Download Normative theories (of press performance)

Normative theories
(of the media)
An introduction
Normative theory
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Descriptive statements are falsifiable statements
that attempt to describe reality.
By contrast, normative statements affirm how
things should or ought to be, how to value them,
which things are good or bad.
Normative theories of the press: Ideal views of how
journalism/ media ought to, or are expected to,
operate – what is desirable in relation to both
structure and performance): “Journalists/
journalism should or could do this or that.”
Structure and performance
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Structure – e.g. freedom from the state, multiplicity
of different channels.
Performance – e.g. how the media carry out their
chosen or allotted informative or entertaining
tasks. Conventions, genres, professional guidelines
and ethical rules, which apply to what the media
do.
Four theories of the press
The Four Theories of the Press (Schramm, Siebert,
Peterson. 1956)
Basic theories:
 Authoritarian
 Libertarian
Variations:
 Social responsibility
 Soviet communist
McQuail’s additions
Additions (Denis McQuail. Mass Communication
Theory: An Introduction):
 Development
 Democratic-participant
Authoritarian theory
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Applies to authoritarian societies, but can surface
in less authoritarian societies (particularly in times
of war, terrorism)
Depends on the medium – TV subject to greater
control in some countries
Propaganda model of Chomsky and Herman – is
US media authoritarian? (Model alleges systemic
biases in the mass media and seeks to explain
them in terms of structural economic causes.)
Authoritarian assumptions
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Press should do nothing to undermine vested
power and interests;
Press should be subordinate to vested power and
authority;
Press should avoid acting in contravention of
prevailing moral and political values;
Censorship justified in the application of these
principles;
Criminalisation of editorial attacks on vested
power, deviations from official policy, violation of
moral codes.
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Media as instrument/ mouthpiece to publicise and
propagandise government ideology and actions.
Absolute power of state versus subservience of the
individual – press ‘freedom’ a right vested in the
state.
Examples: Fascist regimes, some African countries,
communist countries? Aspects of apartheid SA?
Libertarian theory
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Modernity: Rise of democracy, religious freedom,
expansion of economic freedom, philosophical
climate of the Enlightenment
Undermined authoritarianism – emphasis on
personal freedom and democracy
The idea that people are rational – can distinguish
between truth and falsehood, and between good
and evil.
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Classical liberal perspective:
Free market as foundation of free media;
 Freedom to publish without prior restriction –
independence from government;
 Public has access to wide diversity of opinion
(only limitation on freedom to publish is public
willingness to pay);
 Market-based diversity promotes public
rationality – free marketplace of ideas and
information as a self-righting mechanism,
minimises bias and exposes weak arguments
and evidence.
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Another strand in liberal tradition:
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Media as representative agency (‘Fourth Estate’
alongside executive, legislative and judicial authorities))
or as a watchdog protecting the public (individuals
rights), overseeing the state.
Watchdog reveals abuses in the exercise of state
authority… this role overrides all other functions of the
media and dictates the form in which the media should
be organised, i.e. the free market.
“The best stories are those that afflict the comfortable
and comfort the afflicted, the ones that the people of
power do not want told.” Peter Beaumont and John
Sweeney, The Observer
But, can muckraking journalism co-exist with objective
journalism?
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Objectivity: As newspapers gradually lost their party
affiliations, journalists worked to establish their
independence as searchers after “objective truth”.
Independence from government control and
influence – if media is subject to public regulation
it will lose its bite as a watchdog.
Press is source of information and platform for
expression of a range of divergent opinions;
enables people to monitor government and form
ideas about policy.
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Curran: But, society seen as an aggregation of
individuals – media’s representative role conceived
primarily in terms of articulating public opinion,
which is the sum of individual opinion. How should
media relate to representative structures as
distinct from individuals – role of media in
mediating class and other conflict in society? Also,
little account of how power is exercised through
non-state structures, like property and patriarchy.
Is a free press and end in itself, a means to an end,
or an absolute right?
Freedom can be abused. Absolute freedom is
anarchy. Mill: The freedom of the individual
constrained by the freedom of other individuals.
(My freedom ends where yours begins).
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Boundaries of freedom defined in such a way that
they do not infringe the rights of the individual.
Abolition of censorship; but, also the introduction
of press laws designed to protect individual rights
(protection of reputation, privacy, moral
development of individuals or groups, security of
the state) – could override the right of the press’s
freedom to publish.
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Assumptions:
Press should be free from any external
censorship;
 Publication and distribution should be
accessible to any individual or group with a
permit or license;
 Attacks on governments or parties should not be
punishable;
 No coercion to publish anything;
 Freedom of access to information.
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Social responsibility theory
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Hutchins Commission, 1947 – reaffirmed the principles of
freedom/ independence but added to them the notion of
social responsibility.
Media operate in capitalist economy, but some believe the
market can function benignly (not just in the interests of
shareholders but of all people).
Premises (McQuail):
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Media have important function to fulfil in society (support
democratic political principles);
Media are under obligation to fulfil their social functions
(transmission of information and creation of a forum for different
viewpoints);
Independence of media emphasised in relation to their
responsibility towards society;
Media should meet certain standards.
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Solutions to the problem (of reconciling
freedom with responsibility):
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Regulation
Promotion of political and cultural pluralism –
independent public institutions for control of
broadcasting (e.g. ICASA);
 Balance of public and private ownership
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Professionalism:
Codes of conduct;
 Training and continuing development of
professionalism, to advance and nurture balanced
and impartial news presentation.
