The Market is the Medium: The Political Economy of the Mass Media
~._ , ..._ ~, ,.k •.-.~e ,.. ,..

by
Steven J. Anderson
B.A., Simon Fraser University, 1993

THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS
in
POLITICAL SCIENCE

© Steven J. Anderson, 1996
THE UNNERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
April1996

All rights reserved. This work may not be
reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or
other means, without the permission of the author.

• ...,
. -- .- -

ABSTRACT
This thesis explores how market forces influence the political roles of the mass media.

The

approach is interdisciplinary, employing a political-economic methodology that draws upon
literature in communication studies, the philosophy of technology, and political theory. The study
focuses on how the political roles of the media are imperiled by the free market and specifically the
concentration of ownership. It is argued that media content is a commodity produced by media
institutions, the finished good resulting in content that rather than informative is infotainment: the
assimilation of information into entertainment to maintain audience levels. But, rather than this
being a process executed by hegemonic institutions inherent in our society, the thesis contends that
infotainment is the result of consumer sovereignty. In the affluent liberal states media content is
primarily consumed by citizens as aprivate activity. In this context, information, as a commodity,

procured by the mass media serves not only to entertain the individual, it impedes their ability to
sufficiently disclose relevant issues, concerns and problems. The thesis concludes, firstly, that
media firms need to accept a social responsibility if they favor the continuance of accruing profit. It
is only within a liberal democratic polity, which promotes the free market, that media firms can
economically flourish. Secondly, the thesis concludes that citizens must accept their responsibilities
as free citizens residing in a liberal democratic polity and demand information that better informs
them rather than using the mass media solely as a leisure and thus a pacifying activity.

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract

11

Table of Contents

111

Acknowledgments

v

Dedication

VI

INTRODUCTION

1

Democracy and the Mass Media

Chapter One

Foundations and Concepts in Liberal Democratic Thought
Political Roles of the Mass Media in Liberal Democracies
The Libertarian and Social Responsibility Theories of the Press
Libertarian Theory of the Press
Social Responsibility Theory of the Press
Summary of the Development of the Mass Media
Print
Broadcast
Electronic
Conclusion

Chapter Two

Historical Background

4
11
17
17
21
26
27
39
31
33

34
34
41

John Stuart Mill
The Frankfurt School
Noam Chomsky
Conclusion

Chapter Three

4

46
51

Globalization of Contemporary Mass Media

Technological Changes Affecting Globalization
Modes of Globalization
The Globalization of Media Firms
Media Economics
Major Players
Walt Disney Co.
Time- Warner Inc.
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation
Bertlesmann AG
Silvio Berslusconi
Infotainment and Market Forces
Conclusion

111

54
54
57
61
61
65
66

66
67
67
68
68
76

Chapter Four

The Mass Media in the Information Age

The Information Society
Challenges to the Mass Media
Issue of the Concentration of Ownership
The Issue of Accountability
Internet as a New Form of Mass Media
Conclusion

Chapter Five

Conclusion

78
78

83
92
95
99

102

103

Bibliography

110

iv

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Within the past two years there have been many who deserve acknowledgment. All have made my
time here, as a charter member of the political science graduate programme, memorable.
My father, Patrick Anderson who has made everything I have accomplished in life, and the rest to
come, possible. Always encouraging me to follow my heart but never pushing me in any specific
direction. Cheryl Clarkson, my mother, who has always been a pillar of support and strength and
knows me better than I know myself-- what are mom's for. Cristi, my sister, for her constant
understanding and toleration. My step-father, Sheldon Clarkson, who I know I can always count
on. My grandparents, Arnold and Helen Anderson and Donald and Winona Stromgren. It is their
endless love and comfort that has helped motivate me throughout. My little brother David and my
nephew Branden. You two have so much to offer and I only hope I can be half as good as a role
model to you two as the role models I have had.
To my best friends Darrell Jomha, Brian Young, Jim Erikson, Chris Dittmar and Roy Argue -thanks. All of you knew when to leave me alone during my bout with "acute tunnel-vision" but
had the instinct and persistence to know when my social skills needed maintenance. "Anybody got
two bucks?" Paul Horton and Jim Quilty, the two individuals who introduced the world of
graduate studies to me, I dearly thank both of you.
To my fellow graduate students: Joel, Chris, Shauna, Shannon, Sara, Don, Meryl, Tracey and
Jason. It has been fun being the 'token-Marxist' for the past two years. I wish all of you the best
of luck in your future endeavors. Remember: "From each according to his (or her) needs to each
according to his (or her) deeds." Take this thought with you. Maggie Clarke, Bev Schroeder and
Lois Crowell -- you three dealt with my petty questions and favors for two years. I do not know
how you did it, nor will I ask, but I extend my sincerest gratitude. I would also like to
acknowledge Dr. Heather Smith for taking the time out of her schedule to proofread the chapter on
globalization of the mass media.
Finally, the political science faculty here at UNBC. Professor Alex Michalos, Assistant professors
Mary Louise McAllister, Greg Poelzer and John Young. All of you have provided a professional,
warm, friendly, and comfortable environment for my intellect to grow. A special and final
acknowledgment goes to my supervisor, Professor Edwin R. Black whose door was always open
for time and advice. This thesis could not have been completed without your encouragement,
patience, positive criticism, and genuine love for the discipline.

v

DEDICATION

For

·David and Branden
May you two grow with open, curious, analytical and critical minds

Watch Out World ! ! !

VI

Introduction
Ill news has wings, and with the wind doth go,
Comfort's a cripple and comes ever slow.
-- Michael Drayton, year unknown --

Writing in 1995, Richard Parker observed that it is "the issue -- the economics of news -- that
again and again seems now to be shaping the evolution of the technologically feasible into the
practically enduring." 1 This study seeks to increase the level of understanding of this 'issue'
through an analysis of how market forces influence the political roles of the mass media. For
purposes of this project, the mass media refer principally to those technological vehicles through
which information is disseminated.

