The Gatekeeping Function: Distributions of Information in Media and the Real World

There are vast literatures on the ways in which media content differs from reality, but we thus far have a rather weak sense for how exactly the representation of various topics in media differs from the distribution of information in the real world. Drawing on the gatekeeping literature, and utiliz...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of politics 2012-04, Vol.74 (2), p.514-528
Main Author: Soroka, Stuart N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Communication
Comparative analysis
Dictionaries
Function
Gatekeeping
Inflation
Inflation rates
Information Dissemination
Information exchange
Interest Rate
Interest rates
Mass communication
Mass Media
Mass Media Images
Media
Methodology (Data Collection)
News content
Political analysis
Political Communication
Political conditions
Political economy
Political science
Political theory
Politics
Presidents
Regulation
Representation
U.S.A
Unemployment
Unemployment rates
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Summary:There are vast literatures on the ways in which media content differs from reality, but we thus far have a rather weak sense for how exactly the representation of various topics in media differs from the distribution of information in the real world. Drawing on the gatekeeping literature, and utilizing a new automated content-analytic procedure, this article portrays both media content and “reality” as distributions of information. Measuring these allows us to identify the mechanism by which the distribution of information in the real world is transformed into the distribution of information in media; we can identify the gatekeeping function. Reporting on unemployment serves as a test case. Subsequent analyses focus on inflation and interest rates and on differences across Democratic and Republican presidencies. Results are discussed as they relate to negativity, to economic news, and to the broader study of distributions of information in political communication and politics.
ISSN:0022-3816
1468-2508
DOI:10.1017/S002238161100171X