News Selection Process

Gatekeeping

The term gatekeeping was introduced during World War II by the psychologist Kurt Lewin, who identified the housewife as the gatekeeper for the food that ends up on the family table. David Manning White applied the term to the selection of news in the late 1940s. He assumed was that the selection of news is highly dependent on the individual likes and dislikes of the journalist. In his original case study he observed the selective decisions of a so-called wire editor (whom he named Mr. Gates) in a small newspaper in a small American town. Mr. Gates had certain prejudices that he claimed to influence his selective decision. He selected articles for his newspapers from incoming wire copy from several news agencies. This study raised a lot of criticisms, for instance that White looked at only one gatekeeper who was at the end of the news chain. Selections made at earlier stages were not explained or even considered. Reassessments of the empirical results came to the conclusion that Mr. Gates mainly reproduced the news structure presented by the news agencies more than he actively selected according to his individual preferences. Despite the shortcomings, this study established a fertile branch of news research. Subsequently, the perspective of the approach was broadened. Routines and work conditions as well as organizational factors were integrated in the gatekeeping approach.

Newer gatekeeping studies identify an ample set of influences on the gatekeeping process. Analytically, at least three levels can be specified: the micro level or the level of the individual gatekeeper, the organizational level, and the macro level, which consists of influences from the surrounding environment and the society itself. To a certain extent the news selection decision lays in the responsibility of an individual communication worker (e.g., an editor). Thus, as outlined by White, individual characteristics influence this decision, namely his or her personality, experience and interest, values and role conceptions as well as his or her capabilities and heuristics of processing—and, therefore, selecting information. It might make a difference whether the gatekeeper sees himself or herself as liberal or conservative or whether her role conceptions as a journalist adhere to objective reporting or to a more opinion-based conception. Experience might affect the selection of information regarding the interest the gatekeepers' audience might share in the topic of concern.

The gatekeeper is not a lonely decision maker; he is embedded in a work unit and his work is highly structured by routines and deadlines. A lot of decisions are made according to these routines, which she adopted when she entered the information-processing organization. These routines are not only developed to reduce the (organizational) risks that come with the decision to pass a news item or not, they also reduce the complexity of the daily work and the personal investment the journalist has to make to produce news. Work in a news organization is, therefore, highly standardized; especially the coverage of politics is characterized by a great deal of standardization. Press conferences by the government or other important institutions are usually announced well in advance, and they are scheduled for coverage no matter what topic will be discussed. Gatekeepers in local papers, for example, are more willing to accept a story as news when it concerns the area of distribution. Stories about scandals are selected only if they are backed by more than one source to reduce the risk of a subsequent court case that may result from publishing false information. The eagerness to select news items or stories also increases when the deadline for publication approaches. The role of deadlines and time pressure was observed by White in the original gatekeeper study and confirmed in later studies.

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