BORDERLESS

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BY RHODA GARZON-CAMPILLAN
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Gatekeeping and gatekeepers

HAVE you ever wondered how editors decide which news should make it on primetime or newspapers the next day?
The best theory that can best answer this is an old communication model called Gatekeeping theory. Kurt Zadek Lewin, a German psychologist, coined the term “gatekeeping.” It means it’s nothing but to block unwanted or useless things by using a gate. The person who makes the decision is called the gatekeeper.
Before it became an important concept in Communication, gatekeeping is first used by Psychology. According to a communication theory website, the gatekeeper decides what information should move to a group or individual and what information should not.
Here, the gatekeeper are the decision-makers who letting the whole social system. The gatekeeper is having its own influence like social, cultural, ethical and political. Based on personal or social influences they let the information to the group. Through this process the unwanted, sensible and controversial information are removed by the gatekeeper which helps to control society or a group and lead them to a right path.
This is very much applicable in a newsroom. Every day, the newsroom receives numerous reports from different beats. The editor decides which news should be part of the newscast and which news should not be put on air or published in the newspaper. The decision is based on editorial policies, which the station follows.
I will give an example, say in news agency based in Manila. The news reports submitted for that day are: cockfighting festival, Duterte’s new economic agenda, scandals in the Catholic Church and homicide in relation to Oplan Tokhang.
As a gatekeeper, a few considerations have to be made in line with these news reports. Only a few audiences appreciate the cockfighting festival; this has to go in the line up. President Duterte’s economic agenda is relevant to all Filipinos regardless of age and social stratification. On the other hand, scandals in the Catholic Church are a sensitive topic; this is good for a documentary and not for primetime news unless, of course, the one involved is popular. This will put the station in a bad light. Moreover, homicide in relation to Oplan Tokhang is also relevant, especially that the government’s goal is to eradicate illegal drugs in the society.
Based on these facts, Duterte’s economic agenda and homicide in relation to Oplan Tokhang will most likely make the cut. Cockfighting festival will have to go because of the issue on popularity, and the scandals within the Catholic Church will also have to go because of the issue on editorial policy.
Monica Stevens, in her article Journalists Gatekeeper Responsibilities, highlighted significant facts. She stated that 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. In this case, sometimes a gatekeeper commits a wrong decision in choosing a particular story to be part of the line up.
News judgement sometimes becomes hazy. Sometimes sensational stories are catered because this is what the audience wants. There are other relevant stories waiting to be told; however, because of the impact of sensational stories, equally relevant stories are compromised.
In this digital age, a gatekeeper should strive to ensure that objectivity is still applied and verification of facts considered. After all, in this era of social media and high speed internet, anyone can be a news writer. In as much as the gatekeeper wants to control information coming out, he should strengthen editorial policies that value TRUTH all the time.
This quote by Shannon L. Alder is a perfect conclusion: “If you were born with the ability to change someone’s perspective or emotions, never waste that gift. It is one of the most powerful gifts God can give — the ability to influence.”/PN
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