Urvalsprocessens utmaningar idag : En studie om gatekeeping i ett modernt medielandskap ; The challenges of the news selection process today : A study of gatekeeping in a modern media society

This essay aims to shed light upon the change in journalism’s traditional gatekeeping role. Using two key theories, the gatekeeping theory and the agenda setting theory, we analyze how digitalization affects journalists in Sweden. Our study, consisting of six educated Swedish journalists, finds that while social media and other information spreading actors affect journalism practice, most journalists or editorial officers are adapting to this new media climate. Using techniques such as observing what subjects are discussed in social media, understanding what the target audience wants or using the internet to go viral, journalists have more options to explore when publishing their articles. While there are many positives with digitalization, there are pitfalls as well. This essay also analyzes the challenges journalists face in today’s media society, such as disinformation, vocal opposition and competition with social media. The study finds that while journalists strive to have credibility and authority, it is getting increasingly more difficult to dominate the public discourse. Journalists now are fighting for attention in an audience who spends more time on social media than on news sites.