Toward A Theory of Network Gatekeeping
Barzilai-Nahon has written a number of contemporary pieces on gatekeeping theories between disciplines. In 2008, she proposed a new way of looking at gatekeeping, merging the disciplines’ of communication, information science, and management perspectives into a refined theory of gatekeeping. Traditional mass communication gatekeeping theory has focused on how we get news, however Barzilai-Nahon’s approach applies to all information. Barzilai-Nahon also adds new terms and redefines old terms in the framework (pp. 1496–1497)
- Gate – “entrance to or exit from a network or its sections.”
- Gatekeeping – “the process of controlling information as it moves through a gate. Activities include among others, selection, addition, withholding, display, channeling, shaping, manipulation, repetition, timing, localization, integration, disregard, and delection of information.”
- Gated – “the entity subjected to gatekeeping”
- Gatekeeping mechanism - “a tool, technology, or methodology used to carry out the process of gatekeeping”
- Network gatekeeper – “an entity (people, organizations, or governments) that has the discretion to exercise gatekeeping through a gatekeeping mechanism in networks and can choose the extent to which to exercise it contingent upon the gated standing.”
This updated look at gatekeeping also poses a number of classifications including the bases for gatekeeping, mechanisms used in network gatekeeping, and types of authority of network gatekeepers.
Additionally, Barzilai-Nahon introduces a typology for the gated. According to her approach, the gated can have four key attributes at different levels that determine how they can interact with the gate. These are 1) Political power in relation to the gatekeeper, 2) Information production ability, 3) Relationship with the gatekeeper, and 4) Alternatives in the context of gatekeeping (p. 1501). A typology of combinations of these characteristics then allows for evaluation of potential interactions between the gatekeeper and the gated based on the number and type of attributes an individual has.
Read more about this topic: Gatekeeping (communication)
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