Blog #8
For this week we had two articles to read about the gatekeepers of the internet. Also, one of the articles included a video of an interview that Larry King did on Donald Trump back in 1988, where he discusses politics and his stance on his Republican beliefs. The article itself talks about the way the internet is policed by something called gatekeepers. It’s not a term I’ve heard before, so I did a little background research. Apparently, a gatekeeper in the media world, is a person or group of people who control, filter and processes information either for publication, broadcasting and the internet. Basically, they decide what goes through to the mass media or not. Continuing with the class topic of the world being controlled by social media, these articles do a good job defining and interpreting how the internet is actually not a free market place where we can express our ideas and beliefs. As soon as someone publishes, or posts something like porn or threats or anything that the “gatekeepers” deem inappropriate and morally wrong, it gets taken down. The internet provides an open platform to discuss topics of any nature, for people to give their unhindered opinions and for figures like Donald Trump to use to manipulate his supporters. Both articles discuss the use of the internet and the media to push his way up to the presidency. Trump’s strategic use of his support from InfoWars, is said to be a big influence on his campaign. The sprout of fake news by both Trump and Infowars is a good enough reason, in my belief, to have an army of gatekeepers to control what gets published or posted. Both articles support the idea of needing gatekeepers to keep the internet regulated and controlled by those who, we can only hope, are capable and can apply common sense and wisdom that others might lack, like Trump.
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