Last Friday, the ceiling fan in the journalism class was humming. Yet my focus was on the whiteboard. The lecturer picked up a marker and wrote a single, imposing word: GATEKEEPING.
He was breaking down that old-school news term, explaining the entire process of filtering and picking stories, and I just couldn’t focus anymore. I started thinking about what that word looked like in the real world just a decade or two ago.
I saw this massive iron gate in my mind, with the media lords standing guard. Too much overthinking.
Back then, if you had a dream, a voice, or a story, you couldn’t just put it out there. You had to walk up to that iron gate and worship the people holding the keys.
As a young female comedian, no matter how funny you think you are, you need to beg and “worship” grumpy managers for a three minutes mic stand. If the manager likes your body, your career was over before it began.
Or you are a young writer. You could spend ages writing a story, making it perfect, and then freeze up in front of the editor. That editor was the ultimate gatekeeper. With his red pen and a dismissive shake of the head, your work was dead.
To survive, people had to shrink themselves. They had to learn the bitter art of kissing the ring and licking the feet of these gatekeepers just to earn a sliver of the spotlight.
But sitting in class today, I couldn’t help but smile a little. As the lecturer kept talking about how much power media gatekeepers have, I was happy he was teaching us history, not what’s happening now. At least not as bad as then.
The story has changed.
The internet came along and handed a sledgehammer to the masses. Thanks to social media, blogs, and YouTube, those old barriers are history.
Today, the gatekeepers are dying, and in many industries; they are already dead.
You don’t need a TV exec to get a show anymore. You can break news without the Chief Editor’s approval these days. Who cares what the comedy club manager thinks when a TikTok skit can make millions laugh worldwide in no time?
This is a period where we’re more creatively free than ever. You can now face the crowd. You can get to millions, build a following, and make money from what you love without having to ask for permission.
The keys are no longer in the hands of the few. They are in your pocket, right there on your smartphone.
As I was writing this to the end, another thoughts came to me, “But even those behind the social media algorithms are also gatekeepers”. Maybe a better one, though.
Until next time, keep building your own stage.
Warmly,
Oluboba Ayodeji