Four Theories of the Press
FOUR THEORIES OF THE PRESS
ORIGINS OF THE THEORIES
The “Four Theories of the Press” was by three professors, Fred S. Siebert, Theodore Peterson and Wilbur Schramm, and since 1956, has come a long way. Over time, it has established a typology in the minds of journalism educators and students. The four theories are authoritarian, libertarian, social responsibility and soviet communist (Preserve Articles, 2012).
AUTHORITARIAN THEORY Authoritarian is defined as favouring or enforcing strict obedience to the authority at the expense of personal freedom. Siebert has referred to this theory as the original prototype and most extensive of all the theories. He had meant that this theory remains to influence press practices even when a government may subscribe to other systems officially (Siebert, Peterson, & Schramm, 1956). The mass communication pattern has been determined by the authoritarian doctrine for more people over a long period of time than any other theory and we may ask ourselves who actually owns the media in an authoritarian system. The answer to this would be that ownership of printing is still owned privately while broadcasting and cinema are normally owned by the government. The government of authoritarian countries exercise this control over media the same way they control the citizens of that particular country (McHam, 2012). Some examples of countries practicing this form of government control are Syria, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe (McHam, 2012). Based on this theory, although the mass media is not directly under the control of the State, they had to follow its bidding. In Western Europe, the freedom of thought under an authoritarian approach was guarded by a few people such as people from the ruling class. They claimed to have been concerned with the emergence of a new middle class and were worried about the impact of printed matter on their thought process so precaution was taken to control the freedom of expression. This, of course,
ORIGINS OF THE THEORIES
The “Four Theories of the Press” was by three professors, Fred S. Siebert, Theodore Peterson and Wilbur Schramm, and since 1956, has come a long way. Over time, it has established a typology in the minds of journalism educators and students. The four theories are authoritarian, libertarian, social responsibility and soviet communist (Preserve Articles, 2012).
AUTHORITARIAN THEORY Authoritarian is defined as favouring or enforcing strict obedience to the authority at the expense of personal freedom. Siebert has referred to this theory as the original prototype and most extensive of all the theories. He had meant that this theory remains to influence press practices even when a government may subscribe to other systems officially (Siebert, Peterson, & Schramm, 1956). The mass communication pattern has been determined by the authoritarian doctrine for more people over a long period of time than any other theory and we may ask ourselves who actually owns the media in an authoritarian system. The answer to this would be that ownership of printing is still owned privately while broadcasting and cinema are normally owned by the government. The government of authoritarian countries exercise this control over media the same way they control the citizens of that particular country (McHam, 2012). Some examples of countries practicing this form of government control are Syria, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe (McHam, 2012). Based on this theory, although the mass media is not directly under the control of the State, they had to follow its bidding. In Western Europe, the freedom of thought under an authoritarian approach was guarded by a few people such as people from the ruling class. They claimed to have been concerned with the emergence of a new middle class and were worried about the impact of printed matter on their thought process so precaution was taken to control the freedom of expression. This, of course,