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THEORIES OF MASS MEDIA

INTRODUCTIONFreedom of press is intertwined with other basic freedoms. These are freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of petition. Upon these freedoms rest freedom of religious expression, freedom of political thought and action, and freedom of intellectual growth and communication of information and ideas.

MASS MEDIAMass means enormous numbers of people.It suggests that the recipients of media products constitute a vast sea of passive, undifferentiated individuals.Mass media means media which reach the mass spread over a vast area simultaneously.

Any media that multiples messages and takes it to a large number of people simultaneously is called Mass media.It was coined in 1920s with the advent of nationwide radio networks, mass circulation newspapers and magazines.

Features of Mass Media Consists both technical and institutional methods of production and distribution.Involves the commodification of symbolic forms . Just as radio stations rely on its time sold to advertisements, newspapers rely for the same reasons on its space.Information distribution- a one to many form of communication, whereby products are mass produced and disseminated to a great quantity of audiences.

Theories of Mass Media

The link between the political society and mass media was first explained by the authors Siebert, Peterson and Wilbur Schramm in their four theories of the Press in 1963.It established four normative theories to illustrate the position of the press in the contemporary political context.

Theories of Mass MediaA Normative theory describes an ideal way for a media system to be controlled and operated by the Government. Focus on the relationship between press and Government than press and the audience.

Theories of Mass MediaConcern over the ownership of the media and who controls the media in a State.Normative Statement affirms how things should or ought to be, how to value them, which things are good or bad.

Theories of Mass MediaTheories were first proposed by Fred,Peterson and Wilbur Schramm in their book called Four Theories of Press.The social and political environments of various centuries have produced the basic theories of press.

Theories of Mass MediaFrederick S. Siebert has explained that the press means all the media of mass communication including television, radio and newspaper. His four theories are the authoritarian, the libertarian, the soviet and the Social Responsibility Theories.The media all over the world accepted this classification as appropriate categorization of different media systems.

THE AUTHORITARIAN THEORYAccording to Siebert , the authoritarian State system requires direct Governmental control of the mass media. This system is especially easy to operate in pre democratic societies where the Government consists of a very limited and small ruling class.The controlled society of the Renaissance era, into which the printing press was introduced, functioned from the top down; a small presumably wise ruling class decided what all of a society should know and believe.

Features of AuthoritarianThe State supersedes the individual.The Citizens are not considered competent enough to make critical political decisions.One man or an elite group is placed in a leadership role. Also controls the mass media.Under this system the mass media have only as much freedom as the leadership is willing to permit at any particular time.

Direct control of Government over media.No undermining of the established authority by media.Punishment for the one questioning State ideology.Registration by he State.Theory based upon absolute power of monarch so the media required to support the Monarch.

THE AUTHORITARIAN THEORYThe media in an authoritarian system is not allowed to print or broadcast anything , which could undermine , the established authority, and any offense to the existing political values is avoided .The authoritarian Government may also go to the extent of punishing anyone who questions the states ideology.

THE AUTHORITARIAN THEORYThe fundamental assumption of the authoritarian system is that the Government is infallible.Media professionals are therefore not allowed to have any independence within the media organization.Also the foreign media are subordinate to the established authority , in that all imported media products are controlled by the State.

THE AUTHORITARIAN THEORYMedia is an instrument / mouthpiece to publicize and propagate Government Ideology.Press should not contravene with the prevalent political values.

BASIS FOR THEORYAuthoritarian Philosophy of Plato , who states that the State was safe only in the hands of few wise men.Thomas Hobbes argued that the power to maintain order was sovereign and individual objections were to be ignored.

THE LIBERTARIAN THEORYTheory in contrast to authoritarian approach to media.Founders were Milton, Locke ,Mills.Propounded that Press informs ,entertains, sells and helps in discovering truth.A free market of ideas.Freedom to publish views and expression. Limitation over defamation and obscenity.

THE LIBERTARIAN THEORYAs the Western world advanced through the Renaissance and Reformation into the democratic modern era, the second basic theory of the press developed.This we call the libertarian theory. Roots back into the seventeenth century, but it did not become dominant in the English speaking world until the nineteenth century.

FeaturesCriticism of Government Policies.Role of Media as watch dog.Autonomy for media professionals within the media organization.Difference of viewpoints.Freedom of press from censorship.Accountability of Press.Initially this theory advocated the that media should be unregulated.

In this theory the press is not an instrument of Government or a spokesperson for an elite ruling class. Its history traces back to the 17th Century thinker John Milton, who asserted that human beings inevitably choose the best ideas and values.John Milton argued against repression of freedom of expression by advocating reliance upon truth.

