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

• Published in: The Journal of politics Vol. 74; no. 2; pp. 514 - 528
• Main Author: Soroka, Stuart N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.04.2012; University of Chicago Press
• Subjects: Communication; Comparative analysis; Dictionaries; Distribution; 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; Reality; Regulation; Representation; U.S.A; Unemployment; Unemployment rates; Words
• ISSN: 0022-3816; 1468-2508
• DOI: 10.1017/S002238161100171X

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.