The role of the media in a democratic republic

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The role of the media in a democratic republic

• Analysis and critique

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What are the media supposed to do in a
representative republic?
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Inform the public

• Of what officials are doing
• Watchdog role of the press
• Of what candidates positions on issues are
• Of events and trends that affect the public
• Themselves or others they are concerned over
• Of opportunities, both economic and political

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Inform officials

• Of public opinion
• Herbst Reading Public Opinion
• Of national and international events and issues
• Of each others views on issues
• Promote communication within government

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Educate the public

• Make sense of public affairs
• Provide a forum for public debate over issues of
  the day
• Provide a reasoned explanation of how government
  handles an issue or how it works in general
• Provide an explanation of the way parties or
  officials approach governance in general or in
  relation to major issue areas
• Provide a communication channels allowing public
  officials to speak to the wider public

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Educate officials

• Provide comprehensive analysis of ideological
  positions parties, officials, and the public take
• Provide a means to communicate with other
  officials outside official channels

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Maintain the political culture

• Teach members of the society the roles of citizen
  and official and the values commensurate with a
  representative republic
• Socialize the citizenry to the political ideology
  of the culture
• Teach and maintain the customs of the culture
  that relate to the political system
• Signal the need for reform or change to maintain
  the overall system

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In general, then

• The media (and especially the press/news media)
  are supposed to provide the information and
  knowledge the citizenry needs to perform its role
  as a public
• The media are supposed to facilitate
  communication between the citizenry and the
  government, and among members of each

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In general (contd)

• The media are supposed to provide evaluation of
  public policy and facilitate debate
• The media are supposed to educate members of the
  system on their roles as citizens and officials
  and to inculcate democratic values

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(No Transcript)
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To carry out these functions, the society must
organize media organizations in some fashion
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There are several theories as to how the media
should be organized

• An early categorization was by Siebert, Peterson
  and Schramm's (1956)
• Four Theories of the Press
• Authoritarian
• Libertarian
• Social Responsibility
• Soviet-Communist

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Authoritarian theory of the press

• Man can only achieve his full potential as an
  active member of the community
• -the state plays an essential role in developing
  man's potential
• -without the guidance and coordination of the
  state, man is sentenced to remain primitive
• -the press must support and not hinder the
  efforts of the state

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Authoritarian theory of the press

• Purpose to support and advance the policies of
  the government in power and to service the state
• Access to media is based on permission from
  authority.
• Mechanisms of control government patents,
  guilds, licensing, censorship.
•  Distinguishing factor it is an instrument for
  achieving objectives of the state, whether or not
  it is state-owned.

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Libertarian theory of the press

• Based on the principles of liberalism,
• Assumes a rational man model
• The happiness and well-being of the individual is
  the goal of society
• Great emphasis is placed on the rights of
  individuals
• -libertarian notions were fostered by the Age of
  Enlightenment
• Reason can determine the difference between truth
  and falsehood if given the opportunity

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Libertarian theory of the press

• -By removing government control over the free
  exchange of ideas among individuals, truth and
  falsity would grapple and truth would come out
  the winner
• stems back to Milton's Areopagitica (1644)
  further articulated by John Stuart Mill's
  Utilitarianism
• Mill thought liberty was the right of
  self-destination of behavior which could
  limitlessly be extended as long as the rights of
  others were not infringed upon
• Mills goal was the production of the greatest
  good for the greatest number.

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Libertarian theory of the press

• Thomas Jefferson was influential in importing the
  libertarian ideas to the United States.
• A free press is essential in promoting an open
  marketplace of ideas. The general public is
  then exposed to both truth and falsity, and can
  determine the good and the bad ideas.
• To ensure that this happens, the press should
  then be free from all direct controls.

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Libertarian theory of the press

• The economic marketplace provides all of the
  necessary checks over the press. The public will
  not pay for a press that is consistently false.
• libertarian model developed simultaneously with
  economic liberalism and modern democracy.
• Purpose of the press inform, entertain and to
  sell, but especially to promote truth and
  maintain a check on government in its role as the
  fourth estate.
• The only permissible restrictions on the press
  are against defamation, obscenity, and wartime
  sedition against the government, which infringe
  on the rights of others.