It is the creation of messages, the means in which the

messages are conveyed and the involvement of large numbers of individuals consuming such
messages. Employing this generic label of the mass media is useful as it indicates similarities
between different mediums of communication. A prominent example of those forces at work is
found in the way in which the increase of the global concentration of ownership in the information
age imperils the democratic process by way of disseminating information that entertains rather than
informs. The mass media are agents of socialization and legitimization for political and economic
institutions. Moreover, they occupy a "contested terrain of public space; such that their conditions
of operation and actual performance remain of no less concern than in the past. " 2

Contemporary times have seen an ever-growing trend in the concentration of commercial
ownership of media firms on a global level. Operating under the market mechanism, these new
media behemoths give precedence to profit over informed citizenship and democracy. But do not
owners of media enterprises have a legal right to attain profit? For instance, is not the growing
trend in the oligopolistic nature of liberal democratic media a natural outgrowth of economic
Darwinism?
1

Richard Parker, Mixed Signals: The Prospects For Global Television (New York: Twentieth Century Fund Press,
1995), 85.
2
Denis McQuail, "Mass Media In The Public Interest: Towards a Framework of Norms for Media Performance," in
James Curran and Michael Gurevitch, eds., Mass Media And Society (London: Edward Arnold, 1994), 70.

1

For some, the mass media should be free to operate in both national and international economies,
supplying a commodity (information and/or entertainment) to consumers who demand it (citizens).
Proponents of this libertarian model contend that by allowing, and encouraging competition, a 'free
marketplace of ideas' will flourish and citizens will consume information from numerous sources,
thereby formulating their personal ideologies relating to their social environment.

However, a more critical approach to the development of the mass media has led to an examination
of the nature of the relationships of the concentration of ownership, the mass media and
democracy. Such critics contend that the mass media should serve a public role and fulfill a 'social
responsibility' to citizens to ensure that the circulation of relevant political information is not
forsaken for profit maximization. They argue that leaving the democratic responsibilities of the
media to the free market results in an intellectually malnourished populace, incapable of making
informed political decisions.

This project is situated within this critical context and examines only the mass media in the
advanced capitalist economies of the western world. In exploring the nature of the relationship
between the mass media, globalization, and democracy, this project examines a number of issues.
Chapter one is a conceptual history of the relationship between the mass media and democracy,
which involves a consideration of the historical overview of democracy, both the libertarian and
social responsibility normative assertions of the media and a summary of the development of the
mass media. The second chapter offers a theoretical examination of popular commentators of the
mass media and whether or not they pay sufficient attention to how market forces influence the
political roles of the media. Chapter three discusses the changing nature of the globalization of the
mass media, paying particular attention to how market forces detract from the democratic process.
At this point, it is argued that infotainment severely hinders the potential reasoning capacities of
citizens to make informed decisions because the majority of media content is sensationalistic and
does not adequately explore vital issues.
2

The mass media in the information age is the subject of chapter four. Exploring various economic,
governmental and technological challenges the media face in the information age the chapter finds
that the media face a paradox. They have a right to accrue profit while simultaneously have a
responsibility to report events in an informative and professional manner. Moreover, the project
concludes that infotainment is predominantly the result of consumer sovereignty: most citizens
prefer infotainment over information. Media firms merely supply the product that is demanded by
the mass of citizens. Chapter four ends with a brief exploration into the role the Internet might
have as a new form of mass media to bridge the chasm between infotainment and information. The
thesis concludes that the working model of the mass media, offered by James Curran, with his
emphasis on a core media sector encircled by satellite sectors, provides the firmest foundation for
both the fulfillment of the political roles of the media and the right of private media firms to strive
for incremental profit achievement in the information age. Lastly, it is contended that citizens
should demand a higher caliber and quality of news from media organizations so that they may
better develop their personal belief systems.

3

Chapter 1
Democracy and the Mass Media
Information has been described as the currency of democracy.
---Arthur Siegal, 1983 --

Foundations and Concepts in Liberal Democratic Thought
The goal of many political ideologies is democracy: a technique of decision-making whereby
citizens govern by way of majority rule. Democracy, both the word and form of political life,
originated in ancient Greece. The Greek noun demos (common people) combined with the Greek
verb kratein (rule) gave birth to demokratia --the rule or government of society by the common
people. From its conception in theory and inception in practice in ancient Greece, democracy has
been synonymous with forms of majority rule. However, majority rule within Greek civilization
meant that only adult males who were both free and Athenian could participate in political affairs.
Majority rule and thus democracy in Greece differed enormously from our contemporary Western
notion of democracy based on universal adult suffrage.

Dispute regarding the stability of democracy became readily apparent by the fifth and fourth
century BC. Plato (427-347 BC) argued that democracy was unstable and even volatile because
placing political power into the hands of the majority was granting power to the ignorant. Plato
believed this granting of power inevitably led to the misuse and abuse of power. This type of
political institution would lead to civil strife, war and ending in despotism.

A second individual who believed that democracy was both short-sighted and selfish was Aristotle
(384-322 BC). A student of Plato, Aristotle believed that the "common people will recklessly
pursue their own interests by taking property, wealth, and power from the few with no regard for
the peace and stability of the polis as a whole." 3 In an attempt to counter such rioting, Aristotle

3

Terence Ball and Richard Dagger, Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal (New York: Harper Collins, 1991),

26.

4

developed the conceptual apparatus he called the polity. The polity, Aristotle's preferred form of
majority rule, differed from democracy because it mixed elements of rule by the few with elements
of rule by the many. Amalgamating these two elements, each group was to act as a 'check' on the
other. Therefore, neither class could pursue its interest at the expense of the other. As Aristotle
was celebrating his political regime the polity, Greek democracy was experiencing an upheaval by
a larger political unit, the Hellenic Empire. From the outset of the Hellenic Empire under the rule of
Phillip of Macedonia (382-366 BC) until the birth of the Renaissance in Italy in 1250 AD,
democracy as a political institution and form of rule was non-existent.

