How has mass media technology changed the way audiences are entertained?

Over the years technology has definitely changed the way audiences are entertained.  If you think of way back in the beginning of the 20^th century there were radios and then came television.  People had a choice of which they wanted to listen to, or watch.  Now-a-days we have radio and television, as well as satellite radio, tons of radio stations, thousands and thousands of tv channels, dvd players, movie theaters, on-demand, dvr, etc. The list goes on and on, and technology just keeps increasing.  You can even watch movies or tvs on your ipod or a tv in your car! Technology has allowed viewers to have a large range of different things to view or listen to, there are so many different genres of radio, tv, movie, music, etc.  There is really something out there for anyone and all available 24/7.   Anything is available instantly – from almost anywhere. Weather, news, music, movies, TV Shows, games, really anything you can think of you can find on the Internet, TV, or and technology device that you own whenever you want.  Thanks to technology we can completely tune in to whatever we want when we want.

Mass Media Technology and Entertainment

Mass media technology today has allowed audiences the ability to participate and interact with individuals around the world. This new phenomenon has brought upon a new form of entertainment that continues to inspire and grow today. Mass media technology such as Twitter, Facebook, the Internet in general, have allowed individuals to watch, post and comment on videos, news stories, pictures and more.

As Individuals, we love the ability to closely follow and interact with other people. The introduction of new mass media technology has allowed people to instantly connect around the world. Beyond such websites like YouTube and Twitter, television stations now target specific audiences and demographics. Narrowing the audience to a specific viewer has allowed him/her the ability to watch exactly what excites and entertains them.

New mass media technology has increased the rate at which individuals are entertained. Through increased social media sites and the Internet, increased television and radio stations, as well as the devices that utilize these new forms, individuals have the ability to remain connected and entertained at any time throughout the day.

-Patrick Morgan

Mass Media Changing the Way We are Entertained

With the constant changes in technology and the fast paced media world we live in, it has affected the way we as an audience are entertained. Our first exposures to technology were basic. The options for audiences were greatly limited. We started out with basic black and white TV’s that had less than a dozen channels with set times for shows. We now are faced with over 500 channels and options like DVR so we can watch anything we want at anytime. These changes have made us as viewers in complete control of what we watch and when.

In order to remain successful in business mass media technology has had to keep up with its audiences. We are so used to having everything at our fingertips, that our generation has developed the capability to take in information at a fast rate. As a result of these changes in both audience viewing and technology we are never without entertainment. I can get an app for just about anything on my iPod or phone. I could also constantly watch movies and TV shows without ever having to leave my house or pick up a remote. Everything I could want is on the internet and the internet has become completely portable. As a result we can constantly be occupied.

Entertainment Today

Finding entertainment for our generation is no longer a hassle. We no longer have to follow the time our favorite TV show is on, DVR and the internet are two alternatives we can catch up with entertainment we may have missed. Along with TV, I-pods, I-pads, cell phones and computers are at each of our finger tips. We can access the mass media with the touch of a button and find entertainment within seconds. Mass media has turned into the technology that creates it, which continues to grow. The mass media technology and the way we are entertained shows that we are never truly alone. With the help of Facebook, Twitter and Skype individuals are able to talk to others constantly, which is entertaining in many ways. We can be sitting alone in a room late at night, but we still have the technology to communicate with our friends or family.

In some ways, the entertainment we now have so easily, may be harmful to our generation. It can cause individuals to be socially awkward if they are constantly entertained over the computer and cell phone and less with actual people. It will be interesting to see how our entertainment will change through out the next year. Will we ever be able to put the cell phone and computer down?

-Taylor Johnson

How you're being entertained

Media technology has forever changed the way we are entertained. Entertainment is not its own thing anymore its apart of the technology that creates it. Being entertained used to not rely on the technology to do it but now it seems as though its quite the opposite. When I think of being entertained (technology wise) i think of my phone my ipod my laptop. These are all devices that because of our rapid technology growth are able to be entertained. Without the technology available now the face of entertainment to me would be completely unclear. However there are some technological advances in entertainment that arent the bees knees like 3d television, although very cool and awesome it just hasnt caught on probably because people dont want to wear those silly glasses. but in the future definitely there is a chance that it would catch on. now on the other hand there are technological advances that catch on very quickly and have changed entertainment as well as how we operate in general. this would be something like the ipad. You can do almost anythng on that thing. it basically replaces the computer. i want to purchase one for myself for the entertainment purposes but also because of its capability to do work on it.

