Page 68 - Historical Dictionary of Political Communication in the United States

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GERBNER,
it
is
whose job GEORGE select information to transmit. Because space and time for
to
their products are limited, and because they must deliver these products quickly,
news media have developed highly structured routines for the fast-paced, zero-
sum game that is gatekeeping. Consequently, there has been much interest in
how the mass media, especially the news media, decide what information to
convey and what information to ignore. Social psychologist Kurt Lewin has
been credited with coining the term in a 1947 study of decision rules within
families. The seminal gatekeeping study was conducted by David Manning
White in 1950; he observed a newspaper wire editor for a week as he selected
news. Since then many other studies have been conducted to examine the criteria
reporters and editors use in making gatekeeping decisions as well as the effects
of these rules and routines.

SOURCES: David Manning White, "The 'Gatekeeper': A Case Study in the Selection
of News," Journalism Quarterly, Fall 1950; Pamela J. Shoemaker and Stephen D. Reese,
Mediating the Message: Theories of Influences on Mass Media Content, second edition,
1996.
Dominic L. Lasorsa

GENERATION X. A term coined by modern media to describe young adults
between the ages of 18 and 29. This group is often characterized by the media
as being politically unmotivated compared to their parents, who are generally
baby boomers. Media magazine articles in the 1980s describe Generation Xers
(the X implies that they are an anonymous breed with no legacy) as disenchanted
with societal norms and exceptions. They often choose untraditional career paths
and life choices, including marriage, families, and religion. Reaching this gen-
eration is seen as a major challenge for political communicators.

SOURCE: Kathleen Thompson Hill and Gerald N. Hill, Real Life Dictionary of Amer-
ican Politics, 1994.
Jacqueline Nash Gifford

GERBNER, GEORGE (1919- ). Research into television violence by this
Hungarian-born scholar has led to increased awareness of the powerful effects
of the medium. Gerbner enrolled in journalism at Berkeley after fleeing his
homeland before World War II. He worked as a reporter for the San Francisco
Chronicle before joining the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) after the United
States entered the war.
Gerbner took his master's and Ph.D. degrees at Southern California, where
he developed his "General Theory of Communication" as his dissertation. After
teaching at the University of Illinois for eight years, he became dean of the
Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania in 1964.
In the late 1960s, he conducted a series of content analyses of television
violence as part of two federal government projects. He hypothesized that rather
than imitating acts of violence, viewers would tend to identify with the victims.