The Renaissance, beginning in Italy in 1250 AD, brought back to life the dying breaths of
democracy and the city-state. During this period of time the world saw the works of Leonardo,
Michelangelo and Raphael, wonderful discoveries in mathematics that sparked the scientific
revolution, Luther rebelled against particular doctrines of the Catholic Church and Columbus
discovered the New World. "Such a prodigious development of human consciousness and culture
had not been seen since the ancient Greek miracle at the very birth of Western civilization."4
Moreover, the city-states which were blossoming with commercial and cultural energy provided a
new stage on which political life might perform. The state, during this time of rebirth, was viewed
as an instrument to be controlled by human will and intellect. Based on the writings of Aristotle,
there was a call for the return of civic life where high-spirited and rejuvenated citizens could once
again participate in the governance of their cities. Fundamental to the revival of Greek democracy
were the concepts of liberty, virtue and corruption. 5 No one wrote more extensively on these
concepts than Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527). Machiavelli, in his book the Discourses on the
First Ten Books of Titius Liyy, expounded a political vision that attempted to harness together
observations of despotism and ideas about the law, liberty and the state. 6 It is in this text that he
expounds upon the old Republican system of government and endorses a mixed government as the
ideal instrument for governing society.
4

Richard Tamas, The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas That Have Shaped Our World View
(New York: Ballantine Books, 1991), 224.
5
Ball and Dagger, Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal, 31.
6
Roger Scruton, A Dictionary Of Political Thought (New York: Hill and Wang, 1982), 279-280.

5

The revival of the Republican system, as endorsed by Machiavelli, as the ideal form of government
spread from Italy into Great Britain in the seventeenth century and then into the American colonies
in the eighteenth century. Democracy became increasingly popular throughout the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries respectively. "Modem democratic rule emerged in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries with the breaking of the private franchise on political rights held by the royalty and
nobility of Western nations." 7 Its popularity may be attributed to a number of social and economic
developments that the Industrial Revolution brought. Most importantly were the growth of the
city, improvements in communications technology and the spread of public education; all incited
interest in political matters. 8 "Although the approaches to democratic rule varied from nation to
nation, the concerns expressed by citizens remained the same: to set the citizen above the state and
to provide maximum liberty for individuals while treating all citizens equally." 9 Democracy
returned as a preferred system of governance but owed its success to liberalism.

Liberalism is more than three hundred years old.

Its penultimate goal is the promotion of

individual liberty and freedom. Humans, within this doctrine, are seen as rational individuals who
know what and where their self-interest lies. Moreover, this view of human nature stresses that if
individuals are not inhibited to pursue their self-interests, they will achieve their goal if given the
opportunity.

Liberalism originated and developed in opposition to the hierarchical political and social institutions
of the despotic monarchies in Medieval European society. Its foundation was based on a reaction
against two prominent features of Medieval Europe. 10 First, ascribed status fixed an individual's
social standing at birth. This form of social and political organization provided the foundation for
feudalism and the hierarchical nature of European society. Liberalism attacked this alienating social
instrument by arguing for a rollback of state power and the creation of a civil society where "social
7

Robert G. Picard, The Press and the Decline of Democracy (London: Greeenwood Press, 1985), 5.
Ball and Dagger, Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal, 39.
9
Picard, The Press and the Decline of Democracy, 6.
10
Ball and Dagger, Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal, 39.
8

6

relations, including private business, nonstate institutions, family and personal life could evolve
without state interference." 11 This argument rested on the foundations .of a free market and the
right to own private property. Of utmost importance in its struggle against ascribed status was
giving the middle-class (bankers and merchants) the economic opportunity to participate in their
domestic economies. The belief that the best way to promote and advance the common good was to
permit individuals to pursue their private interests soon became the cornerstone of liberal economic
thought.

Secondly, religious conformity was the second feature of European society that

liberalism was a reaction against. Both religious and political authorities reinforced the doctrines of
the Roman Church. Liberals advanced the argument that state power cannot be based on divine
right but on the will of the sovereign people. Consequently, this argument necessitated the revival
of democracy because mechanisms of political representation needed to guarantee that those who
held power were placed there by popular support and to provide a check on their power.
Liberalism fought for the natural rights of individuals and for individual liberty against the
hierarchical social, political and economic institutions of Medieval Europe.

In the affluent liberal states of the Western world, the desires and goals of early liberals are deeply
engraved in its political institutions. Liberalism is committed to democracy insofar as that it has
maintained its fundamental tenet -- individual equality. Liberals stress this principle and believe
that the way to achieve this goal is through limiting the power and functions of the state. The state
should be neutral, leaving individuals free to pursue their self-interest. The tradition that became
liberal democracy, based upon liberalism's two criticisms of Medieval European monarchies, was
"liberal first (aimed at restricting state power over civil society) and democratic later (aimed at
creating structures that would secure a popular mandate for holders of state power)." 12

The earliest model of liberal democracy was conceived in the early nineteenth century by two of its
founding contributors, Jeremy Bentham and James Mill. Devising a new model was essential, as
Levine notes,
11

Georg Sorenson, Democracy and Democratization: Processes and Prospects in a Changing World (San Francisco:
Westview Press, 1993), 5.
12
Ibid.

7

The social and political reorganization of seventeenth - and
eighteenth century Europe -- the dissolution of feudal society, the
emergence of the nation state and the imitations of popular power -all cast traditional notions of authority and obligation into crisis.
The old inherited assumptions proved inadequate to the new social
experience. Political life had to be rethought, its foundations
reconstructed and its fundamental assumptions transformed. 13
Bentham's and Mill's model was premised on two distinct beliefs: (1) citizens should be protected
against the abuse of power by government and (2) that those in power would pursue the policies
that the citizens desired. John Stuart Mill, son of James Mill, further developed the original model
of liberal democracy by advocating a more prominent role for democracy, persuasively arguing that
democracy was a vital instrument for achieving free human development.

Liberal democracy

emphasizes the importance of individual rights and liberty. For the liberal, everyone is supposed
to be free to participate in public life if they desire.

Liberal democracy has become a legitimate and widely accepted form of government only when
united with the ideals and implementation of the rule of law. Democracy in advanced capitalist
societies has come to imply freedom in the form of social, political and economic rights. Liberal
democracy denotes,
a system in which the majority chooses rulers, who must govern
them within the rule of law. This is what Aristotle meant by polity.
The term liberal democracy must be carefully interpreted. It refers to
liberalism in the broadest sense, without distinguishing it between
classical and reform liberalism. Whatever their disagreements about
laissez-faire, social justice, redistribution, or government
intervention, classical and reform liberals are united in their support
of constitutional procedures, the limited state and a private sphere of
personal freedom. 14
Liberal democracy then is a system of government where citizens rule themselves indirectly
through elected representatives who themselves are subject to the rule of law.

