Who are the gatekeepers?

Mary Mitchell of the Chicago Sun-Times was at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) on Wednesday, Jan. 27, to discuss the topic of "Media: Who are the gatekeepers?" in the Golden Eagles Room. 

Mitchell discussed the difference between old media and new media, noting that she is part of the former, and how these differences have their own advantages and disadvantages. 

One of the major advantages is that Mitchell, as well as other old media journalists, has already gained credibility from her years of experience in the field, whereas the new media has to work to gain the same trust, from both their audience and their sources.

She also discussed how technology has changed the way news is received and distributed.  During her time on the Barack Obama campaign trail she noticed the way the younger journalists wrote their stories. "There used to be a time that you had a deadline. You went in, you had your recorder, you listened to what was being said, you processed it, thought about it and then you sat down and wrote a story, " said Mitchell. 

What she noticed was that the younger journalists were just transcribing what the then Senator Obama, was saying and "before he could push back his chair and leave" the story was already up.

Mitchell also talked about how the rules are different between the old and new media journalists. 

"I knew I had to introduce myself as a reporter of the Chicago Sun Times so that they knew it was on the record. I knew that if they said 'off the record' that it meant I could not report it. I knew that I could not show up pretending to be someone else when I wanted to write a story. All of those things were clear," said Mitchell. She said that there is a big gap in what the proper way of gathering news is between the old media and the new media.  "We have to decide about our own moral and ethical values. As a journalist, I make a decision of what I can live with,"  said Mitchell.  She is known as an advocate for women and that she "never makes apologies for being an advocate".  She also covers controversial topics, even if the community leaders were keeping silent.  Mitchell said that old media has to realize that they are not going to catch up to the younger journalists and how there is more to being a journalist than just writing.

She also talked about how it is difficult to write her column about the issues that are affecting the world when she has to compete with the top stories about Jersey Shore,» Angelina Jolie and a police officer who killed a man with a sword. 

"Our challenge then is for you young people to have a passion about...and to have a desire to educate and inform people about issues that will help improve the quality of their life," said Mitchell.

"The reader is the gatekeeper," said Mitchell. It is the journalist's job to make the stories that effect them interesting enough and fascinating enough that readers want to pick paper up.