Gatekeeping

The term gatekeeping refers to the process by which information can be included or excluded by a mediator prior to reaching an audience. It has been conceptualized both as a normative journalistic role and as a theory. The concept was initially developed by David Manning White in 1950 through a published article “The ‘Gate Keeper’: A Case Study in the Selection of News” in Journalism Quarterly. White was inspired by the work of social scientist Kurt Lewin, who used the term to describe the organizations that could affect the distribution of food. As this entry shows, gatekeeping has proven to be a resilient concept in mass communication theory. Long before digital technology challenged the assumptions of numerous theories, gatekeeping theory had already been adjusted and ...