuse on International community
21st Century Gatekeeping
Shoemaker, Eichholz, Kim, and Wrigley studied the forces in news gatekeeping in relation to coverage of Congressional bills. More specifically, they were interested in two hypotheses: 1) the routine gatekeeping force of assessing a bill’s newsworthiness will be related to how prominently a bill is covered. And 2) the individual journalist forces (education, political ideology, work experience, ethnicity, gender, voting behavior) will be related to how prominently a bill is covered. They also predicted that the newsworthiness of a bill would be more important than journalists’ personal characteristics. Surveying both journalists (for their personal characteristics) and editors (for evaluating newsworthiness, Shoemaker and her colleagues found that only newsworthiness had a significant effect on the amount of coverage given to a bill, thus their first hypothesis was supported as well as the idea that newsworthiness would be more important than personal characteristics.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatekeeping_%28communication%29
http://communicationtheory.org/gatekeeping-theory/
Stacks, D. W., & Salwen, M. B. (Eds.). (2009). An integrated approach to communication theory and research. New York: Routledge.
http://communicationtheory.org/gatekeeping-theory/
Stacks, D. W., & Salwen, M. B. (Eds.). (2009). An integrated approach to communication theory and research. New York: Routledge.