--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once upon a time, gatekeepers were…" description: "\"Once upon a time, gatekeepers were newspaper publishers and magazine editors and people who ran radio stations and news networks. And they decided what..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e8/franklin-foer-3604_gatekeepers_once-upon-a-time-gatekeepers-were-newspa_1281123.png" --- # Once upon a time, gatekeepers were newspaper publishers… ![“Once upon a time, gatekeepers were newspaper publishers and magazine editors and people who ran radio stations and news networks. And they decided what went above the fold and what went on page A10.” quote by Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e8/franklin-foer-3604_gatekeepers_once-upon-a-time-gatekeepers-were-newspa_1281123.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e8/franklin-foer-3604_gatekeepers_once-upon-a-time-gatekeepers-were-newspa_1281123.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e8/franklin-foer-3604_gatekeepers_once-upon-a-time-gatekeepers-were-newspa_1281123.png) > “Once upon a time, gatekeepers were newspaper publishers and magazine editors and people who ran radio stations and news networks. And they decided what went above the fold and what went on page A10.” [Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Media power once rested with gatekeepers who controlled what information reached the public. **In simple terms:** Gatekeepers decided what news was shown. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge modern gatekeeping. Themes media control information flow gatekeeping public discourse Mood critical reflective Type analytical informative When to use this quote - newsrooms - online platforms - advertising - political campaigns Key Concepts journalism media economics information hierarchy Questions to Reflect On - How does digital curation compare to traditional gatekeeping? - What responsibilities do modern platforms have? A Different Perspective Gatekeepers still exist in algorithmic forms, limiting diversity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gatekeepers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gatekeepers/) [Journalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalism/) [News](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/news/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Radio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radio/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I think in daily newspapers, the way comic strips are treated, it's as if newspaper publishers are going out of their way to kill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-groening/i-think-in-daily-newspapers-the-way-comic-strips-are-treated-it-s-as-2/) [Matt Groening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-groening/) > [The Seven Deadly Sins of the Press: - Concentrated Power of the Big Press. - Passing of competition and the coming of monopoly. -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lerner/the-seven-deadly-sins-of-the-press-concentrated-power-of-the-big/) [Max Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lerner/) > [Only kings, presidents, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to use the editorial 'we.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/only-kings-presidents-editors-and-people-with-tapeworms-have-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There are more women editors than people realise. I think we're more able to keep our eye on what the film needs. Between men,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thelma-schoonmaker/there-are-more-women-editors-than-people-realise-i-think-we-re-more/) [Thelma Schoonmaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thelma-schoonmaker/) > [In the very beginning, women were editors because they were the people in the lab rolling the film before there was editing. Then when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thelma-schoonmaker/in-the-very-beginning-women-were-editors-because-they-were-the-people/) [Thelma Schoonmaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thelma-schoonmaker/) > [The New York Times and PBS are gatekeepers of a sort. And they perform that role of gatekeeping with a set of rules and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-foer/the-new-york-times-and-pbs-are-gatekeepers-of-a-sort-and-they-perform/) [Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) > [I'd actually argue that the best thing to happen to the 'Washington Post' was hiring Marty Baron, maybe the greatest newspaper editor of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-foer/i-d-actually-argue-that-the-best-thing-to-happen-to-the-washington/) [Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) > [We, as adults, are the gatekeepers, and we have to check our own fears at the door because we want our children to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/we-as-adults-are-the-gatekeepers-and-we-have-to-check-our-own-fears/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [You know, I feel like people in this country who feel really strongly about a man and a woman being the only -- the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-jessica-parker/you-know-i-feel-like-people-in-this-country-who-feel-really-strongly/) [Sarah Jessica Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-jessica-parker/) > [We don't always endorse what businesses sell through Stripe, but we do think it's critical that we and our peers don't act as gatekeepers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-collison/we-don-t-always-endorse-what-businesses-sell-through-stripe-but-we-do/) [Patrick Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-collison/) > [I