THEORETICAL FOUNDATION OF JOURNALISM

Prutz (1816-1872) understood journalism as a documentation of discussions in the conflict

society. In his opinion journalism records events in the society that at the same time represents
the social criticism of modern times. Journalism is defined as a social field that is always in
relation with other social area.
Four Theories of the Press by Siebert, Peterson and Schramm (1956)
AUTHORITARIAN THEORY
This theory is the oldest concept of journalism that has emerged in the 16th and 17th century
in Great Britain. Gutenberg’s invention of printing press triggered the communication revolution
that threatened the monopoly on knowledge of the Church and the state. To maintain the
authority, the state has limited the function of the press in various ways. Authoritarian concept
was developed by philosophers such as Plato, Machiavelli, Hobbes and Hegel. They believed
that the individual is subordinate to society. A key purpose in an authoritarian system of
journalism is support and development of government policies. News media operate only under
government protection and are subject to the state permits, licenses and censorship. Although
private ownership is allowed the journalist must report the information consistent with
government policy. Journalism must operate “for the good of the state” and is not allowed to
criticize or to undermine government authority in any way. According to the authors,
authoritarian concept is typical for pre-modern societies, where the small elite govern. This
concept can be seen in many countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and in various other parts
of the world.
LIBERTARIAN THEORY
Libertarian theory of journalism has evolved in the UK and U.S. in the 17th century and has
represented the opposition to authoritarian doctrine. Libertarian press concept is based on texts
by Mill, Milton, Locke and philosophical principles of rationalism and natural rights.
Libertarianism argues that people are rational human beings capable to distinguish between
truth and falsehood. Journalists should be independent and autonomous, and they should seek
the truth and monitor the activities of the government. The assumption of this theory is that
individuals will be able to manually select the best information from the media and the state
should not interfere in this environment. Libertarian journalism should be free to express ideas
without fear of government control and censorship. In other words, the individuals themselves
seek the truth from competing media supply. News media are mostly privately owned and have
no restrictions on information, criticism, entertainment and distribution. Libertarian journalism
subsists in multiparty political economies based on free market. According to the authors, this
concept is typically present in Germany, France and Japan.
As in the past, it is believed that the government should not involve itself in the workings of the
press with journalists and media professionals expecting within the media organization. It is also
the policy of the media to analyze and critique the government's policies the media as a
watchdog. (Introduction to Mass Communication, n.d).
Everyone in the society is encouraged to express their differing opinions because this leads to the
competitive exposure of said viewpoints resulting in a free marketplace of ideas that is the goal
of libertarianism.
The libertarian nature of the press grants them the permission to publish reports and stories that
are matters of state security without fear of repercussion from their governments and those of
other nations. This is clearly demonstrated in the case of Edward Snowden. He was a former NSA
employee provided The Guardian with top-secret documents leading to revelations about US
surveillance a few months ago. The editors of the guardian were able to publish this information
freely – and even though Mr. Snowden is currently in facing charges in his home, the British
paper; and the American one’s that ran the story once it broke, aren’t.
New Media being one of the fastest growing, largest and most accessible channels of
communication in the world today had been a Godsend for supporters of this theory. The
internet, through platforms like YouTube and social media are a great example of libertarianism
in action, because individuals have access to several opposing viewpoints in the form of videos,
posts, blogs, tweets and the like.
However, due to its size and ability to influence millions at a time, there has been a need to place
more restrictions on the internet to ensure that people do not use it for breaking the law. The
major internet providers and search engines now have a right to pull down blogs and videos that
they feel contain information that violates the “the protection of dignity, reputation, property,
privacy, moral development of individuals, groups and minorities” (Introduction to Mass
communication, para. 8 n.d) because the protection of the above is one of the tasks of a
libertarian press.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY THEORY
The theory of social responsibility is a modification of libertarian concept. It has developed in
the 1940s in the U.S., where the monopolistic situation on the media market and disputable
journalistic practices have led to advocacy of moral restriction on the freedom of journalism.
Unlike the libertarian theory of journalism that theory stresses the importance of conflict to
encourage public debate. Anyone who wants to tell something has the right to use media.
Socially responsible media are controlled by opinion of the community, consumer actions and
professional ethics. Journalists should avoid interference with the privacy and fundamental
interests of society. Although the media are privately owned, the government may also establish
a public service. Reporters are responsible for a) serving the political system by providing
information and with discussion of public affairs, b) lighting up the public; c) protecting the rights
of individuals by controlling the operation of government; d) serving the economic system by
connecting buyers and sellers of goods and by publishing ads; e) provide entertainment; f)
maintain their own financial self-sufficiency not to be under the pressure of third-party
interests. According to the authors, this concept is well established in the U.S.
