Gatekeepers are those who decide what makes the news, and what does not. Most gatekeepers are invisible and their work can not be seen in the paper, but they are making important decisions on how the world will be portrayed to the public. Not all news can make the daily paper or newscast, there is just not enough time or space. Gatekeepers have alot of power because they decide what we will know and what they will not. Gatekeepers also must be creative at times. They often have to trim stories because of lack of space, but if they trim stories right they can actuall make them better. The gatekeepers of news go unnoticed, but they have one of the most important jobs.
I think investigative reporting could be extremely effective in informing the public if more people were listening. Investigative reporting has been extremely effective in the past in exposing corruption and being a government watchdog. By doing investigative reporting, journalists are doing their job of acting as the fourth estate. Investigative reporting goes back to the 1800s. Nellie bly began stunt journalism, an earlier type of investigative reporting, when she commited herself to an insane assylum and exposed the terrible treatment of the wonen there. Ida Tarbell began muckracking by uncovering abusive corporate practices at standard oil, and Woodward and Bernstien sparked enthusiasm for investigative reporting by exposing the watergate scandall. In all three cases, these reporters were very effective in informing the public, and their stories all broughtgood results. After the watergate scandal, investigative reporting became very popular, but it seems that with the changing news and mass media, investigative reporting is becoming rare. This is unfortunate because investigative reporting can be very informative and make alot of good changes in society. More journalsits need to do this type of reporting so that the government will be forced to take action.
No comments:
Post a Comment