As Dickerson and Flanagan (1994) observe, liberal democracy operates on four main principles:
equality of political rights, majority rule, political participation and political freedom. Equality of
13

Andrew Levine, Liberal Democracy: A Critique of its Theory (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), 14.
Mark 0. Dickerson and Thomas Hanagan, An Introduction to Government and Politics: A Conceptual Approach
(4th ed.) (Scarbourough: Nelson Canada, 1994), 191.
14

8

political rights implies that every individual in a democratic society, regardless of race, sex or creed
has "the same right to vote, run for office, serve on a jury, speak on public issues, and carry out
other public functions." 15 "Equality has to do with 'sameness' and its proper recognition: things
(persons, groups or whatever) are equal if they are the same in important respects and the principle
of equality demands that things which are the same in relevant important respects ought to be
treated equally." 16

The interrelationship between democracy and equality is so strong that

democracy itself is defined in terms of political equality. This first operating principle leads into
the second, majority rule. Majority rule assures each citizen that their vote is counted equally
against other votes. Derived from the principle of political equality, majority rule is a major
mechanism of decision-making in democracies whereby the preferences of the majority are to be
promoted by government.

It is pertinent to note that various mutations of the principle of majority rule do exist and are
exercised in liberal democratic societies. One such mutation is the election to public office by way
of plurality. Plurality is the winning of office by the successful candidate with the largest number
of votes irrespective of the fact that if the number of votes may be less than fifty-one percent.
Canada, Great Britain and the United States of America are examples of liberal democracies which
employ plurality as an instrument to decide who is victorious in election. A second mutation of
majority rule and the antithesis of plurality is a qualified majority. In this species of majority rule,
greater majorities than fifty percent plus one are normally required to settle matters in order to
protect the rights of minorities. Because a qualified majority is more difficult to achieve it becomes
increasingly arduous for the majority to act against the minority. ''The qualified majority, while a
constraint against democracy, is within the spirit of the rule of law. It is incorporated in most
modem democracies as part of the process of constitutional amendment, on the assumption that the
fundamental laws of the state are so important that they should not be easily altered by a simple
majority." 17 Irrespective of the type of majority rule used in a democratic society, the practical task
of motivating citizens to vote is the third operating principle of a liberal democracy.
Ibid., 192.
Bary Holden, Understanding Liberal Democracy (New York: Phillip Allan Publishers, 1988), 15.
17
Mark 0 . Dickerson, An Introduction, 195.

IS
16

9

Political participation is the crux of democracy. However, with the size of our mass society, our
complex economy and heterogeneous culture, the implementation of a representative form of
government is more necessary than ever before. Representative government is so closely aligned
with democracy that a large percentage of society views them as synonymous. Representative
government allows democracy in mass societies because of its ability for elected officials to
represent the interests of their constituents.

This form of liberal democracy attempts to achieve direct democracy in a symbolic way. Because
all citizens cannot always be present to participate in the actions of their government, "their

presence must be metaphorical in form. That is, practices and institutional arrangements must be
adapted that allow the practice of government as if the people were directly involved and in control
of things." 18 The primary act of political participation by the mass of citizens becomes that of
voting. "Individuals are free not just when they are unsubjected to the processes of government but
also when they participate in, and thereby help to take charge of, these processes. The idea can
also link up with other conceptions of the way in which self-government enhances liberty." 19
Granted, there are a number of means in which individuals may and do participate in the political
process and many of them were developed as the concept of equality of opportunity was
conceived. As unfortunate as it may be, most citizens do not take the opportunity to participate
directly in the political process. Elected officials are agents for the citizenry whose authority and
power is made legitimate through the instrument of elections.

When the concerns of a

constituency, its needs and problems are properly addressed, and all views regarding such matters
given reasonable consideration, political representation is said to occur. "Practices and institutional
arrangements that make these aspects of direct participation by the citizenry 'present' in the indirect
conduct of government would thus be seen to provide political representation of that citizenry."20

18
T.C. Pocklington, Representative Democracy: An Introduction to Politics and Government (2nd ed.) (Toronto:
Harcourt-Brace and Company 1991), 16.
19
Holden, Understanding Liberal Democracy , 21.
20
Ibid., 18.

10

The fourth operating principle, political freedom, is a necessary condition for liberal democracy to
exist. "An infallible test for political freedom is the legitimacy of opposition: freedom is only
meaningful if it extends to those whose opinions differ from the opinions of those in authority." 21
Opposition in a liberal democracy is also bound to the rule of law just like the individuals in power.
Synonymous with freedom is liberty, "liberty means freedom in a social context.

The term

'individual liberty' then refers to the freedom of individuals with respect to their social -- and
particularly their political -- environment. " 22 Political freedom is characterized by numerous
aspects: freedom of speech, thought and religion, the freedom to criticize government, freedom to
form and join political parties other than the one in power. Arguably the most important freedom a
citizen in a liberal democratic society is entitled to is the freedom of information. That means the
freedom to have available the maximum possible range of information and analysis on issues
affecting an individual's social, economic and political surroundings. The primary institution that
performs these functions is the mass media.

Political Roles of the Mass Media in Liberal Democracies
Liberal democracy requires a free press, one that provides information-rich news and diversity in
its analysis of public affairs. Freedom of the press is understood to mean that journalists are
seriously constrained by neither government nor private interests. Because we live in such a
heterogeneous and complex society, most 'events' fall outside a citizen's direct experience; citizens
require accessible sources of information and interpretation of such 'events'.

Consequently,

citizens depend on the mass media for information and analysis from which their understanding of
political, economic and social issues of society, their personal ideologies and their political
decisions partially derive.

Arguably, the size and complexities of liberal democratic societies mean that we need the mass
media just as we need representative government. The size of our society is not conducive to direct
democracy. If it were there would be no need for today's mass media as a conduit of political
21
22

Dickerson and Flanagan, An Introduction, 200-201.
Holden, Understanding Liberal Democracy, 18.

