Gate Keeping In The Media

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The media has long been instrumental in the shaping of our society as far as history can recall and continues to play an integral role in human civilization. “The media refers to those systems and organizations of communications through which information is spread to a large number of people” ( 2011.In Merriam-Webster.com.Retrieved Nov 4, 2015, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary). One of the most prominent functions of the media is that of being the gatekeeper of information. According to Pamela Shoemaker and Boris Johnson, gate keeping is the "process of culling and crafting countless bits of information into the limited number of messages that reach people every day” this is considered the focal point of the media's role in modern…show more content…
Bittner, Mass Communication, 6th ed. (Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1996). This process determines not only which information is selected, but also what the content and nature of the messages, such as news, will be. The function of the media as gatekeepers poses many merits but simultaneously many unfavorable conditions. Merits such as media gatekeepers can prevent or contain chaotic uprise in a society, they may also aid in the development of the country through said gate keeping function. The gate keeping function may be unfavorable as the media acts as both the determinants of what should be published and determines the rules and regulations guiding this selection. In addition gatekeepers may transmit biases and influence public opinions and…show more content…
The news reported may become the catalyst of a decline in industries, for example the tourism industry maybe heavily impacted by the news reported in the media. The performance of the tourism industry is highly sensitive to rising crime (whether real or perceived). Reference can be made to the travel advisory released by United States Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) to its citizens travelling to the Caribbean. The OSAC reported that “the islands of Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados have seen rising levels in crime...” (Richardson, J. (2015, November 4). US State Department Warns About Rising Crime In The Caribbean. LOOP. Retrieved November 4, 2015, from

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