EOTO2 Reacts

 Gatekeeping and Agenda Setting 

    The presentation I learned about and decided to write my reaction post about revolves around the theory of gatekeeping and agenda setting. I found this presentation and concept to be very interesting, and it sparked a lot of curiosity in me after learning. The first thing I learned was the actual definition of gatekeeping. Gatekeeping is to control access to something or monitor it and select the information that gets released. Gatekeeping is a term I hear amongst colleagues of mine but I didn't know the actual definition. Secondly, I learned the definition and concept of agenda setting. Agenda setting is the media affecting the thoughts

and perceptions of the public. This is a term I had not heard of prior compared to gatekeeping. With both gatekeeping and agenda setting, I was given the pros and cons of both. 

Impacts

    Later on in the presentation, I learned the impacts of gatekeeping and agenda-setting on society. I had a feeling that I was generally a negative effect, and I was right. It is mainly surrounded by the power that the media already has. The media having the ability to release or not release information in whatever timely manner they choose only gives the media more power and is only more unfair to the citizens of this country. 

Affect on Me 

    Lastly, I learned more about how gatekeeping and agenda setting can and will affect my life and the lives of the ones around me. The first piece of information that can be gatekept is

information regarding politics. Not releasing information to my generation and everyone else could be crucial to how it affects me and others in the future. As far as agenda setting, this can be detrimental to the way young people like myself make decisions. This can include how one makes decisions politically or socially.