11

information. In a direct democracy the medium that would provide the flow of information would
be oral in the form of conversations, discussions, meetings and arguments among its citizens. 23
But if a representative form of government is desired or needed then, as Gilsdorf asserts, "it goes
without saying that there has to be a free and open system of various kinds of media of mass
communication . .. to put forward ideas, to contest with or oppose others, to be informed to the
fullest extent possible, to have access to information and different points of view. " 24 Establishing
this democratic system of communications to transmit ideas of differing viewpoints, the media
have to be free from state control. Some state regulation to promote diversity is not bad but the
media must strive to avoid only presenting particular interests in society.

Modern Western democracy brought many changes, one of the most important being a change in
the qualifications necessary to rule.

This profound change was based on the spread of

information. As time passed, citizens were able to govern their affairs, indirectly, in the name of
the 'common good' by way of informed decision making.

"As a consequence, information

institutions became and have remained essential to democracies because they inform the public
about the important issues of the day and the various solutions proposed by competing elites who
wish to rule. " 25 In contemporary times, the mass media are fully integrated and indispensable in
our modern society providing an essential service to all layers of society.

The liberal-pluralist view of the media contends that the media should be one set of institutions
with a plurality of interests that comprise a democratic society. 26 Within this perspective the media
are referred to as the "fourth estate" whose mandate is "the pursuit of information in the name of
the public good" 27 and to preserve liberal democracy by disseminating information to all layers of
society and providing an arena of discussion and debate to incite public participation in the political
process. "In their liberal democracy the press was to act as though everyone was not only capable

23

Bob Gilsdorf, "The Mass Media," in T.C. Pocklington, ed., Representative Democracy, 358.
Ibid.
25
Rowland Lorimer and Jean McNulty, Mass Communication in Canada (2nd ed.) (Toronto: McCelland and Stewart
Inc., 1992), 70.
26
Ibid., 71.
27
Ibid.
24

12

but likely to make independent judgments about public affairs according to individual appraisals of
truth and social worth." 28 Historically, this view of the media as 'watchdog' derives from a period
when the mass media were highly politicized and adversarial. Free speech was viewed as a
defense against absolutism and the 'watchdog' role only applied to the state because its formulation
derived during a time when that state was unresponsive to the needs of its citizens. 29 "The mass
media are social institutions that function within particular political and legal constraints, employing
a distinctive mixture of trained personnel, following specific information-gathering procedures, to
create material for either visual, auditory or conceptually-oriented media." 30 Thus, it does not
follow that they are neutral transmitters of information; nor does it follow that, as an instrument of
the democratic process, they provide a smooth and equal two-way flow of communication between
citizens and their govemment. 3 1 Despite its shortcomings, the media play a vital role in liberal
democratic societies.

A free and responsible press is a rational press, a press that employs the method of reason.32 What
makes the media free is that its functions are executed by free individuals who "draw on moral
insight, intellectual skills, and their special gift of communicating clearly and impressively so as to
educate their readers about important matters of the day and the relevance of those matters to the
higher aims and ideas of a civilized society".33 As both Lorimer (1994) and Newman (1989)
observe, the mass media are not completely free, they are owned and operated by individuals who
exert influence in its day-to-day operations; nonetheless it has come to be called free because it
does inform the public more freely than other sources. Historically, this 'freedom' of the mass
media is derived from one of the most fundamental rights to which an individual living m a
democratic society is entitled -- freedom of speech.

Edwin R. Black, Mass Media as the Enemy Within: Reflections on Democracy in W.J.S. 's Writings , (Mimeo,
1995), 3.
29
James Curran, "Mass Media and Democracy: A Reappraisal," in James Curran and Michael Gurevitch, eds., Mass
Media And Society (London: Edward Arnold, 1994), 86.
30
Rowland Lorimer, Mass Communication: A Comparative Introduction (New York: Manchester University Press,
1994), 39.
31
Ibid.
32
Jay Newman, The Journalist in Plato's Cave (New Jersey: Associated University Presses, 1989), 142.
33
Ibid., 148.
28

13

Most people defend freedom of speech and freedom of the press with the same breath. Contending
that freedom of the press is an off-spring of freedom of speech, they consider it to be one of the
most fundamental freedoms upholding our democratic society. It must be observed that the mass
media, by way of freedom of the press, enhance the flow of ideas and information but also inhibit
it. "Nothing guarantees that all valuable information, ideas, theories, explanations, proposals and
points of view will find expression in the public forum." 34 Lichtenberg furthers her criticism that
freedom of the press is not freedom of speech by stating that freedom of the press should ''be
contingent on the degree to which it promotes certain values at the core of our interest in freedom
of expression generally." 35 Most individuals treat or equate the media as the 'voice of the people'.
Defending the media within this perspective is equivalent to defending an individual's right to
freedom of speech. However, it is incorrect to presume that defending freedom of speech is
tantamount to supporting freedom of the press.

A means of differentiating between the two freedoms is to ask: what do we mean by free speech?
Lichtenberg (1990) proposes two main principles: (1) the noninterference principle where people
be allowed to communicate without interference and (2) the multiplicity of voices principle
contending that there should be many different ideas being communicated throughout society. 36 To
assist our understanding of these principles it is beneficial to parallel them to liberalism's
conceptions of positive and negative freedom. Isaiah Berlin, in his influential work Four Essays
on Liberty (1969), argues that to understand negative freedom one must ask: "what is the area
within the subject -- a person or group of persons -- is or should be left to do or be what he is able
to do or be, without interference by other persons?" 37 By positive freedom Berlin poses the
question: "what, or who, is the source of control or interference that can determine someone to do,
or be, this rather than that?" 38 In short, the notion of negative freedom implies the freedom from

34

Judith Lichtenberg, "Foundations and Limits of Freedom of the Press,' in J. Lichtenberg, ed., Democracy and the
Mass Media (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990), 102.
35
Ibid.
36
Ibid., 107.
37
Isaiah Berlin, Four Essays On Liberty (New York: Oxford University Press, 1969), 121-122.
38
Ibid.

