Algorithmic gatekeeping and the reconfiguration of journalism and public trust in Nigerian digital newsrooms

Abstract The growing integration of algorithmic systems into digital news production is reshaping journalistic gatekeeping and raising fundamental questions about editorial autonomy and public trust. This study examines how algorithmic gatekeeping operates within Nigerian digital-native newsrooms and how journalists interpret and negotiate its influence on editorial decision-making, ethical judgement, and institutional legitimacy. Adopting a qualitative design, the study draws on semi-structured interviews with fifteen journalists and newsroom observations across three nationally influential digital outlets namely, Premium Times, TheCable, and Legit.ng, selected to represent analytically distinct models of investigative, elite political, and commercially scaled digital journalism. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, informed by Gatekeeping Theory, Algorithmic Governance, and Trust Theory. Findings indicate the emergence of hybrid gatekeeping arrangements in which editorial discretion operates within algorithmically structured visibility regimes. Journalists describe algorithmic systems as simultaneously expanding audience reach and constraining normative judgement, generating ethical ambivalence rooted in platform dependence. Algorithmic opacity further shifts perceptions of authority, producing a legitimacy gap in which news prominence is increasingly attributed to platforms rather than professional editorial judgment. In response, journalists deploy selective transparency, reflexive negotiation, and informal credibility-sustaining strategies. The study argues that algorithmic systems function as soft governance infrastructures that reconfigure editorial power, ethical norms, and public trust in tandem. By theorising hybrid gatekeeping from a Global South perspective, the article contributes empirically grounded insight to global debates on algorithmic journalism, newsroom autonomy, and democratic legitimacy in datafied media environments. Key Words: Algorithmic Gatekeeping, Digital Journalism, Media Ethics, Public Trust, Algorithmic Governance. About the Author * Paul Uko Obagwu, PhD, is a scholar of journalism and media studies and a researcher in contemporary media and communication. He is the Chairman of Blossoms Institute of Management and Technology, Abuja, where he also serves as Lead Researcher. His research interests include new media, artificial intelligence and journalism, media ethics, and development communication. JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 18, No. 2, October 2026, pp. 56-66. © Association of Media and Communication Researchers of Nigeria (AMCRON). Article Citation Obagwu, P. U. (2026). Algorithmic gatekeeping and the reconfiguration of journalism and public trust in Nigerian digital newsrooms. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 18 (2): 56-66. Full Article Words: 5,381 Pages: 11 To access full article, click on download.