Gatekeepers

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Gatekeepers

[edit] Gatekeepers

Gatekeeper is defined as someone who controls access to something. It is also indiviuals who decide whether a given message will be distributed by a mass medium.

[edit] The Different Roles Gatekeepers Play

Gatekeepers serve several different purposes such as academic admissions, financial advising, and news editing. Academic admissions plays a vital role in every students life. They look at qualifications such as test scores, race, social class, grades, family connections, and even athletic ability. This proves that High School isn't just a place for social gathering but it is a stepping-stone to furthering your education. Perhaps one of the most important kind of gatekeeper is one whom advises your finances. You do not want your investor to be two-faced and unqualified for the job because if your money is in the hands of that man, the money will soon be gone. A good financial advisor should think of your money like his own and what stocks and shares would be a viable investment. Another type of gatekeeper is a news editor. An editor picks out what stories he/she believes would be most informative and popular to the public. Editors thrive off the public because it is the public that they are trying to reach. For example, the story of President Bush resigning would be on the front page of a newspaper rather than Britney Spears and Kevin Federline breaking up.

[edit] Network Television Gatekeeping

Television gatekeeping has a variety of responsiblities such as the coordination of activities, control of money, management and personnel, and the application of authority. A gatekeeper in this field decides what subject and when the subject airs on TV. They also have control over what television programs actually air on their broadcast. For example, ABC's series Desperate Housewives was turned town by Fox, CBS, NBC, HBO, Showtime, and Lifetime. This just proves how difficult gatekeeping in the television network is and how important management and personnel actually is. ABC has to have to prime personnel to see that Desperate Housewives would be such a big hit.

== The Risks of Gatekeepers == Accountants, analysts, and credit rating agencies function as gatekeepers to financial markets by providing information on investment products to investors. Accountants have been accused not only of being aware of accounting irregularities but even of aiding and abetting the violators. Enron's auditor, Arthur Andersen, is suspected on putting higher emphasis on carrying out its more profitable consultancy work for the company than on confirming that the company's accounts were in order. One factor gained a lot of concern about financial gatekeepers in the late 90's. The number or households investing in shares and mutual funds increased over the past ten years. This means that more market participants depends on information provided by financial gatekeepers. You put a lot of trust in a financial gatekeeper and if he does not do a good job with your money then word will get out about not trusting them. Because of the trust factor, the United States decided to put their minds to work. President George W. Bush signed what was probably the most sweeping reform of the nation's laws governing corporate disclosure ever enacted: the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This act strongly regulated the accounting industry by two ways. It requires chief executive officers of public companies to certify the reliability of their financial statements. It also toughens penalities for corporate fraud and other mishaps. This puts a little more trust in the hands of financial gatekeepers.