14

obstacles while the notion of positive freedom is concerned with the source of obstacles that
impede an individual from striving after their own interests.

Using Lichtenberg's goals of free speech, it is possible to describe the differing commitments as
two basic principles whose roots were planted in liberalism's two conceptions of freedom. The
first principle is the noninterference principle.

When paralleled with negative freedom both

contend that an individual should be uninhibited to think, speak, hear and believe as one wishes.
When viewed in tandem with positive freedom, the second principle, the multiplicity of voices,
argues that the ideal of freedom of speech is realized when a diversity of view points flourishes in
the 'marketplace of ideas'. It is similar to the notion of positive freedom insofar as it accepts a
certain degree of government intervention to advance the multiplicity of ideas existing throughout
society just as positive freedom allows government intervention to reduce inequalities in life so
individuals are entitled to equality of opportunity in their pursuit of self-interest.

Our deepest interest in free speech lies within the leitmotif of liberalism -- autonomy. At its most
primal level, autonomy stresses the need for an individual to act without interference from others.

It contends that a person be entitled to think for him or herself and not be subjected to another's
will. Moreover, our fundamental interest in freedom of speech extends not only to the belief that
individuals be permitted to think for themselves but also to communicate their thoughts and beliefs
to others.

Citizens residing in a democratic polity, as those deciding who shall be elected to power, need a
lot, if not full information, to make intelligent political choices. Alexander Meiklejohn, in his book
Political Freedom: The Constitutional Powers of the People (1960), stresses two functions of
freedom of speech. 39 The first is the informative function which ensures that free speech and the
flow of information permeates all levels of society whereby citizens have sufficient information to
make informed decisions regarding matters affecting them.
39

A second democratic role the

Alexander Meiklejohn, Political Freedom: The Constitutional Powers of the People (New York: Harper, 1960), 8 28.

15

informative function performs is that it provides information to political representatives who can
then better understand their constituents' concerns. The second function, the critical function, is
primarily performed by the mass media who serve as the people's 'watchdog', ensuring a diversity
of information and viewpoints. "Moving from the individual to the society, an enlightened society
is one in which, following on public dialogue and debate, a balance has been struck between
conflicting interests. Enlightenment is thus inseparable from the democratic process."40

How are Lichtenberg's principles of free speech and Meiklejohn's two functions of freedom to be
implemented to advance democracy vis avis a working model for the freedom of the press?

Any

model that depicts how the mass media in a democratic system should function is purely
normative. Bernard Cohen (1963) identified six roles the mass media play in liberal democratic
societies. 41 The media can act as an informer, an interpreter, an advocate of government, a critic of
government, an advocate of its own policies or a worker with the government in policy
formulation. "The informer and interpreter roles of mass media constitute the core of daily news
activities ... the remaining roles of the press relate to the decision-making process."42 Investigating
and reporting news, voicing citizen concerns and making subjective comments regarding the
accountability of the government to its citizens, the mass media convey information to the citizenry
and the government.

Responsiveness on the part of the elected government to the public will is a vital component of
liberal democracy. It would be extremely difficult for democracy to flourish without a mass media
system capable of conveying a diversity of opinions and information. How such a system is to
operate in a liberal democratic society has been the source of abrasive debate. Are the media to
operate uninhibited as in Lichtenberg's noninterference principle, paying heed only to the 'invisible
hand' of the free market to ensure a variety of information and opinion thus fulfilling its democratic
responsibilities? Or, is the media to act in a socially-responsible manner where the need for
40

Lichtenberg, Democracy and the Mass Media, 113.
Bernard Cohen, The Press and Foreign Policy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963), 17-47.
42
Walter C. Soderland, "Mass Media in Canadian Politics: Basic Issues In A Contemporary Context," in R. Krause
and R.H. Wagenberg, eds., Canadian Government and Politics (2nd ed.) (Toronto: Copp-Clark, 1995), 328-329.
41

16

government regulation is necessary to guarantee a 'multiplicity of voices' that provides
information-rich news and diversity, thus providing incentive for citizen participation in the
political process?

The Libertarian and Social Responsibility Theories of the Press
"The importance of the press in the democratic process has been recognized since the seventeenth
century." 43 Today the relationship between the mass media, government and society is complex but
necessary to understand. The nature of this relationship is explored according to the two dominant
theories of the mass media in Western liberal democratic societies. The seminal work in this area
and a basic reference for this section is Four Theories of the Press (1971) by Frederick Siebert. 44
The libertarian and social responsibility theories of the press prescribe the normative roles the mass
media should execute in liberal democracies. "The ideal of the press as a civic institution made its
way from the inter-war critiques of liberal democracy into the midcentury dogmas of the liberal
elites." 45 The libertarian theory of the press derives from the concept of natural rights and the selffulfllling reasoning individual. Composed from much of the arguments of John Locke, John
Milton and John Stuart Mill, its premise lay in the 'invisible hand' of free enterprise.

In

contradistinction, the social responsibility theory of the press arises from the inadequacies and
fallacies of the libertarian theory.

Developed in 1947 in the United States by the Hutchins

Commission on the Freedom of the Press, this doctrine postulated that the mass media was being
overtaken by big business, and the advent of radio and television as new instruments of mass
communication required government regulation to ensure the democratic responsibilities of the
mass media were fulfilled.

Libertarian Theory of the Press
The mass media within the libertarian theory of the press operate under the dogma of liberalism.
Principles of this theory are based on arguments put forth by some of the prominent thinkers of
liberalism, primarily John Locke who argues that humans are rational individuals who seek their
43

Picard, The Press and the Declince of Democracy, 12.
Frederick Siebert, Four Theories of the Press (U.S.A.: University of Illinois Press, 1973).
45
Edwin R. Black, Politics and the News (Toronto: Buttersworth, 1982), 27.
44

17

own well-being and happiness. "As it developed ... the libertarian theory required a society with a
free marketplace of ideas and information in which all people might develop to the full their gifts of
reason andjudgment." 46 The fulfillment of an individual's self-development and interest becomes
the ultimate goal. Therefore, the prime function of society is to advance the interests of its
individual members. "The state exists as a method of providing the individual with a milieu in
which he can realize his own potentialities."47 Liberal philosophy made important contributions to
the status and function of the mass media, most influential were ''the insistence on the importance
of the individual, the reliance on his powers of reasoning, and the concept of natural rights of
which freedom of religion, speech, and the press became a part."48

The nineteenth century witnessed the enactment of libertarian theory of the press into practice.
During this century, the authoritarian system in Western societies, of the press was in drastic
decline. The transfer from authoritarianism to libertarian ideals of the media did not occur quickly.
"The main battle to establish freedom for the media was fought in the eighteenth century, and in the
vanguard of that fight were the printers and publishers of newspapers." 49 The call to battle was
signaled on two fronts.

