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Blog Post #8: Gatekeeping

Gatekeeper of the mind - Up Your Level

The gatekeeping theory arose in 1943, originated by a German American social psychologist named Kurt Lewin. He developed this concept and it focuses on personal perception and how one should operate to better understand the world that they are living in. To do that Lewin would have to understand the mental, physical and social aspects of a person's life. By conversing with people frequently to acknowledge their desires, memories and goals. This concept was first utilized in the field of social psychology and basic psychology and later became a method in the field of communications. Which now in today’s time is a very essential theory because of the variety of mass publication technology. Gatekeeping is an important concept that can be used in communication studies as a foundational theory. 

There is good that comes from the gatekeeping theory, it's simply a method of mass communication from data decision makers who are at a high level. This can be people in the line of work as journalists, editors and newsroom workers. Who are people that control a social system of information flow that their audience sees. Based on personal preference, professional experience, social influences, or bias which is a function of gatekeeping. Aside from the good there is sadly a bad component that revolves around this aspect. For the people that want to broaden their knowledge on certain information, due to this barrier there are specific subjects being withheld. Which creates a different reality from one person to another because of the specifically chosen content that one is exposed to.

Society as a whole feels that we should not be limited to specific information as it can affect different cultures and locations. Different procedures and policies at times are being withheld from audiences in this society. Gatekeeping is something that everyone should know about, especially my friends and family. Often I have conversations with my parents about the the ecology of the media market and fake news as it is sometimes confused with real news. So that they can know the variety of different news sites and outlets that they can use to stay up to date on all that is happening in the world. Also to make sure not only my parents but even my friends understand that it is possible to be affected by gatekeeping and that they are responsible for their own consumption of secondary information.

Gatekeeping in the Wake of New Media. | by Dennis Lighare | Tunapanda Institute | Medium

The bright side to all of this is that due to social platforms gatekeeping is starting to decline. With the use of internet media people are posting anything and everything. As long as a person does not restrict themselves to just watching the news on tv. Unique access to different information is out there and what's even better now in today’s time you can gain more insight on stories that haven't been broadcasted on the mainstream news. The best way to avoid gatekeeping is to do research and thankfully due to the society that we live in with the use of smartphones that can be done anywhere. 

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