THEORIES OF MASS MEDIA

INTRODUCTION
Freedom 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 MEDIA
Mass 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 Media

A 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 Media

Concern 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 Media

Theories

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 Media

Frederick 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 THEORY

According 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 Authoritarian
The 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 THEORY

The 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 THEORY

The 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 THEORY

Media is an instrument / mouthpiece to

publicize and propagate Government

Ideology.
Press should not contravene with the
prevalent political values.

BASIS FOR THEORY

Authoritarian 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 THEORY

Theory 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 THEORY

As 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.

Features
Criticism 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 17 th 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 THEORY

This 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 THEORY

In

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.

Assumptions
Freedom 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 Theory

This 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.

Features
Close 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.

Features
Superiority of Government over media
Emphasis 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.

Differences
The 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 THEORY

Media 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 Theory

Media 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.

Conclusion
These 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.

Conclusion
There 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.

Thank You