1) Gatekeeping theory and framing theory describe how individuals and organizations filter information and influence how audiences think about issues. 2) Gatekeepers control what information passes through systems by selecting which stories to publish or broadcast. Framing influences how audiences perceive issues by emphasizing specific aspects. 3) These theories are important for understanding strategic communication and how media coverage can shape public opinion.

1. Gatekeeping & Framing Theory
and Application to Current Social Media
Ashley Moore, Jie Yu, and Mincheol Shin
https://www.businesstopia.net/mass-communication/framing-theory-0https://www.businesstopia.net/mass-communication/gatekeeping-theory
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2. Gatekeeping Theory
Gatekeeping is the process through which information is filtered for dissemination, whether for publication,
broadcasting, the Internet, or some other mode of communication
The gatekeeper decides which information will go forward, and
which will not. In other words a gatekeeper in a social system
decides which of a certain commodity – materials, goods, and
information – may enter the system. Important to realize is that
gatekeepers are able to control the public’s knowledge of the actual
events by letting some stories pass through the system but keeping
others out.
https://hadoopi.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/hadoop-filter-input-files-used-for-mapreduce/
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3. Background: Founders
Kurt Lewin David White
http://totallyhistory.com/kurt-lewin/ http://jour515fall14.wikia.com/wiki/Gatekeeping 3

4. Background: Successors
Pamela Shoemaker Tim Vos
http://www.pamelashoemaker.com/about/shoemakerheadshot/ https://journalism.missouri.edu/staff/tim-p-vos/
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5. Conceptual Model
Gatekeeping Process
Sub-Dimensions of a Concept
Selected Concepts
https://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Media,%20Culture%20and%20Society/gatekeeping/5

6. Conceptual Model
(1) Important to realize is that gatekeepers are able to control the public’s knowledge of the actual events by
letting some stories pass through the system but keeping others out. Therefore, it is more likely to say that the
theory assumes audiences to be passive in terms of message reception. This is different from user or audience
centered approach.
(2) Gatekeepers exist in many jobs, and their choices hold the potential to color mental pictures that are
subsequently created in people’s understanding of what is happening in the world around them.
https://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Media,%20Culture%20and%20Society/gatekeeping/6

7. Extension of Gatekeeping and its Importance
The gatekeeping has the potential to be stretched to other well-known theories and shares
significant conceptual variances with the following theories.
(1) Agenda Setting Theory: What to think about, filtered by gatekeepers
(2) Cultivation Theory: The perception of what world would be like, selected and conveyed by media gatekeepers
(3) Framing Theory: How we think about, filtered and manipulated by gatekeepers
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8. Summary
1) A level of unit may vary upon the contexts but psychologically and theoretically we all are gatekeepers of our
mind and messages
2) Communication is just all about filtering messages
3) Important concept in strategic communications (e.g., Marketing and persuasion)
Barzilai-Nahon, K. (2009). Gatekeeping: A Critical Review. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, 43, 433-4788

9. Framing Theory
https://polishedspeakers.wordpress.com/2016/03/29/framing-priming-presidential-campaign-ads/
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10. Erving Goffman, 1922-1982
Canadian-American sociologist and writer
Background: Founder
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11. Agenda Setting vs. Framing
Agenda-setting Framing
The journalists select the most
newsworthy topics
The journalists choose the way in
which the news is brought, and the
frame in which the news is presented
Tell the audience what to think about Affect the audience how to think
about
Content Structure
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12. Framing?
Frames are abstract notions that serve to organize or structure social
meanings.
Frames influence the audience’s perception of the news, not only
tells what to think about, but also how to think about it.
Framing can be seen as a second-step of Agenda-setting.
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13. Frame Analysis:
An Essay on the Organization of Experience (1974)
1) Frame analysis is the study of the organization of social experience.
2) Influence the audience’s interpretations.
Primary framework: Takes an individual's experience or an aspect of a scene that
would originally be meaningless and makes it meaningful.
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14. News Frame Effects
https://photofunia.com/effects/breaking-news
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15. Information Effects
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• A Frame unifies information into a package.
• These packages comprise arguments, information, symbols, metaphors, and
images.
• Affect how people understand, interpret, and react to a problem or issue.
(Gamson &
Modigliani,
1987).

16. Persuasion Effects
The presentations of content that can influence attitudes in a
predictable direction.
Audiences of news frames are often not aware of the presence of
frames and the influence they can wield
(e.g., Tewksbury, Jones, Peske,
Raymond, & Vig, 2000).
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17. Agenda-Setting Effects
Framing effects can be thought of as a second-step of agenda
setting, after effects on perceived issue importance.
How news messages affect perceptions of both the importance of
an issue and how the issue can be understood.
(McCombs, 2004)
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18. Types of frames
• episodic vs. thematic frames
• human interest
• conflict
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19. Human Interest
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20. Conflict
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21. Gatekeeping Application
Journalist Ordinary Parent
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22. Soul Food Sunday
Kurt Lewin
• Mom/wife shops for the food.
• Prepares the food
• Family eats the food
• Mom/wife controls the gate
http://communicationtheory.org/gatekeeping-theory/
Stacks, D. W., & Salwen, M. B. (Eds.). (2009). An integrated approach to communication theory
and research. New York: Routledge.
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23. Does Gatekeeping always ensure the public
gets the right information?
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24. Framing Application
• Muslim Ban
• Trump uses framing by labeling
these places as places of
terrorism
• Trump, in his statement Sunday,
wrote those countries "are the
same countries previously
identified by the Obama
administration as sources of
terror.“ – Washington Post
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25. Politician vs. Journalist
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26. Boston Globe vs. Barstool Sports
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27. References
Fairhurst, G. & Star, R. (1996). The art of Framing. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Gamson, W. A., & Modigliani, A. (1987). The changing culture of affirmative action. Research in Political Sociology,
3, 137–177.
McCombs, M. E. (2004). Setting the agenda: The mass media and public opinion. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Semetko, H. A., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2000). Framing European politics: A content analysis of press and television
news. Journal of Communication, 50, 93-109.
Stacks, D. W., & Salwen, M. B. (Eds.). (2009). An integrated approach to communication theory and research. New
York: Routledge.
Tewksbury, D., Jones, J., Peske, M., Raymond, A., & Vig, W. (2000). The interaction of news and advocate frames:
Manipulating audience perceptions of a local public policy issue. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 77,
804–829.
University of Twente. GATEKEEPING.
https://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Media,%20Culture%20and%20Society/gateke
eping/
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