User:SpartanReggie77/Gatekeeping (communication)

Initial Thoughts
Freedom from the Press:

When the gates swing open: "Gatekeeping is not just about agenda setting in terms of media. It also has also extended to the technological gatekeeper. They monitor the flow of technical information in and out of an organization. An example would be content manager for a knowledge database.

Journalists are gatekeepers for a reason: ''It has been established that journalists are attempting to meet the needs of their audience. They identify news and then report it.''

How way-finding is challenging to gatekeeping in the digital age: ''The next step after the user deciding to share news with its network would be way-finding. Peason and Kosciki describe this as "a journey" or guided tour from a user's arrival on the web to their site and to the information that user is looking for. The metaphor is borrowed from architects and planners. They design systems for users to navigate from place to place. Along with directional cues, education and even delight are designed in to the plans. This is not dissimilar to what media planners are doing today. The user arrives online in a crowded city of information. As they type onto a search engine they begin to navigate the online space. From a purely gatekeeping perspective, information and news was the destination. Users, went directly to the place they expected to find what they were looking for. Today, a user inputs what they want to learn about. The various sources are in competition for the user's attention. Using marketing techniques, the source will hopefully grab the attention of the user and then lead them to the content their searching for.''

User-generated content gatekeeping: Gatekeeping has not only shifted to include the consumer but also technicians and computer software.

Between pulitzers and pajamas: ''In the discussion of media gatekeeping is a debate between traditional journalism the blogging community. Political bloggers have increased their audience as well as their scope of activities and ambition. Schifer considers it an alternative form of journalism that can possess traditional journalism's sought-after qualities while omitting some it's drawbacks. The main criticism of traditional journalism is the lack of control by the user over the content they are presented with. Blogging utilizes the community to perform a type collective editing. As consumers interact with the blog and each other on its behalf, the popular grows calling more consumers into the fold. While this will certainly allow the user to decide for itself what news needs to be out front, the blogging has its limitations as well. Because anyone can blog and can do so without editing from above with professional standards from the trade-craft, filtering the information down to its most essential components is often overlooked. "Blank" found that user created content creators utilize a type of gate-keeping as it concerns the comments on their publications. Some bloggers require approval by a moderator before comments can be added to a post. At times comments are disabled altogether.''

Forbes article: Gatekeeping is not censorship. Gatekeeping is about ultimately about maintaining the quality of the content whereas censorship is the removal of discussions about disagreeable topics.

Google Chrome article: ''As an example of network gatekeeping, De Vynck shared a some the example of how Google enjoys a healthy market share over browsers and the technology that powers them, putting them in control over how we access the web and and how the web works in general. Google Chrome represents over 60% of the browsing market meaning that applications and tools must primarily cater to customers using this platform as it concerns compatibility. This means that Google is indirectly dictating the direction of design and development of user applications and back-end technologies.''

The New Gatekeepers
''It has been established that journalists are attempting to meet the needs of their audience. The identify news and then report it. It's this identification process that we find traditional gatekeeping. In the discussion of media gatekeeping is a debate between traditional journalism the blogging community. Political bloggers have increased their audience as well as their scope of activities and ambition. Schiffer considers it an alternative form of journalism that can possess traditional journalism's sought-after qualities while omitting some it's drawbacks. The main criticism of traditional journalism is the lack of control by the user over the content they are presented with. Blogging utilizes the community to perform a type collective editing. As consumers interact with the blog and each other on its behalf, the popular grows calling more consumers into the fold. While this will certainly allow the user to decide for itself what news needs to be out front, the blogging has its limitations as well. Because anyone can blog and can do so without editing from above with professional standards from the trade-craft, filtering the information down to its most essential components is often overlooked. Differences between traditional journalists and bloggers aside the main similarity is that both parties have to decide what is news-worthy and then report it.''

''Schiffer also found that user created content creators utilize a type of gate-keeping as it concerns the comments on their publications. Some bloggers require approval by a moderator before comments can be added to a post. At times comments are disabled altogether. This means that bloggers are not only gatekeeping the content they output but the on-page discussion around that submission. Larger media organization with an online presence have the same capability as it is associated with the technology and not the host''.

Gatekeeping is not just for the news
''The process of gatekeeping has extended from the traditional act of deciding what news is the best news but information in general. According to Marcelo Thomas, there are actors called intermediaries that are involved with the architecture of information we come in contact with. They are making decision about the structure as well as the content of our information. These decisions make these intermediaries technological gatekeepers. This provision of information for an organizations member as well as those outside that organization is less about Agenda Setting media outcomes but a practical approach to usability. An example of this role would be a content manager for a company's knowledge database. All of the articles and reference materials are curated and updated by these managers. While they may work in teams with oversight, the fact remains that decision are made about the content that will exist on the site and how it is displayed.

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