Gatekeeping, ideological affinity and journalistic translation

This article studies the role of translation as a first-level gatekeeping mechanism in news production. Contrary to previous views that translation was secondary for the selection and dissemination of news events, it is posited that the translational activity reflects the decisions made by news media, particularly, in the case of services in languages aimed at non-native audiences. The article is structured as follows. First, it surveys the concepts of gatekeeping and ideological affinity with regard to news translation. Then a research question concerning the reporting of the Catalan secessionist crisis in Spain is presented. This will serve to examine how translation functions as a gatekeeping mechanism. The corpus selected for the analysis comprises the Spanish articles and English versions posted by El País in the 3 months prior and the 3 months posterior to the simultaneous appointments of Spain’s new Prime Minister and of the new editor of El País. This coincidence constitutes a unique opportunity to delve into the relationship between translation and gatekeeping. The findings show that the ideological affinity between the political leader and the editor may have prompted a significant change in the way the Catalan crisis was reported, particularly in the translated versions.