John Milton observed that those who are afraid of truth will of course seek to prevent its entrance into a free marketplace of thought, but those who believe in the public liberty should realize that its existence depends upon liberty of the press.

THE LIBERTARIAN THEORYThis theory is also called as free pass theory. In contrast to the authoritarian theory, the libertarian view rests on the idea that the individual should be free to publish whatever he or she likes.It is essential that minorities as well as majorities, the weak as well as the strong have free access to public expression in the press.

THE LIBERTARIAN THEORYIn the libertarian system, attacks on the governments are fully accepted and even encouraged. Moreover there should not be restrictions on import or export of media messages across the national frontiers.Journalists and media professionals ought to have full autonomy within the media organization.

AssumptionsFreedom of press from any external censorship.Access to publication and distribution to any individual with a permit or license.Individuals or groups criticizing Government should not be punished.No coercion to publish anything.Freedom of access to information.

Individual should be free to publish whatever he likes attacks on the Governments Policies.Absence of restriction on import or export of media across the national frontiers.Autonomy of journalists and media professionals within the organization.

The Soviet TheoryThis theory is basically the though prevalent in Socialist countries linked with communist ideology. Russian Revolution based on the concepts evolved by Marx and Engels. With the revolution in Russia different approach to media was appeared.Media was controlled.

FeaturesClose resemblances with the communist ideology.There is no private ownership of media organization under this system. The Media is collective agitator, propagandist and educator in the building of communism.The media organization has to serve the interests of the working class.

FeaturesSuperiority of Government over mediaEmphasis over seriousness of media.Discouraging free expression of media.Positive role for the media towards the society and world.Media Organizations not intended to be privately owned.

The State would organize and supervise its function strictly under its own regulatory guidelines.Soviet theory has an apparent similarity with the concept of authoritarian theory, which also believes that the media organization should be subordinate to the state government.

DifferencesThe element of self regulatory mechanism and character of responsibility makes the soviet model different from authoritarian theory.The Soviet press is supposed to provide a complete and objective view of the world according to Marxist principles.

Differences The Authoritarian is based upon the ideology that the ideas of the ruling classes are the ruling ideas.

Theory advocates that the sole purpose of mass media is to educate the masses of workers and not to give out information.

After the fall of soviet union , we can find the best example of this model in china, where Television ,Radio, and newspapers are under total control of the communist regime.After the fall of Soviet Russia, Russia tried to retain a model which has close resemblance to social responsibility theory.

THE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILTY THEORYMedia has certain obligations to the society. Based in the American initiative in the late forties.The commission on Freedom of the Press provided a model in which the media has to perform some specific obligations towards society. These obligations are truth, accuracy, objectivity and balance.

Media being a pluralized set up it reflected the diversity in society and it has access to various points of view and hence it has the social responsibility.This theory puts responsibility over media.

Features of Social Responsibility Theory.Obligations of media towards society.Media should be free but self regulated.Media must show truth, accuracy ,objectivity and balance.Pluralistic nature of media.Ownership of media is public trust.Social functions of media.

Obligations of media to fulfill their social functions.Setting up of professional standards by media.Applicability of self regulations by media.Avoidance by media of publicizing the incidents which can lead to crime and violence.Access to press.No violation of peoples rights by media.

Media should perform positive functions for society.

Criticism of Social Responsibility TheoryMedia in Capitalist societies functions in the interest of dominant groups and classes.Concept like free press, public interest ,neutrality seen as myths.Issues of ownership and control of media i.e. concentration of ownership.

As per Justice P.B Sawant This relationship between the Press and the people has yet another dimension. Since direct democracy is neither feasible nor practicable except in small habitats like villages, and for limited purposes, the deficiencies and the lacunae of the representative democracy need to be made good. The voice of the unrepresented sections of the society, their problems grievances hopes and aspirations have to be heard and their participation in the governance to be ensured. This is the social purpose of the media.

ConclusionThese four theories do not reflect the systems in which they work .one can not even assume that so and so model would be a better model for a particular system of political thought.In the same set up one may find all the four theories working at different levels and different spheres. Or there may be a different interest that governs the functioning of press.

The press survives and sustains not because they follow one of the four theories, but because they function in an acceptable way. Some of the media organizations may not stand with the changing needs and moods of the general public.

A commercially successful newspaper or television organization may not understand or follow the soviet model or social responsibility theory.

ConclusionThere is variations of Mass Media systems in the world according to the economical, political, religious conditions.

Based on the functioning of the media in the contemporaneous society , the above theories did emerge.

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