Democratic norms and forces of gatekeeping: A study of influences on Iraqi journalists' attitudes toward government information access

Gatekeeping theory and the hierarchy of influences model were used as a framework to analyze democratic norm development in Iraq. The study developed three watchdog gatekeeping models that could be adapted for other conflict or postdictatorship environments or modified for longtime democracies. The study used hierarchical regression to analyze forces that influenced attitudes of 588 Iraqi journalists in their gatekeeping role. Individual-level forces, followed by ideologicallevel forces, contributed the most toward watchdog gatekeeping attitudes toward access to government meetings, and news media routine forces contributed the most toward influencing attitudes toward access to government records.