Gatekeeping Theory [Paperback]

Gatekeeping is one of the medias central roles in public life: people rely on mediators to transform information about billions of events into a manageable number of media messages. This process determines not only which information is selected, but also what the content and nature of messages, such as news, will be. Gatekeeping Theorydescribes the powerful process through which events are covered by the mass media, explaining how and why certain information either passes through gates or is closed off from media attention. This book is essential for understanding how even single, seemingly trivial gatekeeping decisions can come together to shape an audiences view of the world, and illustrates what is at stake in the process.

Introduction: The Significance of Gatekeeping. Part I: Understanding Gatekeeping 1. Understanding the Concept 2. The Gatekeeping Process Part II: Gatekeeping--Levels of Analysis 3. The Individual Level of Analysis 4. The Communication Routines Level of Analysis 5. The Organizational Level of Analysis 6. The Social Institution Level of Analysis 7. The Social System Level of Analysis Part III: Theorizing about Gatekeeping 8. Field Theory and Gatekeeping 9. Gatekeeping Channels 10. Gatekeeping in the 21st Century

More than a half century ago David Manning White watched newspaper editors pick wire stories for publication and called it gatekeepingstories in or out.  Today, scholars Pamela Shoemaker and Tim Vos point out, we use gatekeeping to explain how we make choices in many contexts and how our choices shape the cognitive worlds in which we all live.  This excellent book shows that it not as simple as it looks. Donald L. Shaw, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Understanding the origins of the news reports and information available from an ever growing array of media is vital for citizens, communication professionals and scholars. lsŒ