In this write-up, I will use the Four Theories of Press to
explain an ever-evolving media system known as THE NEW MEDIA. These four theories
are The Authoritarian Theory, The Libertarian Theory, Soviet-Communist Theory,
and Social-Responsibility Theory.
Furthermore, several case studies have been deployed to
explain how to press theories in recent times have been exhibited in the context
of new media.
Mass communications continue to operate by the theories of
the writings of Fred S. Siebert, Theodore Peterson, and Wilbur Schramm in a
small but comprehensive book entitled “Four Theories of the Press”.
Written in 1956, this book continues to be used in the education of mass
communications throughout the country instructing students in the four basic
systems that embody the operations of the mass
media. The four theories used by mass communications formulated
by the authors include the authoritarian, the libertarian, social
responsibility, and the Soviet-totalitarian. These theories were devised
to impart mass communications with a philosophical, historical, and international
perspective on the workings of the press.
AUTHORITARIAN THEORY:
The
State (the elite that runs the state) directs the citizenry, which is not
considered competent and interested enough to make critical political
decisions. One man or an elite group is placed in a leadership role. As the
group or person controls society generally it (or he or she) also controls the
mass media since they are recognized as vital instruments of social control.
The
mass media, under authoritarianism, are educators and propagandists by which
the power elite exercise social control. Generally, the media are privately
owned, although the leader of his elite group may own units in the total
communication system. A basic: assumption a person engaged in journalism is so
engaged as a special privilege granted by the national leadership. He, therefore,
owes an obligation to the leadership.
LIBERTARIAN THEORY:
The
libertarian press concept is generally traced back to England and the American
colonies of the seventeenth century. Giving rise to the libertarian press
theory was the philosophy that looked upon man as a rational animal with
inherent natural rights. One of these rights was the right to pursue truth, and
potential interferes (kings, governors et al) would (or should) be restrained.
Exponents
of this press movement during the seventeenth century, and the 200 years which
followed, included Milton, Locke, Erskine, Jefferson, and John Stuart Mill.
Individual liberties were stressed by these philosophers, along with a basic
trust in the people to take intelligent decisions (generally) if a climate of
free expression existed.
COMMUNIST THEORY:
The
communist theory of the press arose, along with the theory of communism itself,
in the first quarter of the present century. Karl Marx was its father, drawing
heavily on the ideas of his fellow German, George W. F. Hegel. The mass media
in a communist society, said Marx, were to function basically to perpetuate and
expand the socialist system. Transmission of social policy, not searching for
the truth, was to be the main rationale for the existence of a communist media
system.
Mass
media, under this theory, are instruments of government and integral parts of
the State. They are owned and operated by the State and directed by the
Communist Party or its agencies. Criticism is permitted in the media (i. e.
criticism of the failure to achieve goals), but criticism of basic ideology is
forbidden. Communist theory, like that of authoritarianism, is based on the
premise that the masses are too fickle and too ignorant and unconcerned with the government to be entrusted with governmental responsibilities.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY THEORY:
This
concept, a product of mid-twentieth-century America, is said by its proponents
to have its roots in libertarian theory. But it goes beyond the libertarian
theory, in that it places more emphasis on the press's responsibility to
society than on the press's freedom. It is seen as a higher level,
theoretically, than libertarianism-a kind of moral and intellectual and evolutionary trip from discredited old, libertarianism to a new or perfected
libertarianism where things are forced to work as they really should have
worked under libertarian theory.
The
explainers and defenders of this theory maintain that they are libertarians,
but socially responsible libertarians, contrasted presumably with other libertarians
who (if their views and actions do not agree with those of the new libertarians)
are not socially responsible.
THE CONCEPT OF NEW MEDIA
WHAT’S NEW MEDIA?
New
media most commonly refers to content available on-demand through the Internet,
accessible on any digital device, usually containing interactive user feedback
and creative participation.
Common examples of new media
include websites such as online
newspapers, blogs,
or wikis, video games,
and social media.
A defining characteristic of new media is dialogue. New Media transmit content
through connection and conversation.
It enables people around the world
to share, comment on, and discuss a wide variety of topics. Unlike any of past
technologies, New Media is grounded on an interactive community and it keeps
evolving.
GLOBALIZATION AND NEW MEDIA
The rise of new media has increased communication
between people all over the world and the Internet. It has allowed people to
express themselves through blogs, websites, videos, pictures, and other
user-generated media.
Flew (2002)
stated that, "as a result of the evolution of new media technologies, globalization occurs." Globalization is
generally stated as "more than the expansion of activities beyond the boundaries
of particular nation-states". Globalization
shortens the distance between people all over the world by electronic
communication (Carely 1992 in Flew 2002) and Cairncross (1998) expresses this
great development as the "death of distance".
According to Ingrid Volkmer, "public
sphere" is defined as a process through which public communication becomes
restructured and partly disembedded from national political and cultural
institutions. This trend of the globalized public sphere is not only as a geographical
expansion form a nation to worldwide but also changes the relationship between
the public, the media and state (Volkmer, 1999:123).
VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES
"Virtual communities" are being
established online and transcend geographical boundaries, eliminating social
restrictions.[9] Howard Rheingold (2000) describes these globalised
societies as self-defined networks, which resemble what we do in real life.
