Browsing by Subject "Gatekeeping"
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Item Analyzing content deviance in American community journalism websites and social media(2013-12) Funk, Marcus James; Sylvie, GeorgeThis dissertation explores deviance, operationalized through news factors, among American community weekly, community daily, large daily, and national daily newspaper websites and social media posts. Computerized quantitative analysis indicates that circulation size makes little to no significant difference concerning the publication of deviant news factors; smaller circulation sizes are significantly related to the publication of news concerning local communities, but not egalitarian news factors generally. Qualitative, structured interviews of community newspaper editors and publishers illustrate a different agenda - a clear focus for news on "regular people and routine events," arguably egalitarianism, over news on "unusual people or extraordinary events," arguably deviance. This indicates a need for further evaluation and development of computerized content analysis, gatekeeping theory, and the community newspaper industry. Results also suggest a need to reconsider and re-evaluate normative deviance as a concept and point to two potential theoretical developments: considering a Deviant-Egalitarian Spectrum and drastically broadening the current fringe focus of deviance research.Item Front-page gatekeeping and content trends in 15 large-circulation newspapers(2006-12) Schroeder, Jared C.; Watts, Liz; Chambers, ToddThis study examines the state of gatekeeping and news judgment practices among major daily newspapers in three regions by studying their front-page content offerings. Using a content analysis of the story selections of 15 newspapers (five in each region), the results within each region were compared to those of the others using a set of 12 story topic categories. The newspapers were compared individually and as a group to the findings of a massive Readership Institute study that outlined what readers stated they want from their daily newspapers. The 15 newspapers were chosen because of their circulation, all 15 are among the 30 largest in the country in weekday circulation, and geographic location. The study sought a diverse group of papers in terms of media ownership and most of the nation’s top media markets are represented. Gatekeeping practices are similar, with differences appearing when regional or readership-specific needs arise to change the weights given to different stories. The results also show that in the current newspaper and overall media environment, newspapers that focus their resources on what their readership most values, wants and needs to know, and are easy to navigate will have a chance to compete or at least hold their readership in years to come.Item Future visual coverage of U.S. women in combat : gatekeeping, hierarchy of influences, and ethic of care(2015-08) Scoggin McEntee, Rebecca Ann; Coleman, Renita; Lasorsa, Dominic; Bock, Mary A; Darling, Dennis; Stroud, Natalie JTwo grounded theory studies found that photo editors and producers were intent on publishing graphic photographs of women in combat at first opportunity after women are fully incorporated into U.S. Armed Forces combat units in January of 2016. However, the studies showed their hesitation upon seeing the images for the first time, and that they re-viewed their prior intentions with latent patriarchal influences. Both studies showed that concern for the audience holds such a powerful influence over editors that it deserves its own category in the extra-media level of the hierarchy of influences, rivaling other extra-media forces. The theories of gatekeeping and hierarchy of influences helped explain journalists' editing processes, with the feminist and moral theory ethic of care adding strength to the individual level of the hierarchy of influences. Interviews in the first grounded theory study included 17 visual editors and producers of various newspaper, broadcast, and online U.S. media companies. The second study included a different set of 20 editors/producers who participated in a think-aloud procedure involving photographs with graphic depictions of women in combat. While the interviewees in the first study said their intent was to treat women the same as men in their editing of graphic war photography, there was some hesitation when participants in the second study responded to the images of women in combat.Item Making Korean American news : Korean American journalists and their news media(2010-08) Bai, Sang Y.; McCombs, Maxwell E.; Straubhaar, Joseph; Lasorsa, Dominic L.; Rodriguez, America; Coleman, RenitaOne of the main purposes of this dissertation is to examine who Korean American diaspora-oriented journalists are and how they make news, taking into account several forces on the individual, organizational, extramedia, and social system levels that influence the gatekeeping processes and news content. In addition, this dissertation investigates what interests Korean American diaspora-oriented journalists mainly serve. The author surveyed journalists working for major Korean diaspora-oriented media in Los Angeles and conducted in-depth interviews with experienced personnel involved in the Korean diasporic journalism industry. In addition, two major Korean diasporic dailies were content-analyzed. The basic characteristics of the majority of Korean American-oriented journalists in 2008 are depicted as follows: male Korean Americans, 30 to 40 years old, born in Korea, with a bachelor’s degree, in the United States and working as journalists for less than 15 years, politically liberal, Protestant religious backgrounds, with previous journalism experience at another media organization. Korean diaspora-oriented journalists place emphasis on three major news topics: immigration, business/economy, and education. Cultural proximity rather than geographical proximity significantly influence the degree of newsworthiness of a news story. Newsworthiness is highest when an event/issue has both high cultural proximity and geographical proximity. When geographical proximity is low and cultural proximity is high, newsworthiness in Korean American-oriented