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Social Responsibility model

• "The twentieth century brought a gradual shift
  away from pure libertarianism, and in its place
  began to emerge what has been called the social
  responsibility of the press....(where) freedom
  carries concomitant obligations and the press,
  which enjoys a privileged position under our
  government, is obliged to be responsible to
  society for carrying out certain essential
  functions of mass communication."

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• The press serves six functions
• 1. servicing the political system by providing
  information, discussion, and debate on public
  affairs
• 2. enlightening the public so as to make it
  capable of self-government
• 3. safeguarding the rights of the individual by
  serving as a watchdog against government
• 4. servicing the economic system, primarily by
  bringing together the buyers and the sellers of
  goods and services through the medium of
  advertising
• 5. providing entertainment
• 6. maintaining its own financial self-sufficiency
  so as to be free from the pressures of special
  interests.

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Social-Responsibility theory of the press

• The ideas of the Social-Responsibility model were
  reflected by the Commission on the Freedom of the
  Press.
• Unhappy with the way the Libertarian theory had
  been put into practice
• A Free and Responsible Press
• Freedom of the Press A Framework of Principle
• -(William Hocking)

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Social-Responsibility theory criticisms of the
press

• 1. The press has wielded its enormous power for
  its own ends. The owners have propagated their
  own opinions, especially in matters of politics
  and economics, at the expense of opposing views.
  
• 2. The press has been subservient to big business
  and at times has let advertisers control
  editorial policies and editorial content.
• 3. The press has resisted social change.
• 4. The press has often paid more attention to the
  superficial and sensational than to the
  significant in its coverage of current
  happenings, and its entertainment has often been
  lacking in substance.

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Social-Responsibility theory criticisms

• 5. The press has endangered public morals
• 6. The press has invaded the privacy of
  individuals without just cause
• 7. The press is controlled by one socioeconomic
  classloosely speaking the business class--and
  access to the industry is difficult for the
  newcomer therefore, the free and open market of
  ideas is endangered.

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Theory of human nature

• Instead of viewing man as rational and moral, SR
  theory views man as naturally lethargic and
  irrational. Man will only use reason if
  encouraged to do so. If man is to remain free,
  he must live by reason instead of passively
  accepting what he sees, hears, and feels.
  Therefore, the more alert elements of the
  community must goad him into the exercise of his
  reason.

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Social-Responsibility theory of the press

• Without goading, man is not likely to be moved to
  seek truth. The languor which keeps him from
  using his gift of reason extends to all public
  discussion. Man's aim is not to find truth but
  to satisfy his immediate needs and desires.
• Some of the main outcomes of this view of the
  press are the establishment of professional codes
  of ethics, equal time laws, press councils, press
  ombudsmen etc.

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Social-Responsibility theory of the press

• The function of the media is to inform,
  entertain, sellbut chiefly to raise conflict to
  the plane of discussion. Access to the press
  should be granted to everyone who has something
  to say. The media are controlled through
  community opinion, consumer action and
  professional ethics.
• The media must assume the responsibility for
  making sure that they serve society
  appropriately, and if they do not do so then
  action needs to be taken to assure that the media
  perform adequately.

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Soviet-Communist theory of the press

• Based on Marxist ideas which say that, "so long
  as the capitalist class controls these physical
  properties, the working class will never have
  fair access to the channels of communication. To
  have real access, the working class must own the
  means and facilities of mass communication, for
  the press, like other institutions of the state,
  is simply a class organ

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Soviet-Communist theory of the press

• The responsibility for the press is placed in the
  hands of the vanguard party. Mass communication
  is used instrumentally--that is, as an instrument
  of the state and the party. The media are closely
  integrated with state power and party influence.
  They are used as instruments of unity within the
  state and the party. They are used almost
  exclusively as instruments of propaganda and
  agitation.

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Soviet-Communist theory of the press

• Freedom and responsibility are inseparably
  linked in Soviet theory. The chief purpose of
  the Soviet press is to contribute to the
  maintenance and proper functioning of the Soviet
  socialist society.
• Media access is provided to active and loyal
  party members. Media are primarily controlled by
  government ownership. Criticism of the party and
  government of a substantial nature is forbidden.