Thursday, 2 February 2012
Normative Theories of mass communication
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Explain
normative theories of mass communication.
·
Professionalism, a crusade to
clean up the media and make it respectable and credible, followed the era of
yellow journalism; its objective was to eliminate shoddy and irresponsible
content.
·
Media professionals and social
elites used normative theory to answer questions regarding media reform. Social responsibility is the normative theory
used in the United States.
·
Social responsibility theory
The Origins of Normative
Theories of Media
Ø Two
opposing viewpoints
o
Radical libertarians (First
Amendment absolutists) & Technocratic Control
§
First Amendment absolutists
take the idea of “free press” as literal and oppose government regulation.
§
Technocrats do not trust the
media and believes in the use of regulators to act in the public
interest.
o
Propaganda and mass society
theories are used to justify media regulation.
Normative theory:
The type of theory that describes an ideal way for media systems
to be structured and operated.
Normative theories:
1. Authoritarian theory
The theory that places all forms of communication under the
control of governing elites or authorities. Under this theory , the intellect
of a common is greatly undermined. Criticism on ruling elites is not tolerated.
Many steps are taken to curb the freedom of press like licensing, censorships,
approval of content prior to publication and punishments etc.
2. Libertarian theory
The Origin of Libertarian
Thought
·
Libertarian theory opposes
authoritarian theory, which requires all forms of communication to submit to
governing elites.
·
If freed from authoritarian rule
individuals would “naturally” follow their conscience, seek truth, engage in
public debate, and create better life for themselves and others.
·
John Milton asserted in fair
debate good and truthful arguments would always win out over lies and deceit,
the self-righting principle. The self-righting principle is fundamental within
social responsibility theory.
·
The founding fathers also
subscribed to liberal thought.
·
Three fundamental concepts
underpinning the founders’ belief in press freedom:
o
Theology
o
Individual rights
o
Attainment of truth
o
At the nation’s founding, the US
was one of the first nations to adopt Libertarian principles lined out in the
Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights.
o
Restrictions on communication:
§ Libel
§ Gag
Orders
§ Regulations
prohibiting false advertising, child pornography, and offensive language.
§ Laws
have been written to restrict communication freedom so that other seemingly equally
important rights might be guaranteed.
On the other extreme, there is libertarian theory, which
considers that people are rational and have the right to all angles of an issue
to decide between truth and falsehood. The government cannot interfere in matters
of press.
3. Social responsibility theory
Press has a right to criticize the government and other
institutions but it also has a responsibility to preserve democracy by
properly informing the public. The press is not free to do as it wills, it is
obligated to respond to society’s needs. he government may involve itself in
media operations by issuing regulations (e.g. Pemra), if public interest is not
being adequately addressed.
·
The first major test of social
responsibility theory occurred during the 1950s with the rise of anti-communist
sentiments at the time of the Cold War.
·
Joseph McCarthy successfully
used propaganda techniques to draw national attention to himself and to
stimulate widespread public hatred and suspicion of people whom he linked, most
often inaccurately, to communism.
o
This illustrates how difficult
it can be for journalists to adhere to social responsibility theory in crisis
situations.
o
|
Social
Responsibility Theory
|
|
Strengths
1. Values media responsibility
2. Values audience responsibility
3. Limits government intrusion in media
operation
4. Allows reasonable government control
of media
5. Values diversity and pluralism
6. Aids the “powerless”
7. Appeals to the best instincts of media
practitioners and audiences
8. Is consistent with US legal tradition
|
|
Weaknesses
1.
Is overly optimistic about media’s willingness to
meet responsibilities
2.
Is overly optimistic about individual
responsibility
3.
Underestimates power of profit motivation and
competition
4.
Legitimizes status quo
|
4. Communist Theory
It promotes communism and strives to achieve goals set by the
communist party. Media is owned by the representatives of the communist state.
It works best in a closed society where information is tightly controlled by
the government.
5. Developmental theory
Government mobilizes media to serve national goals in economic
and social development. Information is considered a natural resource and must
be carefully manipulated to achieve national goals for literacy, economic
self-sufficiency etc.It is considered that media should support the government
until society is well developed.
Other Normative Theories
} Developmental
media theory: A normative theory calling for government and media to work in
partnership to ensure that media assist in the planned beneficial development
of the country
} Democratic-participant
theory: A normative theory advocating media support for cultural pluralism at a
grassroots level
} Western concept:
A normative theory combining aspects of Libertarianism and social
responsibility theory
} Development
concept: A normative theory describing systems in which government and media
work in concert to ensure that the media aid the planned, beneficial
development of a given nation
} Revolutionary
concept: A normative theory describing a system in which media are used in the
service of revolution
} Authoritarian
concept: A normative theory advocating the complete domination of media by a
government for the purpose of forcing those media to serve the government
} Communism
concept: A normative theory advocating the complete domination of media by a
Communist government for the purpose of forcing those media to serve the
Communist Party
} Transitional
media approach: A less category based, more flexible approach to evaluating
media systems than traditional normative theory
This post was written by: Fakhar Naveed
Fakhar Naveed is a professional blogger, web designer and front end web developer. Follow him on Twitter
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