OWNERSHIP AND GATE KEEPING ROLE OF THE MEDIA

Abstract

This paper examines the influence of media ownership on the gatekeeping role of the media. The paper anchored on the gate keeping theory and propaganda model and review of several literature on the subject matter, and it found out that gate keeping becomes necessary, not only to choose the best among billions of stories available, but the economic needs of the medium, organizational policy, owners’ interest, advertisers’ interest, among others, formed criteria for judging/filtering/gatekeeping a particular news story. The paper analyzed the role of gatekeeping/why gate keeping, factors influencing gate keeping, and noted that gate keeping, if not carefully handled, as important as it is for the sanity of the media, may cause untold damage for the integrity of the media. The paper, however, urges the gatekeepers from journalists to the editors, not to allow ownership interest prevent them from discharging social responsibility or sacrifice big human angle stories for the promotion of their proprietors/publishers as this may cause them readership/viewers/listeners’ loyalty.