journalism is moderately high. If the degree of cultural proximity is low, however, it does not matter whether the news story occurred in Los Angeles or other states or countries in determining the degree of newsworthiness. The Korean American journalists value the interracial harmonizer function most, followed by the disseminator, ethnic consolidator, and interpreter functions. The finding suggests that Korean diaspora-oriented journalists keep in mind that their foremost responsibility is to help Korean immigrants settle smoothly in their new host country and to live in harmony with other racial groups. The longer a Korean journalist has lived in the U.S., the more he or she tends to embrace the interracial harmonizer and ethnic consolidator functions. In other words, the longer Korean American journalists stay in the U.S., the more sensitive they become both to racial issues and to their own ethnic identities.Item Television Journalists' Viewpoints on Agricultural Stories and Sources in Texas(2010-12) Barr, Kori E.; Irlbeck, Erica; Meyers, Courtney; Chambers, ToddAgricultural sources have been struggling to have their messages heard on television news media. News stories about agriculture often contain sources that are not as well-prepared to answer questions about agriculture as particular organizations, leaving those organizations asking why. Through the lens of gatekeeping theory (Shoemaker & Vos, 2009) and source credibility theory (Hovland & Weiss, 1951) a qualitative study was conducted to determine thoughts on agricultural story presentation and the sources used by individuals in the news media to prepare agricultural stories. A basic interpretive qualitative method was selected, and interviews were conducted to obtain data. Fifteen respondents from four Texas television markets, two large and two small, were interviewed and data was collected. The data found that newsworthiness of agricultural stories depended on market size, with larger markets airing agricultural stories only when highly newsworthy events occurred, and smaller markets being more willing to run agricultural stories due to the presence of the agriculture industry in their communities. In addition, observations regarding a selected list of sources found that, while opinions on source credibility varied from person to person, governmental sources were considered more credible in general, with commodity groups, corporations, and interest groups being less credible in a general sense. Conclusions were drawn that familiarity and acquaintanceship play a large role in the selection of sources by reporters, and recommendations were made that agricultural organizations strive to cultivate these relationships to allow for better informational transfer.Item The Effects of Individual and Routine Forces in Gatekeeping on Student Journalists and Editors of University Newspaper Publications(2010-10-12) Corte, Meredith A.Most gatekeeping studies involve evaluating journalists and editors with years of media writing experience to determine how they are influenced by gatekeeping forces. While many universities publish a campus newspaper that is written and edited by the students, no research was found analyzing the impact that gatekeeping has on student newspaper publications. Therefore, this study attempted to measure the influence of gatekeeping forces on student reporters and student editors who work on university newspaper publications. Data was collected through a web-based questionnaire that measured the influence of individual and routine gatekeeping forces. A convenient sample size of N = 42 was used to gather information about how students perceived a news story's level of newsworthiness. Results of this study indicated that particular routine forces of news media actions and influences of newsworthiness were more significant than other forces and significant relationships exist among certain individual and routine forces. This study also looked at how news media job titles can determine the level of importance and influence of gatekeeping forces on news stories before reaching the final destination of publishing. Results indicated that significant differences exist in routine gatekeeping forces when compared to university student job title.Item Web news in China : a new hierarchy of centrality? : an analysis of the linking pattern of China’s online news network(2010-05) Chen, Xin, 1977 Aug. 2-; Lasorsa, Dominic L.; Poindexter, Paula M.; Straubhaar, Joseph; Chyi, Hsiang I.; Alves, Rosental C.The present study explored three questions: What is the linking pattern of China’s cyber news space? What are the factors that contribute to this pattern? And what is the distribution of links in real geographic places? The concept of the cyber news space refers to the globally connected networks of online news production. It is a tool to understand the spatial distribution of online news production and the map of the world as presented in the media. This study is a content analysis of news Webpages from China’s four leading commercial portals. It sampled about 900 news Webpages during the spring of 2008. China’s commercial portals are news aggregators and distributors. They are the gatekeepers of China’s cyber news space. On their news Webpages there is one hyperlink that leads to the original publisher of the story. These links provide a clue of how news organizations were connected online. The content analysis coded these links and other information such as media type, production sites and locations of stories. This study found that the there was a pattern of concentration in terms of the distribution of links among online news organizations. A multiple regression model was used to test the factors that may contribute to this pattern. It was found that geographic location of news organizations was such a factor. The more central a news organization was located, the more links it attracted from the portals. In addition, this study also analyzed the distribution of links among difference provinces (or province level administrations) of China. It found that Beijing, Chongqing, Guangdong, Jilin, and Shanghai are hubs, while more remote provinces, such as Xinjiang, and Guizhou were largely bypassed.