Gatekeeping (communication)

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Template:Totally disputed According to an article on "Gatekeeping," posted by the University of Twente in the Netherlands on its website, "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. Gatekeepers can also be seen as institutions or organizations. In a political system there are gatekeepers, individuals or institutions which control access to positions of power and regulate the flow of information and political influence."

In political parlance, a gatekeeper or left gatekeeper is an activist or organization that acts within the larger milieu of a political movement, in order to manage, constrain and co-opt the movement, often on behalf of the Establishment opponents of that movement. The term is most frequently used by conspiracy theorists to describe activists or organizations that are regarded as playing such a role. Among the hallmarks of a gatekeeper, according to those who present this theory, is the acceptance of grant money from major foundations, particularly the Ford Foundation, which are regarded as being involved in political Counter insurgency.

According to Charles Shaw, Editor-in-Chief of Newtopia magazine,

This establishment money, and the access it grants, has caused many ostensible resistance leaders to suddenly and dramatically abandon long-held ideological positions and shift their behavior towards doing what can clearly be seen as the bidding of those in power whose views and values are in direct contravention to the established mores of peace and justice movements throughout history. These "resistance leaders" of the "Left" act as "Gatekeepers"—influential "progressive" figures who use their resources and visibility to regulate the debate, tactics, and rhetoric of the "anti-war" and other "progressive" movements.

Others who have written extensively on the topic of gatekeepers are Bob Feldman and Mark Robinowitz .

The activities that are cited as "gatekeeping" include both the suppression of certain topics of discussion, and the ostracism of particular voices that might be considered incorrect. For example, Online Journal Associate Editor Larry Chin charged that " Berlet is a gatekeeper who has made a career out of slandering and attacking whistleblowers, researchers and critics of the US government, of every political affiliation...On a case by case, fact by fact basis, I challenge you to give Chip Berlet (and Noam Chomsky, Norman Solomon, etc.) the same objective scrutiny as everyone else."

While critics cite conspiracy theories as constituting the information that left publications refuse to publish, this information is often sourced from mainstream news reports which have not been closely examined. An example of this was the issue of the War games in progress on September 11, 2001. Due to very limited media coverage, most Americans have no idea that war games were taking place on that day, what significance they may or may not have played in those events, or what the official explanations were for their role that day. However, many publications and icons of the left media refused to discuss such issues.

Those who question or criticize official versions of events (for example, see Criticisms of the 9/11 Commission Report), often have scarce presence in the left media, and at least one publication engaged a former CIA analyst to defend the 9/11 Commission Report against those questioning official versions of events - The Nation magazine published a review by former CIA agent Robert Baer which attempted to dismiss the writing of theologian David Ray Griffin as one in a long line of conspiracy theories about national tragedies ("Dangerous Liaisons," September 27, 2004).

Criticism

Critics of the concept of "left gatekeepers" argue that it is a device used by proponents of conspiracy theories to attack those who decry conspiracism and refuse to publish conspiracy theories in their publications.

Purported gatekeepers

The following list of alleged gatekeepers is drawn from a flow chart posted by LeftGateKeepers.com:

Controlling organizations

Organizations:

Publications, broadcasters, and other media:

Individuals:

Major donors:

External links

Categories:

Criticism

Purported gatekeepers

See also

External links