This paper will be divided into two parts by two cases, exploring gatekeeping theory and spiral of silence theory respectively. The first case is China's mainstream media reports on The Belt and Road. It depicts the reporting differences between China and foreign media on The Belt and Road and explores how gatekeepers worker in the process.The second …show more content…
Gatekeeping in communication is seen as a process of selection and filtration. The gatekeeping takes place in all stages of communication from the communicator to the receiver. In the process, many people play the role of gatekeeper, including journalists, editors, department managers, TV station directors, censorship officials, etc. According to the Double-Action Internal News flow of Bass(1969), the gatekeeper's position is not the same in the process of gatekeeping, among which the significant gatekeepers are in the media. In Lewin(1951) 's study, individual’s personality plays a major role in the process of gatekeeping election. From the perspective of society. Gieber(1956) expanded the factors that affected gatekeeping process from individuals to organizations. Put forward further Shoesmaker (1991) pointed that there are at least five categories to study gatekeeping: The individual level, The routines level, The organizational level, The institutional level, The social system level. Seen from the gatekeeping theory, the mass media news and information dissemination are not purely objective and neutral, but be presented in certain circumstances for the complex selection and processing.
In contemporary society, the …show more content…
The world built by information from media is not a real one but contains the gatekeeper’s subjective values. Recognizing gatekeeping theory helps individuals treat information from the media correctly and develop independent judgment. At the same time, the development of the Internet throws a threat on gatekeeping .Because the audience have a more diverse channels to get the information, if the media gatekeepers just control the information or report the topic from a single angle, once the audience gets opposite information from other channels, will doubt the credibility of the media. In the era of information explosion, gatekeeping is the guarantee of news authenticity and authority, but it is not a tool to control public opinion.
The Case Study of the Spiral of Silence Theory
The Spiral of silence (Noelle-Neumann,1985)is the term meant to refer to the tendency of the people to remain silent when they feel that their views are in opposition to the majority view on a subject. This is mainly because human is social creatures and need to be approved by others. The model is an explanation of how perceived public opinion can influence individual opinions or actions.
In the spiral of silence theory, media is an effective amplifier, which impedes the opinion expressed of the