Gatekeeping, a theory in communication first introduced by social psychologist Kurt Lewin in 1943, is the process through which information is filtered prior to being disseminated to the public. While the concept was originally introduced to filter the vast amount of information available from news outlets in an attempt not to overwhelm the general public, the definition itself implies that the purpose of gatekeeping is to restrict, limit or control how much access is given to information. In some regards, this could be seen as a good thing because the gatekeepers justify that access to all information could incite panic or chaos. An example of this would be the narrative that has been developed over the years surrounding UFO sightings. In recent history, these sightings seem to be more and more common, which has made many people realize that the government has practiced gatekeeping, purposely keeping information from them regarding unidentified flying objects and aliens. In this scenario, it is easy to see why the gatekeepers might have thought that releasing all of the information available might not have been wise. Ultimately one could say that gatekeeping is very similar or related to censorship, which goes against the very foundation of free speech.
The Agenda-Setting theory goes hand in hand with gatekeeping, stating that the mainstream media sets the agenda of public discourse, which is the communication that shapes or challenges our shared beliefs as a society. In a nutshell, the more attention that mainstream media pays to any particular subject, the more important an issue people will think it is. While gatekeeping is about maintaining control of the information, agenda-setting is about maintaining control of the conversation that people are engaged in. Allowing these practices to occur affects society as a whole because it creates an environment of inequality between those that act as gatekeepers or agenda-setters and those they are filtering information from as if the gatekeeper or agenda-setter has some power to determine what information is shared and what events are important. Even more than gatekeeping, agenda-setting affects different segments of society in different ways as it seeks to control the actual narrative and determine what is being talked about and focused on. Basically, suppose mainstream media does not feel that a subject should be focused on. In that case, it isn’t talked about how much focus is currently being placed on balloons (and other objects) being shot down, train derailments, and other disasters so that people’s attention is occupied with these events detracting focus from things such as Jeffrey Epstein’s client list being released or Hunter Biden admitting that the famous laptop does, in fact, belong to him. These practices dramatically affect my generation because the political environment in the United States currently seems to be very chaotic, and the degree to which these practices have been at play throughout history has been revealed. Whenever you find yourself asking, “why isn’t anyone talking about that?”, you should be clear that you are simply at the effect of gatekeeping and agenda-setting.
Gatekeeping, a theory in communication first introduced by social psychologist Kurt Lewin in 1943, is the process through which information is filtered prior to being disseminated to the public. While the concept was originally introduced to filter the vast amount of information available from news outlets in an attempt not to overwhelm the general public, the definition itself implies that the purpose of gatekeeping is to restrict, limit or control how much access is given to information. In some regards, this could be seen as a good thing because the gatekeepers justify that access to all information could incite panic or chaos. An example of this would be the narrative that has been developed over the years surrounding UFO sightings. In recent history, these sightings seem to be more and more common, which has made many people realize that the government has practiced gatekeeping, purposely keeping information from them regarding unidentified flying objects and aliens. In this scenario, it is easy to see why the gatekeepers might have thought that releasing all of the information available might not have been wise. Ultimately one could say that gatekeeping is very similar or related to censorship, which goes against the very foundation of free speech. 
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