How has mass media technology changed the way audiences are entertained?

Through out the years mass media technology has changed the way audiences are entertained. Technology is ever changing and the systems and devices used to entertain mass audiences have changed tremendously. Before the twentieth century one of the main forms of entertainments were books, plays, poems, story telling, etc. So essentially anything that was either live or could be read. But in the twentieth century there was a wave of testing new ways that people could be entertained especially through mass audiences. The development of the radio was so detrimental to how audiences are entertained. For most of the early 1900s people were entertained by the radio. The radio provided news, sports, music, and even “spoken shows” to be transmitted to a mass audience. With this, technology paved the way for other common mass media technology that is around today, particularly the television. The radio and how it worked helped inventors come up with the idea of movement radio; however it was not until around the mid 1900s that the television we think of today was actually a fully functioning invention. This invention allowed people to watch movies, shows, sports, and news in the comfort of their own household rather than going to a movie theater. Mass media has advanced further with the creation of the Internet, which essentially allows you to watch movies, shows, sports, news, but also to obtain information, play games, communicate with other people. Looking back the way audiences are entertained has changed significantly, but for the better in some respects.

Changes in Entertainment

How has mass media technology changed The way audiences are entertained?

Media technology is ever changing and improving constantly. There used to be only a few portals of entertainment, now there's tons of different gadgets and gizmos used to entertain. If you asked my grandpa about entertainment for kids, he would say that in his day, he played with a stick and a rock, and he would have no idea what an ipad or itouch was. Now a days all entertainment comes from media. Every time they come out with something different, everyone rushes to get it and download all sorts of things to entertain them. For example, along with the creation of the ipod, came the development of applications, or apps. Now every phone has apps you can buy or download for free including games, internet, and social networks. You can even download movies onto your ipod and ipad. You used to only be able to watch a movie if it was playing on tv for the 1 time every year that it did, or at the theater. Now, if i wanted to, i could be entertained for hours with movies on a Netflix app basically anywhere thanks to 3g. I think that way it's been changed the most is that there's more entertainment available, and always available. It's almost virtually impossible to ever be bored.

How has mass media technology changed the way that audiences are entertained?

Technology has greatly changed the wa audiences are entertained. With the internet's huge reach, information is now available to entertain the audience instantly. I think this ability to recieve information so fast is the biggest change in mass media. Instead of waiting to watch the nightly news to recieve the day's information, one can go online at any point in the day and find out anything that they need instantly. 
Social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter have allowed people to be entertained by their friends instantly. People can basically find out what any of their friends are up to through their status updates. They can go to CNN.com to instantly find out anything they want to know about the news world. Traffic and weather can always be instantly learned. I think the internet is an "information superhighway" that will continue to change the way that media is consumed as it continues to develop.

Who are the gatekeepers of news?

The gatekeepers of news are those media sources that decide which information is provided to the general public. If a media giant does not want some information to come out to the general public, they have an incredible ablity to cover up and withhold this information from the public. Companies such as Disney own so many media sources that they have a huge amount of influence on the information that is presented to the public.
Investigative reporting is very helpful in informing the public to information that gatekeepers try to keep quiet. Public relations people do their best to cover up unglamerous information such as Tiger Wood's escapades. Without this investigative journalism, the public would continue to think that Tiger Woods has a squeaky clean image that his people want you to think.

Mass Media Technology Changes the World

Mass media technology has changed the way audiences are entertained in many ways than one. Movies became better than books, radio and television captured a larger audience and now statistics show that television sets are on at least 8 hours a day for entertained in America’s households. Storytelling, movies, books, etc. are the primary entertainment for audiences. Music and sports are also huge entertainment for the audience and that was all because of the mass media technology that has evolved. Gaming is a new entertainment that is all due to the mass media technology.

