I/O: Reinforcing Newsmaking Practices Through Algorithmic Media

Recent developments in communication and information technology have disrupted the long-established dominance of mass media over the production and distribution of news. As an effort to reclaim their role of society’s information gatekeeper, media companies absorb digital technology as instruments of institutional power to reproduce its own logic in the digital space. This paper dis-cusses two interrelated modalities of algorithmic news: economically efficient production, where news outlets utilize quantitative metrics to improve content effectiveness and desirability; and shared-gatekeeping, where visibility and distribution of information are contextual and based on users’ behaviour. The paper proposes that algorithmic media hides under its supposed objectivity and neutrality to become a new gatekeeper “organism”, which not only regulates flows of infor-mation, but also interprets and negotiates both public interests and the value of the news.

An Evolving Landscape: From Information Gatekeeper to Knowledge Professional

This paper is based on a presentation of the same title given by Jane Bradbury, Head of Knowledge and Information at the law firm Slaughter and May, at the inaugural seminar of the BIALL Knowledge Management Group on 9th May 2016. The article has been compiled by the other two authors, Jon Beaumont and Tim Barlow, and so not all of the opinions expressed are attributable to Jane. The authors are also indebted to Anne Ashdown, of recruitment firm tfpl, who presented at the same seminar on the subject of recruitment for legal knowledge management (KM) roles and whose observations are also incorporated in the article. The paper considers the increasing impact of KM on the work of library and information professionals in law firms. It discusses the related role of professional support lawyers (PSLs), the knowledge “hot topics” which are driving evolution of the profession, the transferability of information skills, and opportunities for development and career progression beyond the traditional boundaries of library and information management.

Building Competing Fashion Textile Fairs in Europe, 1970–2010

Interstoff (launched in 1959 by Messe Frankfurt) and Première Vision (launched in 1972 in Lyon) became “information dissemination gathering locations” for the fashion and textile industries all over the world. The two events mobilized the fashion prediction methodology as a key tool to impose themselves as the favorite information gatekeeper for the industry. Their goal was to complement the trading of goods with the exchange of adequate and strategic information for companies that were dramatically constrained by immediate global competition and rapidly changing seasonal models. As a result the two trade fairs progressively adopted a new information-centric model and contributed to maintain Western Europe as the central location for the dissemination of fashion trends worldwide. Messe Frankfurt also pursued an alternative geographical strategy. It did this by following the global relocation of textile manufacturing and setting up fairs around the world, particularly in China, before ultimately ending the Interstoff event in Frankfurt in 1999.

Information Gatekeepers – Aren't We All? A new perspective for looking at the Human Information Gatekeeper

In today's knowledge environment, individuals and groups who gather relevant information about the organization's external environment and distribute that information for use by their colleagues, receive increasing attention and are viewed with great importance. These individuals have been named Information Gatekeepers. Thus far, researchers have not established a unanimous and interdisciplinary definition regarding the human information gatekeeper. Nonetheless, a recurrent theme in previous papers regards gatekeepers as a select few throughout the organization. This approach creates two kinds of employees based on a specific set of criteria – those who are gatekeepers and those who are not. The main goal of this research is to examine whether gate keeping is an individual attribute that exists or does not exist within the organization, or whether gate keeping is a continuous attribute that exists within every member and throughout the organization in varying intensity subject to differences in personal characteristics and other factors. A revised version of this paper was published in Informing Science: the International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline, Volume 18, 2015

Information Gatekeepers – Aren't We All?

In today’s knowledge environment, individuals and groups who gather relevant information about the organization’s external environment and distribute that information for use by their colleagues receive increasing attention and are viewed with great importance. These individuals have been named Information Gatekeepers. Thus far, researchers have not established a unanimous and interdisciplinary definition regarding the human information gatekeeper. Nonetheless, a recurrent theme in previous papers regards gatekeepers as a select few throughout the organization. This approach creates two kinds of employees based on a specific set of criteria – those who are gatekeepers and those who are not. The main goal of this research is to examine whether gate keeping is an individual attribute that exists or does not exist within the organization, or whether gate keeping is a continuous attribute that exists within every member and throughout the organization in varying intensity subject to differences in personal characteristics and other factors. We find that evidence to the existence of latter approach is significant and suggest practical recommendations that arise from these findings.

Obsoleta manipulación: nueva concepción informativa | Obsolete manipulation: real, virtual and fictitious elements for a new meaning of information

Resumen La excesiva frecuencia con la que se alude a la manipulación de los medios confirma el predominio de intereses no profesionales que han derivado en un descrédito generalizado de la información. Sin embargo, el uso cotidiano de este término, y su paradójica manipulación, no permite ya definir en su totalidad el engaño al que se somete a los receptores. Basándose en los conceptos manipulación e información, junto a otros como gatekeeper o agenda-setting, el artículo recoge diversos eventos publicados para presentar una propuesta teórica que divide la información entre la real, la virtual y la ficticia.Abstract The frequent reference to the manipulation of the media confirms the prevalent role of non professional interests. This has led to a discredit of the information. The overuse and manipulation of this term has resulted in a lost of its meaning. By using concepts such as manipulation, information, gatekeeper, agenda-setting and various published events, this paper aims at presenting a theoretical proposal to classify information into real, virtual and fictitious.Palabras clave Manipulación, información, realidad, ficción, virtual.Key wordsManipulation, information, reality, fiction, virtual.

Backward Integrated Information Gatekeepers and Independent Divisions in the Product Market

This paper examines the welfare effects of vertical integration by an "information gatekeeper" into the product market it serves. Both the integrated gatekeeper and competing firms in the product market earn higher profits, but social welfare declines.

PEER INFLUENCE ON PHYSICIAN'S BEHAVIOR

A study of physicians' adoption of innovative practices demonstrated the importance of having a well-informed colleague, or information "gatekeeper" in an institutional setting. These influential physicians are termed "gatekeepers" because they tend to filter and control the flow of information in their institution. Such influence has been shown to be vital in passing along information about new medical technologies.