like the way you can circumvent the media gatekeepers and go right to the people. That's my favorite thing about Twitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/i-like-the-way-you-can-circumvent-the-media-gatekeepers-and-go-right/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [O Logic: born gatekeeper to the Temple of Science, victim of capricious destiny: doomed hitherto to be the drudge of pedants: come to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-bentham/o-logic-born-gatekeeper-to-the-temple-of-science-victim-of-capricious/) [Jeremy Bentham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-bentham/) > [Schools have never been about getting access to information. That's the job of libraries. Schools and universities have nobler missions as gentle gatekeepers. Their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-nikiforuk/schools-have-never-been-about-getting-access-to-information-that-s/) Andrew Nikiforuk > [“If Amazon’s dream of a world without gatekeepers becomes reality, then the company itself will become a powerful gatekeeper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeny-morozov/if-amazon-s-dream-of-a-world-without-gatekeepers-becomes-reality-then/) [Evgeny Morozov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeny-morozov/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) ## More by Franklin Foer > [Once upon a time, if you were going to get a loan from me, I would have had to look at your file, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-foer/once-upon-a-time-if-you-were-going-to-get-a-loan-from-me-i-would-have/) [Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) > [“But in the end, the hackers were misunderstood figures. They wanted nothing more than to belong, to subsume their brilliant selves in an even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-foer/but-in-the-end-the-hackers-were-misunderstood-figures-they-wanted/) [Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) > [Not even Trump's father's wealth, nor his father's faith in his son's destiny, could save Trump from incessant discipline. At the age of 13,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-foer/not-even-trump-s-father-s-wealth-nor-his-father-s-faith-in-his-son-s/) [Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) > [If I'm reading my Facebook feed, it's using algorithms, procedures, and methods to give me what I want, or what it thinks that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-foer/if-i-m-reading-my-facebook-feed-it-s-using-algorithms-procedures-and/) [Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) > [Brazil is strewn with ruins of projects - refineries, power plants - begun but never finished. Most of this investment never landed in places…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-foer/brazil-is-strewn-with-ruins-of-projects-refineries-power-plants-begun/) [Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) > [“More than any previous coterie of corporations, the tech monopolies aspire to mold humanity into their desired image of it. They believe that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-foer/more-than-any-previous-coterie-of-corporations-the-tech-monopolies/) [Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) > [In mid-2014, 51 percent of American Republicans viewed Putin very unfavorably. Two years later, 14 percent did. By January, 75 percent of Republicans said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-foer/in-mid-2014-51-percent-of-american-republicans-viewed-putin-very/) [Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) > [“The Hoover experiment, in the end, hardly realized the happy fantasies about the Engineer King. A very different version of this dream, however, has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-foer/the-hoover-experiment-in-the-end-hardly-realized-the-happy-fantasies/) [Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) > [Putin has made a habit of supporting far-right candidates who undermine his foes in Europe; perhaps he never could have imagined such a character…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-foer/putin-has-made-a-habit-of-supporting-far-right-candidates-who/) [Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) > [“There's a strange uniformity in the vocabulary European soccer fans use to hate black people. The same primate insults get hurled. Although they've gotten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-foer/there-s-a-strange-uniformity-in-the-vocabulary-european-soccer-fans/) [Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) > [Google's ability to pick winners and losers in the information world is a menace. These companies have the ability to determine which media companies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-foer/google-s-ability-to-pick-winners-and-losers-in-the-information-world/) [Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) > [One of Trump's vulnerabilities is that he doesn't always vet his people, whether it's business partners, the dubious characters he retweets, or the foreign…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-foer/one-of-trump-s-vulnerabilities-is-that-he-doesn-t-always-vet-his/) [Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) > [“The dream of stitching the world into a global village has been embodied in the nomenclature of modern technology—the net is interconnected, the Web…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-foer/the-dream-of-stitching-the-world-into-a-global-village-has-been/) [Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) > [“Soccer's appeal lay in its opposition to the other