Algorithmic Gatekeeping and Democratic Communication: Who Decides What the Public Sees?

Nigar Garajamirli
Additional contact information
Nigar Garajamirli: The Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain

European Journal of Communication and Media Studies, 2025, vol. 4, issue 3, 1-10

Abstract: This study examines how the algorithmic structures of digital platforms such as TikTok and YouTube reshape the visibility of news content and its effects on digital journalism. The issue of which news is foregrounded or relegated to the background in the digital public sphere is not merely a matter of technical choice, but a reflection of economic, cultural, and political preferences. The theoretical analysis conducted within the framework of Habermas’s theory of the public sphere, Fraser’s counter-public sphere approach, and Mouffe’s agonistic democracy model reveals the transformations of platform capitalism and data-driven recommendation systems on democratic representation. The study concretizes the decisive role of TikTok and YouTube in the processes of news production, distribution, and consumption through three case studies. In particular, the reduction of political content to an entertainment format on TikTok and the deepening polarization of recommendation algorithms on YouTube demonstrate how the algorithmic structure contradicts journalistic values. While digital journalism is shaped according to the visibility criteria of these platforms, fundamental principles such as impartiality, diversity and access to accurate information are weakened. In conclusion, policy recommendations for algorithmic transparency, platform literacy for journalists and support for alternative media structures are developed.

Keywords: Algorithmic gatekeeping; digital public sphere; feminist media theory; visibility politics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://eu-opensci.org/index.php/media/article/view/554 Abstract page (text/html)
https://eu-opensci.org/index.php/media/article/download/554/206 Full text (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:epw:media0:v:4:y:2025:i:3:id:554

DOI: 10.24018/ejmedia.2025.4.3.54

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in European Journal of Communication and Media Studies from European Open Science
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Support ().