User-generated visibility: Secondary gatekeeping in a shared media space

Abstract

This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. User-generated Visibility: Secondary gatekeeping in a shared media space Jane B. Singer Abstract This article explores implications of the transition to an environment in which users have become secondary gatekeepers of the content published on media websites. This expanded user role, facilitated by technology and enabled by digital news editors, includes assessment of contributions by other users; communication of the perceived value or quality of user-and journalist-produced content; and selective re-dissemination of that content. The result is a twostep gatekeeping process, in which initial editorial decisions to make an item part the news product are followed by user decisions to upgrade or downgrade the visibility of that item for a secondary audience. Preliminary empirical evidence indicates these user gatekeeping capabilities are now pervasive on US newspaper sites. Permanent repository link:

Incidental News: How Young People Consume News on Social Media

“…The first one is the demise of a privileged place of news in the informational hierarchy, which is in turn linked to news organizations losing their agenda-setting power [4], [7], [46]. The weakening of agenda-setting is compounded with the de-intermediation effects of users following politicians, sports stars, show-business personalities and other news makers directly on social networks.…”

Re-dissemination of news and public debate on social networks

“…The dissemination of information via social networks caused a mirror effect so that the silences of certain media become more evident. Curiously, users did not attribute this break to the plurality of editorial policies, but to the contribution of the emancipated users, an aspect that had not been sufficiently highlighted in previous research (Singer, 2014;Coddington;Holton, 2014;Vos, 2015).…”

“…Therefore, there was a double-filter for our participants in determining their confidence in the content: that of their friends in the social networks who "shared" the content, and that of media that originally published the content. This observation would merit a more in-depth examination, but points to the possibility that the role of gatekeeper (Singer, 2014) in the hybrid media system is distributed consecutively between the media (when they decide to publish the content) and the users' contacts in the networks (when they decide to "share" it). This situation would downplay the importance of the decisions made by the media and would give a greater role to the decisions of the users themselves when setting up their network of relationships in the media.…”

“…Previous research has focused on the effects of the redistribution of content on social networking like Facebook or Twitter (Singer, 2014;Coddington;Holton, 2014;Vos;Heinderyckx, 2015). Most of the previous studies have used quantitative methodologies and have focused on analyzing the type of news shared, as well as the social network used (Bastos, 2015).…”

A fragmented approach

“…Even though the digital shift has inspired a new wave of research that analyzes the impact of technology and innovation on media organizations, journalistic practices, and the news-making process (e.g., Anderson, 2013;Belair-Gagnon, 2015;P. J. Boczkowski, 2004;Cottle, 2000;Domingo, D. & Paterson, 2011;Howard, 2002;Singer, 2013), the fragmentation of the news ecosystem calls also for new spatial models and critical ways of thinking in online settings (Reese, 2015;Shoemaker & Reese, 2014;Anderson, 2013). This set of key contributions published in this special issue offers a different perspective on that fragmentation.…”