Gatekeeping in Transition

Much of what journalism scholars thought they knew about gatekeeping?about how it is that news turns out the way it does?has been called into question by the recent seismic economic and technological shifts in journalism. These shifts come with new kinds of gatekeepers, new routines of news production, new types of news organizations, new means for shaping the news, and new channels of news distribution. Given these changing realities, some might ask: does gatekeeping still matter?

In this internationally-minded anthology of new gatekeeping research, contributors attempt to answer that question. Gatekeeping in Transition examines the role of gatekeeping in the twenty-first century from organizational, institutional, and social perspectives across digital and traditional media, and argues for its place in contemporary scholarship about news and journalism.

Part I - Thinking and Re-Thinking Gatekeeping 1. Revisiting Gatekeeping Theory during a Time of Transition Tim P. Vos 2. How Gatekeeping Still Matters: Media Sociology and Media Effects Kjerstin Thorson and Chris Wells

Part II - Individual Level: The New Gatekeepers 3. Journalists’ Truth Justification in a Transnational News Environment Lea C. Hellmueller 4. Futures of Journalists: Low Paid Piece Workers or Global Brands? Angela Phillips

Part III - News Routines: New and Old 5. On a Role: Online Newspapers, Participatory Journalism, and the U.S. Presidential Elections Jane B. Singer 6. The Journalist As A Jack Of All Trades: Safeguarding The Gates In A Digitized News Ecology Karin Raeymaeckers, Annelore Deprez, Sara De Vuyst, and Rebeca De Dobbelaer

Part IV - News Organization, or Lack Thereof 7. The Tyranny of Immediacy: Gatekeeping Practices in French and Spanish Online Newsrooms Florence Le Cam and David Domingo 8. Ecologies and Fields: Changes Across Time in Organizational Forms and Boundaries Wilson Lowrey

Part V - Social Institutions: Gatekeeping the Gatekeepers 9. Keeping Watch on the Gates: Media Criticism as Advocatory Pressure Matt Carlson10. Whose Hand on the Gate? Rupert Murdoch’s Australian and News Coverage of Climate Change Rodney Tiffen

Part VI - Social Systems, Near and Far 11. Visual Gatekeeping In The Era Of Networked Images: A Cross-Cultural Comparison Of The Syrian Conflict Mervi Pantii12. How Community Orientation Resists Global News Routines in South Africa and Norway John Hatcher

Part VII – Conclusion 13. Gatekeeping Theory Redux François Heinderyckx

Tim P. Vos is chair and associate professor of Journalism Studies and coordinator of global research initiatives at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He is co-author, with Pamela J. Shoemaker, of Gatekeeping Theory (2009).

François Heinderyckx is full professor at Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB, Brussels) and Chang-Jiang Scholar Professor at Communication University of China, Beijing (2013-2018). He was President of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) between 2005 and 2012. He was also the 2013-2014 President of the International Communication Association (ICA).