The power of the journalistic discourse is the power of its subjects. A journalist, who is supposed to control all phases of a communication process, loses his/her place as a subject. One important dimension of control is accessto the media. Dominant social elites occupy the position of journalisticsubjects regarding information gathering and selection. Organisational routines in the media also impact the structure of news gathering: daily newsgathering routines multiply favourably the access by official sources. A content analysis of daily news reporting regarding Slovenia joining NATO reveals a high level of routine newsgathering channels and the domination of official sources. Thus, mainly official sources and NATO supporters had preferential access to the news discourse, and, therefore, the potential of making an impact.
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