ABSTRACT

Gatekeeping is one of the media’s 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 Theory describes 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 audience’s view of the world, and illustrates what is at stake in the process.

part |2 pages

Part I: Understanding Gatekeeping

chapter 1|11 pages

Understanding the Concept

chapter 2|9 pages

The Gatekeeping Process

part |2 pages

Part II: Gatekeeping—Levels of Analysis

chapter 3|18 pages

The Individual Level of Analysis

chapter 5|14 pages

The Organizational Level of Analysis

chapter 6|21 pages

The Social Institution Level of Analysis

chapter 7|12 pages

The Social System Level of Analysis

part |2 pages

Part III: Theorizing about Gatekeeping

chapter 8|10 pages

Field Theory and Gatekeeping

chapter 9|9 pages

Gatekeeping Channels

chapter 10|7 pages

Gatekeeping in the 21st Century