Gatekeeping in a TV news editorial conference: Shift of force, other media, personal experience and pack mentality

This study uses Gatekeeping Theory and Conversational Analysis to describe how four factors influence news gatekeepers in a small group at one TV station. The four factors include shifting forces, other media, personal experience and pack mentality. They were identified through conversational analysis of pilot data and the research questions are supported in the literature as common influences in news gatekeeping. This study describes how those four elements occur during group conversation.;Analysis of the recorded data collected in five editorial conferences describes how the four factors are expressed by the gatekeepers as they consider events that may become news. The study finds that verbal expression of personal experience carries little weight in influencing discussion. Outside media, on the other hand, is heavily influential. Shifts of force occur easily and regularly as members of the group discard their own support for a perspective of an event and instead support another perspective that has achieved the support of more group members. Finally, group members engage in pack mentality to close the gate.