"People in virtual communities use words on
screens to exchange pleasantries and argue, engage in intellectual discourse,
conduct commerce, make plans, brainstorm, gossip, feud, fall in love, create a
little high art and a lot of idle talks" (Rheingold cited in Slevin 2000:
91).
NEW MEDIA AND THE AUTHORITARIAN MEDIA THEORY:
(The Arab Spring Case Study)
The Arab world has experienced an awakening of free the expression that entered the body politic of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya and has
helped break down the stranglehold of state-sponsored media and information
monopolies in those countries which run AUTHORITARIAN media.
Indeed, from Morocco to Bahrain, the Arab world has
witnessed the rise of an independent vibrant social media and steadily
increasing citizen engagement on the Internet that is expected to attract 100
million Arab users.
These social networks inform, mobilize, entertain, create
communities, increase transparency and seek to hold governments accountable.
To peruse the Arab social media sites, blogs, online videos, and other digital
platforms are to witness what is arguably the most dramatic and unprecedented
improvement in freedom of expression, association, and access to information in
contemporary Arab history. Worldwide, the number of Internet users by late 2010
was expected to exceed 2 billion users. The State (the elite that runs the state)
directs the citizenry may not have envisaged how the coming of new media would
shape a new generation where its grip on information dissemination would easily
fizzle away.
The
mass media, under authoritarianism, produce a propagandists system by which the
power elite exercise social control. But the inadvertent coming of new media by
the case study of the Arab spring completely changed the dynamics.
NEW MEDIA AND THE COMMUNIST MEDIA THEORY:
(The Tiananmen
Square Case study)
Citizens’ voicing dissent through social media as
well as the Communist Party’s efforts to quell speech it deems a threat to the rule is nothing new in China.
In the late 1970s, at a wall near Tiananmen
Square in Beijing—which would become known as the Xidan Democracy
Wall or simply Democracy Wall—people would voice their grievances and yearnings
for change.
To prevent the Communist Party from
losing its monopoly on political power and to prevent the chaos that occurred
during the Cultural Revolution, Deng set forth Four Cardinal Principles in March 1979 that established limits
on speech and expression. These four principles called for Chinese citizens to
uphold 1) the socialist road; 2) the dictatorship of the proletariat
(workers); 3) the Communist Party’s leadership; and 4) Marxism-Leninism and Mao
Zedong Thought.
It would be a decade before the violence against protesters at
Tiananmen Square occurred,
quashing the hopes that many people inside and outside of China had about the
formation of a more liberal form of governance.
Till date governments like that of
China, North Korea and Russia heavily censor or clamp down on new media so as
to keep up with their tight grip and repressive media agenda.
NEW MEDIA AND LIBERTARIAN MEDIA THEORY:
(Occupy Wall Street Case Study)
This was a protest movement that began on September 17, 2011, in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Financial District, receiving global
attention and spawning the Occupy
movement against social and economic
inequality worldwide. It was
inspired by anti-austerity protests in Spain coming from the 15-M movement. The Canadian, anti-consumerist, pro-environment
group/magazine Adbusters initiated the call for a protest all
of which was born and made possible out of the use and advent of New Media.
The main issues raised by Occupy Wall Street were social and economic
inequality, greed, corruption and the perceived undue influence of corporations on government—particularly from the financial services sector. The OWS slogan, "We are
the 99%", refers to income
inequality and wealth distribution in
the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population.
The
philosophy of the libertarian media was brought to bear in the Occupy protest,
the protest went as far many other continent like the occupy Nigeria protest. One
of the many rights, it guarantees was the right to pursue truth, and potential
interference and it was made possible by the heavy use of Social Media.
NEW MEDIA AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY THEORY:
(The #FreeEse Oruru Case Study)
As
earlier stated, the Social responsibility theory places emphasis on the press's
responsibility to society than on the press's freedom.
SUNDAY PUNCH’s explosive cover story on February 28, 2016, titled,
“PUNCH launches ‘Free Ese’ campaign: Kano man steals, forcefully marries
14-year-old Bayelsa Girl” sparked national outrage and forced the
authorities, including the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, to
release Ese Oruru immediately.
The next day, Monday, the Nigerian media –
traditional and online – boiled over with righteous indignation at what many
felt was injustice done to a teenager and her family.
Aside from the report, SUNDAY PUNCH’s #FreeEse campaign went viral online
and on social media. In 24 hours, it ensured that Ese was released to the Kano
State Police Command on Monday, February 29, for onward transfer to the Force
Headquarters, Abuja.
On her release, PUNCH launched another hashtag,
#JusticeForEse, which continued trending that week.PUNCH gave Ese’s story the most coverage
daily in its print and online version throughout the week leading to her
abductor, Yunusa Dahiru’s prosecution.
This represents a strong case study for how new media and the social
responsibility theory came into play to rescue a very delicate situation.
As
well-represented above, the onus was to establish the relations that exist with
the press theories and new media. However, that substantially has been evident
in the case studies showcased in the third chapter.
There’s
no doubt that new media have evolved how the press and information are being
disseminated. In a few cases and counties has highlighted above we can assert
that even new media itself is still being repressed. But on a larger scale, New
media has been unstoppable and will continually pierce through much more
controlled regions/countries with the help of the ever-evolving tendency.
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