The first was the ever-present threat of the media being charged with

seditious libel (the printing of stories which were perceived to incite people to rebel against the
government); the second dealt with publishing government documents or, rather, the inability to
report and print parliamentary proceedings.

The governments in both Britain and the United States, at the time, sought to control open criticism
of their activities through prosecutions for seditious libel. "During the eighteenth century, the
courts adhered to the principle that publishing material attacking government policies or personnel
tended to undermine that state and therefore was illegal."50 Another problem, a subsidiary of the
first, was the question of whether a publisher had the right to publish information that was harmful
in nature, but grounded in truth. Could a publisher print their opinions? "Libertarian principles
46

Black, Mass Media as the Enemy Within, 3.
Siebert, Four Theories of the Press, 40.
48
Ibid., 44.
49
Ibid. , 47.
50
Ibid., 48.
47

18

finally triumphed with the establishment of truth as a defense m America by constitutional
provisions and in England by a Parliamentary Act (1843)."51

The second front of the battle, the right to publish government proceedings, was decided in
Britain, in favor of libertarian principles near the end of the eighteenth century. The media of the
time argued that because members of parliament were representing the interests of the people, the
media, as carriers of information, had the right to inform the public of the happenings in
parliament. The battle between the mass media and government resulted in a victory for openness.
''The contest for recognition of libertarian doctrines as they affected the press culminated in the
formulation and adoption of Bills of Rights which included provisions establishing press
freedom."52 Protections for the media to publish government proceedings, through the doctrine of
the freedom of the press, in both Britain and the United States were enshrined in law and the issue
of the limitations of the press became a topic of fierce debate. While the libertarian theory of the
press argued that "all should have access to the 'market' little thought was given to how this might
be done beyond the assertion that above all the state must refrain from suppressing any
communication unless everybody agreed that it threatened the continuance of the free society
itself."53

To recapitulate, the philosophical foundation of the libertarian press system was formulated by
prominent liberal thinkers such as Locke in the seventeenth century, "the details were worked out

and put into practice in the eighteenth century; and the system spread throughout the world when
liberalism was at its zenith in the nineteenth century."54 Under the rubric of the libertarian theory
of the press, the mass media are foremost to inform and second to entertain. A third function, the
sales function, assures media institutions financial independence thus diminishing the influence,
reliance and role of the government. A fourth function of the media was to provide a check on
government and keep it from abusing its authority. "Basically the underlying purpose of the media
51

Ibid.
Ibid., 49.
53
Black, Mass Media as the Enemy Within, 3.
54
Siebert, Four Theories of the Press, 50.
52

19

was to help discover truth, to assist in the process of solving political and social problems by
presenting all manner of evidence and opinion as the basis for decisions." 55

The libertarian theory of the press acknowledges the reality that not all information reaching the
public would be factual. Regardless, libertarians believed that the state should not have the right to
suppress information, even information of unsound nature. Rather, the alternative road taken by
libertarians was, similar to Lichtenberg's multiplicity of voices principle, to let the public "be
subjugated to a barrage of information and opinion, some of it possibly true, some of it possibly
false, and some of it containing elements of both."56

Because individuals are self-interested

creatures with the capacity to reason, they could be trusted to sift through the glut of information
and use that which was relevant to their purposes. This 'self-righting' process was essential to
democracy because in a society where a multiplicity of voices dominated the lines of
communication, it was vital that an individual possess the skills necessary to deduce what was in
their interest and the community's.

The economic component of the libertarian theory of the press rested upon that of liberalism's freemarket and the 'invisible-hand'. It argued that any citizen who had the means and the desire could
own and operate an institution of the media. "It was also assumed that the mass media would
operate in a capitalistic society in which free enterprise was the guiding principle. This meant that
the instruments of communication would be privately owned and would compete in a free

market."57 The state was to provide a secure foundation for the multiplicity of voices to be heard,
individuals to interact and for the mass media to execute their natural rights. In the end it was the
self-interested, rational individual who determined the success of the enterprise based on its
adequacies of providing the citizen with relevant, pertinent as well as entertaining information to
assist them in their pursuit to full self-development.

Ibid., 51.
Ibid.
57
Ibid., 52.

55

56

20

The history of the libertarian theory of the press has "paralleled the development of democratic
principles in government and free enterprise in economics."58

The libertarian's greatest

shortcoming was its failure to promote standards and operating procedures for the mass media in
their daily operations. This led to an abuse of liberty whereby not every citizen had the opportunity
to hear differing viewpoints and arguments on the events of the day.

Rather, the economic

philosophy of the marketplace of ideas led to a concentration of ownership in the mass
communication industries and displaced the responsibilities of the media as a vital instrument in the
democratic process.

Faith in the libertarian theory of the press declined and the theory soon became the object of
criticism. Much of the criticism targeted the libertarian theory of the press' adherence to the
economic dogma of the free market; critics lamented that the media became subservient to big
business, owners pursued their own political ends and that media content became superficial, not
informative, in its reporting.

As the media became an economic mammoth of mass

communications in the twentieth century, issues of the moral responsibilities of the media, its
owners, editors and journalists and their duties to ensure the public's right to know came into
question.

A theory which sought answers to such issues as well as the media's moral

responsibility, above and beyond profit was the social responsibility theory of the press.