Mass Media: Ever Changing Entertainment

The Mass Media has been changing the ways in which people are entertained over the years. At the start of the movie industry, the public was entertained by black and white silent films. Today people are watching animated films in 3-D. With the new technologies advancing the film industry with films like Avatar, the days of the silent black and white are long gone. Similarly in television, the early shows of the "perfect" family are long gone and filled with shows like CSI. As technology changes so does the ways in which people entertain themselves. In order to maintain profits, the Mass Media has to follow suit and change with technology. Instead of buying books, many people are using e-readers, and instead of purchasing CDs people have begun to use music sites like Pandora, iTunes and YouTube. People are entertained by using hand held devices like smartphones and iPods, or even hand held video games. With the rise in technology use also came Applications for the iPod or other hand held devices like the newer tablets. By creating entertainment through the new technology people try to stay current. This could mean buying the newest model of smartphone, iPod or tablet. When people continue to buy the current technology it creates profits and reason to improve technology, continuing the cycle of ever-changing entertainment.

Mass Media has continually changed the way that audiences are entertained through a variety of ways. One for instance would be radio or television programming. Millions of people across the globe turn on their radios or televisions to listen or watch their favorite programs displays topics of their interests. Because these people are interested in certain subjects, topics, or lifestyles, these programs exist to meet the end consumer’s desires.

As technology adapts, so do these mass media programs and ways to keep in touch with ones desired content, lifestyles, or viewpoints. With the invention of the Internet there are now thousands of website that likely discuss a topic of issue. Even blogs like this one here might be desirable to someone in terms of entertainment value. With the addition of ipods, smart phones, twitter, you tube, facebook, and so forth, users of media are able to stay connected to their favorite artists, actors, friends, and everything nearly all day everyday. This has made once easily entertained audiences very demanding, fidgety, and much more expecting of instant gratification.

Today we live in an age where media needs to be near instant for the followers to be entertained for any amount of time as they will easily change to another medium or channel.

Mass media and you

Mass media has changed the way audiences are entertained through many different ways throughout the generation. Places like the movies, gaming, television, mobile devices are all coming out with their own ways of keeping people entertained. For instance the movies, television and even gaming are starting to incorporate 3D technology into their products allowing for a more entertaining experience for the viewer/user. The gaming industry entertains their audiences through the games that they keep on coming out with such as sports games, which is a big choice among gaming population. Mobile device companies are making their products ever more advanced as the technology becomes available. An example of this is the touch screen smartphones and tablets that are out there. This allows for mobile access to the Internet and other necessities that can keep the user entertained for hours on end. Anything from work to gaming can be accessed through these mobile devices. With the ever grow wealth of technology that is becoming available through mass media there are going to be more and more ways to entertain people.

Changes in Entertainment

Through the years with advancements in technology the arts have been made accessible to a diverse audience through a network of media outlets. Beginning with stories reaching audiences through a book or a live performance, and then a movie bringing the storyline to life on the big screen, now e-readers can display books electronically and movies can be downloaded to your home computer, TV, or phone with the touch of a button. Radio and TV entertainment brought about huge changes to daily life for many generations. Listening to your favorite show on the radio and then being able to see it on TV was monumental in the media industry. In the world of sports, having access to instant replays, on-line statistics, and camera and microphones on the playing fields has created a huge fan base and brought entertainment to the next level. With iPods and smart phones, entertainment became more individualized and easily accessible. In the world of music, “technology of sound recording gives composers, lyricists, and performers far larger audiences than would ever be possible through live performances” (Vivian). Audiences can now choose their venue of entertainment because of all the technological advances available to them. Technology is changing so fast in our world and making access to media simpler and faster than ever.

technology as the creator of entertainment

The audience today is now entertained through relationships with their technological devices, instead of being present at an event while interacting with others who share the same interest in that form of entertainment. Reliance on what the device will offer, such as when a sport’s game will broadcast or what soundtracks or live videos of popular artists are available on the internet, has grown. It indeed gives the audience a greater selection of entertainment and also control of when they would like to watch a movie, play a video game or listen to music. The comfort of home and having the option either to individually or communally enjoy a form of entertainment is also convenient.

