Mass Com

Gatekeepers

In mass communication, sent messages do not reach the audience in raw

form. Messages are usually ‘treated’. The implication of this is that there

is usually no guarantee that what the message receivers get is exactly the

message sent by the source.

In mass media organizations, the gatekeepers are usually the reporters,

sub-editors, editors, producers, writers, etc. The concept of gatekeeper

was first coined by Kurt Lewin who describes gatekeepers as individuals

or groups of persons who govern the travels of news items in the

communication channels.

Gatekeepers could also be defined as any person or formally organized

group directly involved in relaying or transferring information from one

individual to another through a mass medium. A gatekeeper can be a

film producer who cuts a scene from the original script, a network

censor who deletes a scene from a prime – time show because it is

perceived as being too sexually explicit, a director who determines what

segment of film to use in a documentary, a newspaper executive who

determines the topic for an editorial, or any other individual in the

processing or control of messages disseminated through mass media

(Bittner 1989:12).

In actual sense, a gatekeeper does three major functions:

1. Limiting the information through editing before dissemination.

2. Expanding the amount of information by injecting additional views

or angles.

3. Reorganizing or Reinterpreting the information gathered before

disseminating it.

Delayed Feedback

Unlike in interpersonal communication where reply/feedback is made

almost instantly, the feedback in mass communication is always

delayed, say for a day, week or month. Burgoon et al 1978 cited in

Folarin 1994 says “Feedback is often limited, delayed and indirect”.

Mass Communicators are usually subject to additional feedback in form

of criticism in other media, such as a television critic writing a column

in a...