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More principles (McQuail):
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Media should accept responsibilities towards society;
Media should fulfil responsibilities by setting
professional standards with regards to the supply of
information and the truth, accuracy, objectivity and
balance of their reporting;
Media should apply self-regulation;
Media should avoid publicising information that can lead
to crime, violence or social disruption, as well as
information that can offend ethnic or religious
minorities;
Media collectively should represent all social groups and
reflect the diversity of society by giving people access to
a variety of viewpoints and opportunity to react to them.
Society entitled to high standards and intervention
justifiable if the media fail to meet these standards.
Soviet communist press theory
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Western notions of freedom of press rejected by
Soviet bloc as being fundamentally ‘unfree’
because Western media are controlled by capitalist
economic interests (prevent them from publishing
the Marxist truth).
Communist press – no profit motive. But, did this
mean it did not foreground special, elite interests in
Soviet society?
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Assumptions:
Media should act in the interests of and be
controlled by the working class;
 Media should not be under private control;
 Media should perform positive functions for
society, such as socialisation (to make people
conform to desirable norms), education, the
supply of information, motivation and
mobilisation of the masses;
 Media should respond to the desire and needs
of their recipients;
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More assumptions:
Society has right to use censorship and other
legal measures to prevent and punish antisocial
publication;
 Media should reflect complete and objective
view of world and society in terms of MarxistLeninist principles;
 Media should support communist movements
everywhere.
After fall of Soviet Bloc, is this relevant? What
about China? Cuba? Parts of Africa?
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A brief critique of libertarian and
social responsibility theories
A political critique:
 Journalism in capitalist societies functions in the
interests not of society as a whole, but of dominant
groups and classes.
 Concepts like free press, democracy, the public
interest, objectivity, neutrality seen as myths.
 All research processes – including journalism –
seen as value-laden and methodological decisions
political.
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“Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the
powerful and the powerless means to side with the
powerful, not to be neutral.”
Paulo Freire
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Concentration of ownership and control of media
(lack of diversity), and the declining vitality of
publicly funded media/cultural institutions like
public broadcasters (due to privatisation).
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Other problems with modern media:
Lack of democracy within media organisations;
 Governmental secrecy;
 Institutionalised racist and patriarchal codes;
 Commodification of culture:
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Are we being addressed as citizens or as consumers?
Shift away from involving people in societies as
political citizens of nation states towards involving
them as consumption units in a globalised corporate
world.
Journalists and objectivity
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Can journalists transcend their own
subjectivity in accounting for the facts?
Does such a demand rest on plausible
philosophical assumptions about the nature
of, and relations between, perception, the
external world, facts and values?
The biases of objectivity
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Theodore Glasser: As a set of beliefs,
objectivity is rooted in a positivistic view of
the world – a commitment to external,
observable, and retrievable facts.
Such an ideology promotes three kinds of
bias.
Bias against the watchdog role of the media in
favour of the status quo.
To remain value neutral, only news sources with
impeccable credentials (invariably prominent
members of society) are quoted. The democratic
process requires the participation of ordinary
citizens as much as those who are prominent.
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2. Bias against independent thinking.
Journalists have to remain impartial and value
neutral – therefore no longer the need nor the
opportunity to develop a critical perspective from
which to assess the events, the issues, the
personalities he or she is assigned to cover.
3. Bias against the journalist’s assumption of
responsibility for what is reported.
News seen to exist “out there” (independent of the
reporter), so journalists can’t be held responsible
for it. The day’s news is viewed as something
journalists are compelled to report, not something
they are responsible for creating. Objectivity in
journalism effectively erodes the very foundation
on which rests a responsible press.
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“News is never a mere recording or reporting of the
world ‘out there’ but a synthetic, value-laden
account which carries within it dominant
assumptions and ideas of the society within which
it is produced.”
Theodore Glasser
Critique of “professionalism”
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Professionalism critiqued as a rhetorical strategy to
hide journalism’s inherent pro-systemic bias.
Professionalism implies standards and procedures,
which means journalists tend to act as responsible
members of the political establishment, upholding
the dominant political perspective.
Critique of public broadcasting
“Perhaps in no other country does broadcasting hold
such a privileged position as opinion leader as in
Britain. When ‘information’ is conveyed on the BBC
with such professional gravitas, it is more likely to
be believed. Possessing highly professional talent,
the illusion of impartiality and an essentially liberal
ethos, Britain’s ‘public service broadcasting’ has
become a finely crafted and infinitely adaptable
instrument of state propaganda and censorship.”
John Pilger
Chomsky’s Propaganda Model
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Traditional theorists see propaganda as being a
useful conceptual tool to apply to media products
of totalitarian dictatorships while applicable to the
media of Western democracies only in exceptional
periods (war).
But, Chomsky and Herman argue that the
propaganda function is a permanent feature of
Western media systems.
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The powerful elite “fix the premises of discourse, to
decide what the general populace is allowed to
see, hear and think about and to manage public
opinion by regular propaganda campaigns”.
Journalists’ exalted claims to be working as the
noble Fourth Estate are rhetoric. Media practices
do not reflect a genuine public spiritedness but
rather a concern to boost sales or improve ratings.
The increasing media emphasis on infotainment
has accompanied the depoliticising of civil society.