However, mass technology does have a way of reaching large crowds of people and engaging them in the same form of entertainment at the same time. An example of that would be a broadcast of the Golden Globe’s Award Show or the World Series Playoffs. Also, technology can be used to promote events leading a mass audience to enjoy entertainment with others in public. Regardless, the audience is still relying on technology to create entertainment opportunities.

Everything is constantly being made bigger and better

How has mass media technology changed the way audiences are entertained?

In the days before mass media people entertained themselves or each other. People told stories, played games, and talked. Now people tell stories online, they read information online, they watch stories in television and movies, play games online and on video games, and are constantly connected to what is going on and each other through mass media. People are no longer satisfied with basic things like playing a board game, why would you do that when you could play a video game with the family? Or have family movie night? Rather than sitting face to face and talking people text, IM, e-mail, call, face chat, and etc. You can constantly be in communication with someone without ever being face to face.

Entertainment keeps getting bigger and better. Video game graphics are better, television screens are bigger, and internet speed gets faster. Everything is in constant change to be made better.

The Changes in the Ways of Entertainment

In recent years, it is no doubt that the most significant technological development for the evolution of the media industry is the rise of the internet. The internet has changed how media is consumed and has created entirely new sectors and platforms for mainstream entertainment.

From my experience, I lie attend live concert of Chinese orchestra.  And I am the follower of Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. Three months ago, I found two clips of the orchestra on YouTube. They are not the promotional clips and they are not the extract of a song.  Those clips are so called the “Online Concert”, in which a song is performed through the internet and act as another channel of promoting Chinese music. I was shocked because I love enjoy the music in a concert hall. I don’t think people can really enjoy the good music through the internet. But it is obvious that the online concert can cater some people’s needs.

Another example is that the New York Times has a channel on YouTube. Likewise, in China, the most popular website is Baidu, a Chinese language portal that offers a plethora of services such as searching, multimedia content and social networking. I always use this site to watch TV series and movies. It really brings tons of conveniences to me.

Gatekeepers: exposing or censoring the truth?

The gatekeepers of news are responsible for what information the public is exposed to. Either these gatekeepers can be somewhat a form of censorship, limiting the public’s access to information on a certain topic, or provide coverage on an issue in depth so that the truth can be revealed for the public good. These gatekeepers possess powerful positions in society as they control the exchange of information and knowledge on issues which impact the public.

Investigative reporting is a type of gatekeeping which focuses on exposing the truth about a specific topic. Each detail and fact is examined and really demands a reporter to investigate, dig deep, into an issue. So how informative are investigative reports? Compared to thirty second clips that cover daily events, investigative reporting helps analyze unique stories which effected history or culture in some way, needing further explanation. The television show, 20/20, is famous for choosing topics that the public might not be aware of and could benefit from. On January 14^th, 20/20 aired a show that discussed if women in the Peace Corps were facing dangerous situations. Underground issues, such as this example, can be shared with the public in response to gatekeepers, who therefore are a necessity in communication.

http://video.tvguide.com/2020/2020+114+Scandal+Inside+the+Peace+Corps/6997491?autoplay=true&partnerid=OVG

Gatekeepers

“The gatekeeper is a media person influencing messages en route.” (Vivian 230) So in other words what an individual reads in a paper, magazine, sees on television or hears on the radio are all chosen by the gatekeeper. The person responsible for deciding what the public message is going to be is known as the staffer. These people are not very well known because they work behind the scenes, out of the spotlight. Every story told to the public is edited by the gatekeeper because it is obviously impossible to include every detail of a story. The gatekeeper must edit the story in a way that the validity of a story is told, but in a condensed manner. They do edit the stories based on preferences of the public and opinion. Investigative reporters can be considered gatekeepers because their entire job is to reveal the truth of a story in a honest and honorable fashion. Some spectators consider investigative reporters to be biased by the elite; muckrakers. The importance os the truth in the media is vitally important to the public and that is where investigative reporters play a huge role. The public puts their trust in these reporters to validate the truth

What is really important?

