Who are Gatekeepers of the news? How effective is investigative reporting in informing the public?

The gatekeepers of the news are basically the ones who decide what news is presentable to the public. Also described as, "media people influencing messages en route" (Vivian 230). Pretty much, they decide what gets put into the newspapers and what is reported on the news channels to the public everyday. There is not enough room, or time for every piece of news to be broadcasted so the gatekeepers are the ones who pick the top stories for us. "Their job is to exercise news judgement, deciding what most deserves to be told and how" (Vivian 230).

Investigative reporting is defined as, "Enterprise reporting that reveals new information, often startling; most often these are stories that official sources would rather not have told" (Vivian 234). Investigative reporting is a way to uncover the truth, no matter the outcome of the story's information. Gatekeepers and investigative reporting often go hand in hand in the news. Many times when a reporter or a story uses investigative reporting their stories will be passed be the gatekeepers and put into our news stream today. All in all, I think that investigative reporting is very effective today because the public wants to hear the details and the stories behind the headlines, and investigative reporting brings that. The unwanted truths and hidden scandals are very appealing to the public and the gatekeepers know that.