Key Features:

- No of Pages: 77

- No of Chapters: 5

Buy Now

Introduction:

Abstract

This study of Gate-Keeping and How Media Ownership affects it Follows The Tradition of lewin (1947), white (1950) and swider (1967). It will reveal that as a concept, gate-keeping hold great promise in African mass communication research. Survey research method will be used to collect data from 25 senior reporters and editors at the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria Enugu. The research will reveal that corporate philosophies and policies of media organizations affect gate-keeping operations without distinction as to whether the media organization will privately owned or government owned. Also, journalists working in governor owned media organizations considered ownership factors to some extent in their reporting. And that prejudice and personal preferences were played down considerably by the journalists.

Table of Content

The table of content of this research is only available in the paid version.

Introduction

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY



A large proportion of mass communication research is concerned with the contents of the media and the characteristics structure of media institutions. Such research concerns have found eloquent expression in dominant and popular mass communication theories such as agenda setting (mcComb and Shaw 1972), uses and gratifications (Blumler and Katz 1974) media imperialism (Fejes 1981) and knowledge –gap (Tichenor et al 1970, and Garziano 1983). A growing research concern among communication scholars is not so much about content and structure, as about the journalists who determine the content, in the context of the structure. This concern has found expression in the theory of gatekeepintg which deals with individual journalist decisions rather than with the news stories, groups of people within media institutions, or news organizations.



The term gatekeeping was first used in a research context by the Austrian Psychologist kurt Lewin (1947) who was primarily concerned with producing desirable social changes in food habits by controlling the type of food that passed through the various gates or portals existing between the farm and the family table. Lewin aptly noted that the gates were governed either by impartial rules or by gatekeepers, who are individuals or groups charged with the responsibility of deciding what passes, and what is denied entry. He extrapolated the metaphor of the food gates to news gathering and dissemination. In essence, a news gatekeeper is whoever governs the journey of news items in the communication channel.



In a typical broadcast organization, gatekeepers would comprise of the reporter, the chief editor, controller of news, manager news and the production editor. These group of persons carefully screen news items in order to arrive at a news item that is of high quality and desirable to the public. The Federal Radio Corporation, Enugu (FRCN)( has the above mentioned gatekeepers, even though the positions might assume different names in other media organizations. These group of people will have to work with other gatekeepers such as the typist and proof readers to determine what is publishable as news.