This destroyed the concept of the free marketplace of ideas, the backbone of libertarianism. In
addition to this, there was a lot discontent with the material that was distributed by the press –
more often than not it was shallow and an endangerment to public morals.
People felt that even though the press was free from the control of the government, it was not
free from the control of advertisers and the business class. It was therefore not possible for one
to truly know when the press was being objective, and when it was skewing the news to reflect
the viewpoints of the advertisers and business class. The overall feeling was that the press was
not performing its role efficiently for the benefit of the people.
The roles of the media transformed from simply informing, entertaining and selling, and acting
as a watchdog of the government; to raising conflict to the plane of discussion. The media was
to be free, but it was also expected to live up to a code of ethics, and regulate itself.
These same tenets are still applied by members of the press today. In the social responsibility
theory, the press is first and foremost controlled by community opinion and ethics. This means
that one cannot disseminate the information that the public will find distasteful and disturbing
without considering their views first. Journalists are no longer expected to simply be objective
reporters, but their reports must also be pluralistic (to reflect the dynamic society in which they
exist) and investigative.
KTN Kenya acted in line with the above theory. Recently, when airing a particular graphic episode
of Jicho Pevu on 1st September warned its viewers about the nature of the show and even
provided a mechanism that allowed them to look away, or change the channel when graphic
images were about to be shown. This mechanism was a small icon that appeared at the top
corner of the screen. Nowadays, all Local TV stations nowadays provide viewers with disclaimers
regarding suitability of the program and one’s age, compared to twenty years ago.
This theory also strongly states that the press cannot violate people’s rights in the name of
freedom. They are not allowed to invade your privacy in the name of searching for a story, or tap
phones – as in common with tabloids in the West when dealing with high profile cases. The press
is expected to be comprehensive and objective in their reports with journalists are not being
allowed to skew their reports in favor of advertisers or political politicians.
Supporters of the social responsibility theory of the press have readily adopted the restrictions
placed on new media that are there for purposes of national security and protection of children
from moral decay in the society. This has helped decrease the cases of child pornography on the
net, and it has also helped draft out rules and regulation regarding the effects of using the
internet to spread hate crimes and propaganda.
SOVIET COMMUNIST THEORY
Theory of Soviet communism was built on the other side of the spectrum. It is based on the
works of Marx, Lenin and Stalin. This theory is based on the assumption that ideas such as
rationalism and individual rights are not feasible. Therefore, the communist model of journalism
should work as a transporter of the government policies. Reporters were propagandists,
agitators and organizers of the government support. The media were part of the state system
and are controlled by the Communist Party. According to the authors, this concept was
extended in the Soviet Union; nowadays, the typical examples are Cuba and North Korea
(Sterling, 2009).
Editors and senior member of the press were selected based on political affiliations rather than
merit (Severin et al. 2010). The needs of the individual expected to be those of the state – and
therefore by working with the government for the betterment of the nation, the individual found
freedom. Criticism of the party was not allowed, and was punishable by law.
This is evidenced in the excerpt below, that shows how the media in North Korea, a present day
communist state, handles matters related to its press and press freedom; this style is not unique
to North Korea and could very well be substituted for Cuba or China.
The constitution provides for freedom of speech and the press; however, the government
prohibits the exercise of these rights in practice, unless it is in praise of the country and its
government and leader. The government not only tightly controls all information coming in and
out of the country, but seeks to mold information at its source. A typical example of this was the
death of Kim Jong-iI, news of which was not divulged until two days after it occurred. (Media of
North Korea, 2009)
Soviet communist media do not feature reports on world affairs because their objective is to
enhance their own world view. If they have to report, the report is often presented from an
extremely ethnocentric view, which bashes the capitalist outsiders and the corrupt way of life.
The state uses the media to brainwash its citizens into believing that communism is the only
acceptable way of life. The media does not report on natural disasters and accidents because
such reports would make the state look bad, and possibly cause people to start questioning its
authority. Moscow’s reaction to Chernobyl in 1986 is a perfect example of the policy of the Soviet
communists when dealing with disasters. In addition to this, to fight the ongoing threats to their
regimes that are caused by new media, they have restricted internet access and regularly
monitor IP addresses to track those who may be using the internet as a platform to defy the
state.