ABSTRACT

Early communication theorists attempted to explain what caused reporters and editors to include certain stories in newspapers (e.g., Breed, 1955; White, 1950). These researchers were mainly interested in determining the characteristics of information that makes news salient because they assumed a one-way linear relationship between the message sender and receiver. Specifically, they suspected that if they understood the criteria employed by media gatekeepers in the process of selecting, collecting, and disseminating

media information, they would then be in a better position to understand something about the opinions, beliefs, and attitudes of the society (Converse, 1964).