An International Study: Student Journalists as Gatekeepers and Their Hunt for Sources on Social Media

Many of today’s undergraduate journalism students turn to social media first to cultivate sources for their reporting, as opposed to traditional reporting methods. In this international qualitative study of Gen Z college journalists, including one group from the United States and one group from India, the authors tried to uncover if students’ use of social media impacted how they practiced journalism. This study applies gatekeeping theory and finds that some of the student journalists operated as gatekeepers, as they chose to always start with social media to cultivate sources for their reporting assignments. The authors analyzed in-depth responses from 26 Indian and U.S. students about their use of social media, and found that the students, acting as gatekeepers, looked for “forces” within social media to determine whether a story idea or source was worth pursuing. The students’ routine use of social media, including engagement, “real-time” information (such as recent activity news), visuals (such as photos and videos), and frequency of posts, contributed to their reporting practices. These students also preferred the direct messaging of social media, which is similar to real-time texting, because they experienced faster responses. These “gatekeepers” used social media at the onset of their journalism practice, which potentially prevented them from using the best sources.