Gatekeeping describes the process by which news stories are filtered by journalists and editors for dispersal in any medium. The process comes into play every time a blogger chooses to feature a story in a website’s top position, a news producer decides to cover one issue but not another, or a magazine reporter selects a source to interview for an article. The gatekeeping function of journalism has shifted under the changes of the digital information age. While the Internet has forever altered the way we read the news -- increasingly on websites and mobile devices and less in the print publications of the past -- the principles of gatekeeping still apply in many instances.
In a 2006 study published in the “Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly,” University of Iowa journalism professor Jane B. Singer wrote that the proliferation of information on the Internet has diminished the power of journalism’s gatekeepers, but journalists can still serve a role in sorting, interpreting and lending credibility to news on behalf of the public. Journalists choose which stories to cover and which to leave behind by attempting to determine the overall newsworthiness of an issue. A 2012 “Journal of Politics” study noted that a number of factors go into this decision-making process, including the interests and needs of the audience. The study also pointed to news content trends that value sensational and unusual stories, along with those that focus on conflict or geographically local issues.
Describing the evolving role of journalists, Steve Buttry, digital transformation editor for Digital First Media, argued that journalists no longer function as the primary gatekeepers of news because the proverbial gates have been blown wide open by the proliferation of digital information. However, Buttry said journalists still hold the keys to critical roles as watchdogs over those in power, as investigators and as truth seekers. An article published in 2011 in the journal of “Contemporary Readings in Law & Social Justice” reinforced the importance of seeking facts in contemporary journalism. In a society where information -- and misinformation -- is so easily distributed, journalists can provide a service as fact-checkers who hold stories up to the light of objectivity. Legitimate news stories tend to rely on straightforward reports and steer away from assumptions and judgments, according to research by George Lazaroiu, the journal article’s author.
Where once it was the top newspaper editors or television news producers who primarily influenced the public’s news consumption, today information flows like a torrent outside of these mainstream channels. The vetting of authentic sources is another key responsibility of journalists, according to the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. By selecting experts to interview or seeking out the most relevant data, a journalist enhances the quality of a report and upholds the standards of ethical gatekeeping. The alternative -- reporting unverified information from questionable sources -- is commonplace in the digital "Wild West" and fails to rise to the standards of good journalism.
In the modern media landscape, some journalists are no longer reporting original material, but rather drawing from outside reports to collect and curate the day’s top headlines for re-publication. This process is known as aggregation. A study in the “Journal of Mass Media Ethics” noted that even aggregation entails a gatekeeping function, as certain items are selected for inclusion, while others are excluded.
- American Journalism Review: Gatekeepers Without Gates
- The Citizen Journalist as Gatekeeper; Public Journalism 2.0; Aaron Barlow
- Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly; Stepping Back from the Gate: Online Newspaper Editors and the Co-Production of Content in Campaign 2004; Jane B. Singer
- Journal of Politics; The Gatekeeping Function: Distributions of Information in Media and the Real World; Stuart N. Sorok
- Steve Buttry: Gatekeepers Need to Find New Value When the Fences Have Blown Away
- Contemporary Readings in Law & Social Justice; Conceptualizing Gatekeeping in the Digital Era; George Lazaroiu
- ournal of Mass Media Ethics; Shifting Roles, Enduring Values: The Credible Journalist in a Digital Age; Arthur S. Hayes et al.
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