Gatekeepers within the news are individuals who are in charge of what the public eye sees. Many of them are journalists, editors, producers and anchors. In many cases, investigative reporting is an effective way to show how gatekeeping works. To regulate the "flow" of information many investigative reporters focus on an specific issue while leaving other information out. This is because it is what people are actually interested in, and keeps viewers watching. To understand fully, a "gatekeeper in a social system (like news) 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."

In order to be an effective investigative reporter it is almost vital to have gatekeeping. The reporter must understand what to include based on previous broadcasts, sources and the "knowledge" of the audience that specific day. News is always changing so it is important to know what can and cannot be repeated. People want to hear stories they are not aware of, or else their interest will fade. Using gatekeeping helps viewers grasp more of an attention to the news.

-Taylor Johnson

Letting Out Some of the Truth

In the world of news, there is a lot that is not said. This is because news stations choose what information they want to relay to the public. They base their stories on what they believe the public wants to hear about instead of relaying them the actual information. When news stations do this, they become gatekeepers of the news. They only let the information they want out and keep any information they deem “unnecessary” from being broadcasted to the public.

By giving the public only some of the truth, these news stations are giving their audience a false sense of reality. In some cases, this makes the world seem more attractive then it actually is. This has led people to become emotionless when watching the news, because they are only hearing the news that will not evoke emotion from them. This emotionless type of reporting has led to the decrease of popularity with investigative reporting. Audiences want to hear stories that interest them but on a surface level. They do not want to have a story evoke a lot of emotions inside of them which investigative reporting does. They would rather just watch summaries of interesting stories without the depth.

The Gatekeepers of News

The gatekeepers of news outlets are those who own, run, and operate conglomerate media stations. The owners of these mega stations have the ability to ‘choose’ which news stories will run or be aired throughout the day. A lot of this control is due to overwhelming financial pressures to increase revenue sales. Conglomerates understand that in order for their station to maintain consistent cash flows as well as an audience, they must run news stories that are at times salacious, false or as we have seen in recent times, “soft.” In Matthew Baum’s article titled, “How Soft News Brings Policy Issues to the Inattentive Public,” Baum describes soft news as, “Celebrity gossip, crime dramas, disasters, or other dramatic human-interest stories.” Today, many scholars have seen a growing trend towards soft news. In fact, more than half of print and broadcast media can be categorized has soft news.

For this very reason, I understand why conglomerates such as News Corp. choose to run programs that although entertaining, may contain little value in relevant, informational, and educational stories. The gatekeepers of news are those who constantly focus on the bottom line. Simply put, what sells is what will air.

I believe investigative reporting has the ability to showcase news stories that help to keep political figures, business owners, employers as well as employees honest. Investigative reporting has played a key role in protecting and informing citizens on both a local and national level of the injustices of society. Unlike soft news, investigative reporting has worked to both inform and act as a watchdog for the public.

-Patrick Morgan

Gatekeepers and Investigative reporting effecting and informing the Public

Within the media, who controls what stories, news, messages, etc. are being sent out so the mass audience can see and think about it? Gatekeepers oversee these tasks. According to the book The Media of Mass Communication by John Vivian, gatekeepers are media people influencing messages en route. Gatekeepers have the ultimate power to control what messages get sent out to the mass audience. It is essential to have gatekeepers who are unbiased, so that both sides of a story, news, or message is presented within the media. This is not always the case, but it is better to have unbiased gatekeepers in order to give something the public can think about rather than telling them what they should think.

In terms of investigative reporting, how effective is it in informing the public? In many ways investigative reporting is effective. Many of the stories being covered are reports that reveals information that is usually startling and usually are not really supposed to be known to the public. A perfect example of how investigative reporting was effective to the people is the whole Watergate incident. President Nixon was covering up a scandal in which people of his cabinet were hiring people to steal information about the future candidates to help aid Nixon in the upcoming election. Nixon was covering this up so well that the people believed the first official reports that five men tried to rob the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate offices. But two journalists dug deeper and uncovered the truth of what actually was going down. This shocked the public and essentially created the appeal and effectiveness of investigating reporting and brought it to the forefront of types news stories.

