Se. Clayman et A. Reisner, GATEKEEPING IN ACTION - EDITORIAL CONFERENCES AND ASSESSMENTS OF NEWSWORTHINESS, American sociological review, 63(2), 1998, pp. 178-199
We study how newspaper editors, in conference meetings, jointly determ
ine which stories will appear on the front page. Previous research on
editorial gatekeeping has identified various standards of newsworthine
ss that serve as selection criteria. We focus on the actual practices
through which gatekeeping decisions are rendered We provide an overvie
w of the primary phases of activity in conference meetings, identify v
arious practices for promoting stories as page-one material, and analy
ze in detail one particular practice-verbal assessments of newsworthin
ess. We find that editors display a systematic preference for mildly f
avorable assessments over both stronger and weaker ones, apparently be
cause restrained support enables them to maintain solidary relations w
ith reporters and editorial colleagues. Moreover, assessment favorabil
ity is significantly associated with gate-keeping outcomes.