popular sports. For children of the sixties, there was something abhorrent about enrolling kids in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-foer/soccer-s-appeal-lay-in-its-opposition-to-the-other-popular-sports-for/) [Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) > [“As the Protestants celebrate a goal, they're egged on by the team captain, a long-haired Italian called Lorenzo Amoruso, who has the look of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-foer/as-the-protestants-celebrate-a-goal-they-re-egged-on-by-the-team/) [Franklin Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) [Explore all 126 Franklin Foer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-foer/) ## More Gatekeepers quotes > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [“If Amazon’s dream of a world without gatekeepers becomes reality, then the company itself will become a powerful gatekeeper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeny-morozov/if-amazon-s-dream-of-a-world-without-gatekeepers-becomes-reality-then/) [Evgeny Morozov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeny-morozov/) > [Schools have never been about getting access to information. That's the job of libraries. Schools and universities have nobler missions as gentle gatekeepers. Their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-nikiforuk/schools-have-never-been-about-getting-access-to-information-that-s/) Andrew Nikiforuk > [O Logic: born gatekeeper to the Temple of Science, victim of capricious destiny: doomed hitherto to be the drudge of pedants: come to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-bentham/o-logic-born-gatekeeper-to-the-temple-of-science-victim-of-capricious/) [Jeremy Bentham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-bentham/) > [I like the way you can circumvent the media gatekeepers and go right to the people. That's my favorite thing about Twitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/i-like-the-way-you-can-circumvent-the-media-gatekeepers-and-go-right/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [We don't always endorse what businesses sell through Stripe, but we do think it's critical that we and our peers don't act as gatekeepers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-collison/we-don-t-always-endorse-what-businesses-sell-through-stripe-but-we-do/) [Patrick Collison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-collison/) > [You know, I feel like people in this country who feel really strongly about a man and a woman being the only -- the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-jessica-parker/you-know-i-feel-like-people-in-this-country-who-feel-really-strongly/) [Sarah Jessica Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-jessica-parker/) > [We, as adults, are the gatekeepers, and we have to check our own fears at the door because we want our children to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/we-as-adults-are-the-gatekeepers-and-we-have-to-check-our-own-fears/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [Because I'm a special gatekeeper. I'm the head gatekeeper. Because, although, as you can see, I'm only a head, I'm also the gatekeeper. Which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rankin/because-i-m-a-special-gatekeeper-i-m-the-head-gatekeeper-because/) [Robert Rankin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rankin/) > [Librarians are not just gatekeepers to knowledge, they are what the American Indians used to call their special sages who preserved the oral legends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-h-billington/librarians-are-not-just-gatekeepers-to-knowledge-they-are-what-the/) James H. Billington > [The publicists are the gatekeepers, and they wield a lot of power. They're the ones giving you access to their clients.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-danza/the-publicists-are-the-gatekeepers-and-they-wield-a-lot-of-power-they/) [Tony Danza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-danza/) > [With social media, the gatekeepers are our followers. It has opened so many doors for me not only musically, but fashion-wise as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saweetie/with-social-media-the-gatekeepers-are-our-followers-it-has-opened-so/) [Saweetie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saweetie/) > [After I die, I shall return to earth as a gatekeeper of a bordello and I won't let any of you enter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arturo-toscanini/after-i-die-i-shall-return-to-earth-as-a-gatekeeper-of-a-bordello-and/) [Arturo Toscanini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arturo-toscanini/) > [We have a lot of relationships to the gatekeepers who can rally their people to go to the movie theater. It's a trusting relationship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-a-r-white/we-have-a-lot-of-relationships-to-the-gatekeepers-who-can-rally-their/) [David A. R. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-a-r-white/) > [To annihilate indigenous populations eventually paves the way to our own annihilation. They are the only people who practice sustainable living. We think they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/to-annihilate-indigenous-populations-eventually-paves-the-way-to-our/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) [Browse all 81 Gatekeepers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gatekeepers/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Once upon a time, gatekeepers were newspaper publishers and magazine editors and people who ran radio stations and news networks. 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