TOO SLOW

The news changes as fast as technology does. And technology changes pretty damn fast. There used to be a time when you had to wait till the next day to know what happened yesterday, or later on when tv had news that seemed to be pretty quick and knowledgeable. But Imagine knowing when something happens almost instantaneously? Well when the internet came along thats pretty much what happened. Sadly the use of newspapers went down but those companies are still able to post what they want online which is the upside however with the internet it still seemed like that was too slow and there could be a faster way for us to receive news. What this comes down to is speed, simplicity, and strength of the message. Thats what blogging gave us. A blog post from someone in an important current event is immediately available and pretty much instant. A blog also gets the point across very quickly and to be quick the message has to be short and sweet. Being a shorter message than an article lets say, a blog post can be so powerful. not saying that a great article isnt powerful but i feel like the blog is so much more personable and meaningful. Now some news channels on tv like CNN have all of their reporters blogging what is happening where ever they are and it has completely changed the way i look and receive news as.

Conglomeration, where are all the little guys?

Conglomeration is simply a group of organizations/companies that combine together to make a big one or is in turn controlled by a larger company. Conglomeration in media has been going on for years especially in television, movies and radio, and music. However it seems most prominent in Television and the movie business.
Other than Independent films almost all films that go into production are being backed and controlled by a few main movie companies such as Warner brothers, dream-works, Universal studios, Paramount and Columbia. However there are a lot more of these production companies but they all coincide with this conglomeration of producing companies. This happens all because of money. The big guys have the money and can help produce a film faster and with more tools at hand. Having a conglomeration in this industry basically allows for more money to be made.
Television is not like the film industry in this sense of conglomeration. A movie can be produced by one of these conglomerations but it will have a different turn out because there are different directors. You can think of a conglomerate in the television business as being that constant director. Its almost like no matter what channel you watch if its apart of the bigger conglomeration then it feels like they are similar or the same. Basically this means that there can and are biases in the television business. Having a conglomerate in the television industry i feel controls too much of what we can readily watch this importantly includes the news. Which i think is the main reason why there television has conglomerates in the first place.

Where lies the truth?

Gatekeepers for the news are those individuals or group of individuals who have the position to determine not only what is appropriate but also acceptable for the audiences to that medium. Gatekeeping thus occurs at all levels in the communications media structure, reporters choose the sources to use in a story, and editors decide which stories are discussed, often media outlet owners and advertisers get a say. So often it seems that the products that get the best reviews also happen to be owned by a company advertising in a medium. Next time a magazine or television show is selling you something, see if they have a vested interest in the good or service, most likely they will. On a larger scale gatekeepers get to protect information from the general public, and which information will remain classified, or top secret in the government.

To balance Gatekeepers from withholding information there aren’t often enough investigative reporters to find what they are hiding and bring it to the public. Although investigative reporting can be effective, it also generally does not get enough publication or media attention to be highly effective unless the backers in the media industry allow it to be published and displayed o the public, generally investigative reporting is done when someone in the media has a vested interest at discrediting someone or an organization.

Does gatekeeping hinder investigative reporting?

The public relies heavily on the work of journalists and broadcast media to piece together information about the nation and global events. Gatekeepers are the heads of these media outlets, and are responsible for what is actually shown to the public. Picking which stories are most important, how much information will be shown, and what information will be left out are the main jobs of the gatekeepers in media. While it is important to a company in their sales and profits, it hinders the capabilities of investigative reporters. These reporters are trained in looking for information and digging for facts that are important whether or not they offend a certain population.

All the time and effort put into a piece by an investigative reporter can sometimes be hindered by this gate keeping because not all of the information is used for every story. Investigative journalists work to find information no matter whom it may offend. Through all their time and effort, they work to inform the general population as a whole and by holding back certain information, gatekeepers reduce the effectiveness of investigative journalism. The news media is meant to inform the general public of the goings on of today's world, and with the media intentionally withholding information the public is at a disadvantage.

News Media

I think that investigative reporting is an extremely helpful way of informing the public on both local and global issues. It lets the public in on issues and topics that are otherwise kept private and closed off. Investigative reporting also educates the public on how they are directly affected by the given problem at hand. One form of investigative reporting that is most common are the consumer reports that some news stations run. These reports are prime examples of investigative stories that inform the public of scams, and false claims that are current in the consumer market.

