Monday 6 February 2012
Gate Keeping in Media
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Gate Keeping
Core
Assumptions and Statements
The term gatekeeping was
originally used by Kwrt Lewin in his Human Relations (1947) to refer to (1) the
process by which a message passes through various gates as well as (2) the
people or groups who allow the message to pass (gatekeepers), may be individuals
or a group of persons through whom a message passes from sender to receivers. A
camera-person is a vivid example of a gatekeeper, who selects certain area for
photographing which are then shown to the viewers. Editors of newspapers,
magazines and publishing houses are also gatekeepers as. they allow certain information to get through and filter other
information.
The selection and rejection of
material is made according to a set of criteria determined by a number of
factors such as the gatekeepers, back-ground, education, up-bringing and
attitudes to the world plus the values, norms and traditional Wisdom of the
organisation for which the gatekeeper works.
History
and Orientation
Kurt Lewin was apparently the first one to use the term
"gatekeeping," which he used to describe a wife or mother as the
person who decides which foods end up on the family's dinner table. (Lewin,
1947). The gatekeeper is the person who decides what shall pass through each
gate section, of which, in any process, there are several. Although he applied
it originally to the food chain, he then added that the gating process can
include a news item winding through communication channels in a group. This is
the point from which most gatekeeper studies in communication are launched.
White (1961) was the person who seized upon Lewin's comments and turned it
solidly toward journalism in 1950. In the 1970s McCombs and Shaw took a
different direction when they looked at the effects of gatekeepers' decisions.
They found the audience learns how much importance to attach to a news item
from the emphasis the media place on it. McCombs and Shaw pointed out that the
gatekeeping concept is related to the newer concept, agenda-setting. (McCombs
et al, 1976). The gatekeeper concept is now 50 years old and has slipped into
the language of many disciplines, including gatekeeping in organizations.
The gatekeeper decides which information will go forward, and
which will not. In other words a gatekeeper in a social system decides which of
a certain commodity – materials, goods, and information – may enter the system.
Important to realize is that gatekeepers are able to control the public’s
knowledge of the actual events by letting some stories pass through the system
but keeping others out. Gatekeepers can also be seen as institutions or
organizations. In a political system there are gatekeepers, individuals or
institutions which control access to positions of power and regulate the flow
of information and political influence. Gatekeepers exist in many jobs, and
their choices hold the potential to color mental pictures that are subsequently
created in people understands of what is happening in the world around them.
Media gatekeeping showed that decision making is based on principles of news
values, organizational routines, input structure and common sense. Gatekeeping
is vital in communication planning and almost all communication planning roles
include some aspect of gatekeeping.
The gatekeeper’s choices are a complex web of influences,
preferences, motives and common values. Gatekeeping is inevitable and in some
circumstances it can be useful. Gatekeeping can also be dangerous, since it can
lead to an abuse of power by deciding what information to discard and what to
let pass. Nevertheless, gatekeeping is often a routine, guided by some set of
standard questions.
Conceptual Model
Source: White (1964)
Related to gatekeeping in media. For gatekeeping in
organizations this model is not recommended.
Favorite Methods
Interviews, surveys, networkanalysis.
Scope and Application
This theory is related to the mass media and organizations. In
the mass media the focus is on the organizational structure of newsrooms and
events. Gatekeeping is also an important in organizations, since employees and
management are using ways of influence.
Example
A wire service editor decides alone what news audiences will
receive from another continent. The idea is that if the gatekeeper’s selections
are biased, the readers’ understanding will therefore be a little biased.
This post was written by: Fakhar Naveed
Fakhar Naveed is a professional blogger, web designer and front end web developer. Follow him on Twitter
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