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Saturday, 15 January 2022

Need for gatekeeping in citizen journalism

Gatekeeping & Citizen Journalism

 Image source: Freepik

After going through various definitions of gatekeeping, I came to understand what it means. The process by which information is selected or filtered for the media that is to be consumed by the mass people is what gatekeeping in media is. To make it simpler, we can say that because of gatekeeping the mass media can control the flow of information and decide what should and should not be published to the public. There is a monopoly in gatekeeping traditional media outlets even today. However, due to technological advancement, mass media is evolving every day thus there is a rise of digital media platforms which makes it even more necessary to gate keep the content for the people.

As our media is developing the number of audience participation with news construction is increasing too. Such a situation caused a journalist-audience relationship called “reciprocal journalism”. Audiences can decide for themselves what news content they prefer to see and thus this contributes even further to the power dynamics between the public and journalists according to Groshek & Tandoc, (2016). Previously when web 1.0 was there, people did not have many options. There was a limitation in interaction and there were not anyways for participatory journalism. Web 2.0 changed the scenario as the information that is published or broadcasted is more audience-centric which is why gatekeepers have to filter information. The websites on the internet are more interactive rather than static and there are multiple platform hubs. Due to web 2.0, the journalists and audience have more opportunities for reciprocal journalism.

Public citizens can now actively play a role in processing and disseminating information to the world. This participatory or reciprocal journalism is also known as citizen journalism. Nowadays, even if the people are not professional journalists, they can still publish or broadcast various news with the help of social media, blogs, and so on. Many media houses publish stories that are by ordinary people rather than professionals. Any ordinary person can be a part of citizen journalism by simply sharing their experience or story. Citizen journalism has contributed to our nation in various ways to make people work for the betterment of our society. On the other hand, since anyone and everyone can be a journalist at any time from anywhere it gives rise to a social media dilemma. The significant rise of media outlets where citizen journalists or individual storytellers makes it hard for the public to believe what is real and what is fake.

One of the most important tasks for a journalist or a media house is to ensure that the news they publish or broadcast has to be reliable and trustworthy. The public deserves to know the truth only. Citizen journalists are accepted and appreciated for any honest work they do but this also makes it more crucial for practicing gatekeeping in media and communication. In today’s society, it is hard to determine who the media audiences and journalists are due to the wide range of accessibility. In some cases journalistic news and public opinions are indistinct. Therefore, the gatekeeping theory is a powerful process through which the mass media can control how and why certain information should not pass through. News selection or extraction of information causes the media to close off certain topics or information from media attention. The journalists act as gates to ensure the content and nature of the message that is being conveyed in the news.

The gatekeeping model help media to decide whether an event should be published. The editors and journalists act as the gatekeepers to make sure the information we are receiving is as authentic as it can be. In the professional media world, a piece of information or news item passes through multiple gatekeepers to organize and merge it with other information to make it a proper story for our receivers. The need for gatekeeping citizen journalists is because of factors like fake news and click-baits. Almost anyone can easily access various media outlets and this results in viewers being victims of click-baits or fake news. The public might get influenced by non-journalistic social media which might negatively contribute to society. Some might even become victims of cyber-crime or cyber-bullying.

Since the accessibility for the audience to create and publish content has become easier, messages exchange and feedback happen simultaneously as well. There is an active audience and interactive community but professional journalists have to assert control over the media as there is a need to regulate the audience in a systematic manner to access educational and newsworthy information. Gatekeeping theory can help prevent curious audiences to be lured and induced by click-baits.

Click-bait example:
https://barta24.com/details/entertainment/128862/embarrassment-over-apurba-sabila-marriage 

Fake news example:
https://www.tbsnews.net/thoughts/busting-top-3-fake-news-week-173236

If I were to give a real-life example of a gatekeeping method to tackle fake news or click-baits then it can be said the Digital Security Act, 2018 is one of them. This digital security law in Bangladesh prevents everyone to spread hate speech, racism, terrorist propaganda, and so on. The government can issue a penalty or punishment for the person who posts content on any media platform that is considered pornographic or inappropriate for the public. According to section 17 of DSA, if a person tries to intimidate people or cause damage to the state through digital media then he/she will face imprisonment for 14 years or pay a fine of 10 million, in a worst-case scenario both. It can be justified that because of DSA, cyberspace is more supervised and protected but there are many things wrong with it. Some even consider DSA to be a controversial law.

Image source: Dhaka Tribune

In July 2021, under the DSA law, around 433 people were imprisoned due to allegations of spreading false and offensive information online. On 18th July 2021, Md Akhtaruzzaman was arrested by the police under the DSA for simply posting a Facebook post. His post talked about the corruption of the health official and his office assistant. Photojournalist Shahidul Alam was forcefully arrested and had to spend more than 100 days in jail, just for giving an international interview to Al-Jazeera about the road safety protest in Dhaka in August 2018. Just like them, many other writers, journalists, bloggers, cartoonists, and many more were tortured and harassed due to this law just for the sake of silence. The government should not use DSA to strike fear in societies.

As much as gatekeeping citizen journalists is necessary, it is also important for the government and media to use their power for what is right and prevent any wrong from happening. They should not use DSA or any form of gatekeeping as an excuse to control the media by promoting a cause on the mass media that might be in the best interest of the government or influential individuals. People should be punished for doing something wrong therefore it is important to note that with great power comes great responsibility.  

Viewers or readers must know what they are watching or reading is true or false. The role of a journalist is to serve the citizen in an ethical manner which is why gatekeeping is significant in such mass media. Even if a citizen decides that he/she is a journalist they should have an ethical mindset to deliver information. The need for gatekeeping is essential to safeguard the public from what is being distributed through the mass media. It is important to filter out the sensitive information that may harm someone or try to regulate click-bait articles and fake news. However, this does not mean the media should misuse the gatekeeping theory to censor information that the public deserves to know.

References:

 

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