Who are the gatekeepers of news? How effective is investigative reporting in informing the public?

What you read in the paper, in a magazine, what you see on television, or hear on the radio are all chosen by a person called the gatekeeper.  A gatekeeper is a person who controls access to something.  Journalists essentially could be considered the gatekeepers of news and information for the public; in any newspaper, magazine, or news broadcast, an editor judges which stories get told, which sources are credible, and what quotes are appropriate.  The main gatekeeper for a television news program is the news director.  Program directors select television programs to be broadcast.  Investigative reporting is crucial to the public because it prevents and exposes corruption and lies in the media, politics, etc.  Although it may seem investigative reporting may seem like a hard task it is definitely effective because the investigative reporters have to dig around and pry for information, therefore getting the most important pieces.  However, if you think about it…the information could be unreliable…what if they can’t find all the information they need for a story, do you think they would make some parts of it up to make it more interesting?

Gatekeepers-The People Behind the Scene

The gatekeepers of news are the people behind the scenes that call all the final shots. News papers and news cast have limited space and time and need to give all the important news to the public and deciding what news are more important than others is the gatekeepers job. Their job is very important and they make the final decision of how the world sees the news and what the world hears as news. Gatekeepers have to make news judgment and pull out news that are not as relevant for that day or week.

            Investigative reporting started with muckraking which is term used to digging up dirt but it’s used to describe investigating reports with a public policy reform aim. Investigating reporting informs the public of things that the government is usually trying to hide. Many times, investigating reporting changes the course of history and forces the government to clean up their act or change a law. However, many times, government decides to overlook the news and continue doing what they are doing. Also, people have less interest in investigating reporting because it won’t change anything or at least people seem to think that. 

Gatekeepers of news are important to the public

I think the gatekeepers of news are those people who are in charge of making decisions of exposing news to the public. The journalists are generally the gatekeepers, as they do research and eventually select the news to inform the public. They should have critical mind and better still, without any bias to the news stories.

Investigative reporting involves bringing to the fore facts and figure that affect human interests and fair governance. The journalists in this field have to conduct in depth research, find out public records, conduct lots of interviews, research documents, and also recheck of facts before broadcasting or writing. Investigative reporting is undoubtedly a watchdog in reporting news.

Investigative reporting is effective in informing the public. It can move public opinion and instill fear in those treading the wrong path. The public can know the information with truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity and impartiality. For example, terrorist activities, drug trafficking, money laundering and so on are usually brought to the notice of the public through investigative reporting.

News witheld then Wiki Leaked

Gatekeepers are people that decide what can be aired on TV. In this sense gatekeepers can be people in the government or law enforcement. For instance the government can with hold specific information from people about our fate or other things such as terrorist attacks on specific areas. This is because they don’t want the public to panic and go into a rage. Also the law enforcement can with hold specific information about murder victim or something so that their identity is protected and people don’t know who they are for reasons. The FCC is also a gatekeeper in that they regulate what is allowed to be bleeped and blurred on TV whether it is vulgar language, obscenities or nudity. Investigative reporting is important because it gets information out there about things that are kept from the public. For instance Wiki Leaks does investigative reporting and gets classified information that the government with holds from the public and leaks it to us. They get us the truth that the government doesn’t want us to know about. Investigative reporting is very important because it answers a lot of important questions that we may have but we can’t get answered. This will be very important in the future too because aw things move on things are getting more and more classified and we need people to get that information out there for the public to see.

Smarter and Quicker

Who are the gatekeepers of news? How effective is investigative reporting in informing the public?

The gatekeepers of news depend on the story, it can be the police, the government, or a person in general. They always have a motive for keeping whatever news a secret, whether it be them getting in trouble or them looking bad. Sometimes with police they keep information from the public because it is harmful to a person or a family, or because they have not closed the case and do not want the press to interfere with that.

Investigative reporting is typically good because they can find out the people that are keeping information and release it. Unfortunately there is the rare occasion where they end up revealing something that messes up a police case but typically the press is good at keeping everyone honest.

They are typically good at informing the public, however most people now know to keep things away from the press and hide things better. This just means that investigative journalists have to be smarter and quicker.