Social Responsibility Theory of the Press

The social responsibility theory of the press represents significant changes from the libertarian
theory. The social responsibility theory stipulates that the mass media have a moral responsibility
to the public, whereas the libertarian theory of the press never established this priority or mandate.
The title social responsibility "aptly describes the model evident in recommendations made by
groups such as the U.K. Royal' Commission on the Press (1949), the unofficial but prestigious
American Commission on the Freedom of the Press (1947-49), and similar groups in those and
other English-speaking countries."59
58

59

Ibid.
Black, Politics and the News, 28-29.

21

The social responsibility theory of the press was conceived in the twentieth century. The functions
of the press under this model are to "provide a truthful, comprehensive, and intelligent account of
the day's events. They should project the diverse views and opinions of society's different groups
to each other and provide a general forum of comment and opinion. "60 The functions of the media
under this doctrine are similar to those of the libertarian theory of the press as Peterson writes:
Six tasks came to be ascribed to the press as traditional theory
evolved: (1) servicing the political system by providing information,
discussion, and debate on public affairs; (2) enlightening the public
so as to make it capable of self-government; (3) safeguarding the
rights of the individual by servicing as a watchdog against
government; (4) servicing the economic system primarily by
bringing together the buyers and sellers of goods and services
through the medium of advertising; (5) providing entertainment; (6)
maintaining its own financial self-sufficiency so as to be free from
the pressures of social interests.61

The libertarian and the social responsibility of the press may appear to be one and the same because
they adhere to some of the same principles. However, the latter differs from the former in that it
disagrees on the interpretation of these principles by owners of the media.

The social

responsibility endorses the political roles of the media and safeguarding informed citizenship. It
even accepts the media operating in the free market but it resents the media giving economics and
the quest for profit precedence over promoting the democratic process.

The social responsibility paradigm severs itself completely from the libertarian philosophy by
acknowledging the possibility, but only if necessary, of government intervention to ensure a
multiplicity of voices in the free marketplace of ideas.

What the social responsibility theory

"sought from the press was a public warehouse of facts that would supplement, even if not
replace, the retail marketplace of ideas."62 It is this principle that establishes this doctrine as an
independent theory of the media.

As previously cited, the heritage of the social responsibility

60

Ibid.
Theodore Peterson, "The Social-Responsibility Theory of the Press," in Frederick Siebert, ed., Four Theories of
the Press, 74.
62
Black, Mass Media as the Enemy Within, 3.

61

22

theory rests in the Royal Commission on Freedom of the Press in Britain (1949). But where did
the rationale for the social responsibility theory of the press derive?

As stated, the theory was conceived in the twentieth century. A century earlier, an event that
changed the face of existence and encouraged the need for the social responsibility theory was the
industrial revolution. The industrial revolution fostered technological and social changes, the
magnitude of which we are still experiencing. Both affected the mass media because technological
innovations increased the size, speed and efficiency of the old media. Advancements in technology
also gave the media the ability to serve a diverse and diffuse audience as never before experienced.
However, communication industries also became increasingly expensive to start and run; the result
being the concentration of ownership.

As the mass media grew, readership increased while the number of competing papers decreased,
criticisms of the media increased in number and intensity. Themes of such criticism were that the
media had accumulated massive power which its owners used to pursue their own interests, that
the press resisted social change, that the media endangered public morals, that it was controlled by
an elite socio-economic class and it emphasized entertainment over the significant. 63 Thereafter,
critics found fault in the declining numbers of daily circulations which threatened the flow of ideas,
the emphasis on sensationalism in the media, the domination of radio and television programming
by a select few networks and the monopolistic practices of the motion picture industry. 64

A

different direction from which the media drew criticism and one that facilitated the growth of the
social responsibility theory of the press was the intellectual arena. The libertarian theory of the
press was a creature of its time; it was influenced by the natural rights philosophy of Locke,
advancements in science and the doctrine of classical economics. This theory "accommodated
itself to the world view of the Enlightenment .... (b )ut the revolution in modem thought has all but
demolished the world view which supported the libertarian theory of the press."65

63

Peterson, The Social-Responsibility Theory of the Press, 78.
Ibid., 78-80.
65
Ibid., 80.

64

23

The social responsibility theory of the press represents a collectivist theory of society which
presupposes that society might sometimes take priority over the individual. The media are to act
against both concentrations of economic power and totalitarianism, each enemies of liberal
democracy. The idea further postulates that the "major means of communication become 'common
carriers' rather like telephone and telegraph or railway and highway systems, all of which carried
whatever traffic they picked up without bias towards anyone."66 The fundamental premises of
democratic capitalism, the free market and the law of supply and demand, underwent
reconstructive surgery within the social responsibility theory of the press, the result being the
media developing a sense of accountability and a mission to serve the general welfare.

According to the 1949 Royal Commission, society called on five requirements from the social
responsibility theory of the press for liberal democracy to prosper. 67 The first requirement was to
provide information in a true, informative and meaningful context. By doing so, citizens could
draw an accurate picture of the day's happenings from a variety of sources, thereby expediting the
'self-righting' process. A second requirement was for the media to serve as a forum for public
conversation, debate and criticism. The media, acting as common carriers of public discussion,
should attempt to represent all viewpoints while simultaneously identifying all its sources of
information. Moreover, all news was to be reported impartially and with the greatest objectivity.
"Objective reporting meant presenting information as impersonally and completely as possible.
Everything was to be done to enable the reader as citizen to build his own picture of reality for
himself on the basis of the facts and nothing but the facts." 68 A third requirement was that the
media accurately portray social groups. This requirement is vital if the media wishes to convey
truthful information to its audience. Presenting and clarifying goals was the fourth requirement.
This colossal responsibility was to be executed in editorial columns and impartial reporting. The
final requirement of the media was that they provide full access of information to citizens.
Expounding upon the individual's right to 'freedom of information' , there must be a wide

66

Black, Politics and the News , 28.
Peterson in Siebert, Four Theories of the Press, 87-92.
68
Black, Politics and the News, 28.

67

24

distribution of news and opinion and it was the social responsibility of the media to break down
barriers to the free flow of information and news.

To accomplish these five operating principles successfully, assistance from one institution may be
required -- one that would appall all proponents of the libertarian theory of the press, the
government.

The government, proponents of the social responsibility theory attest, would

acknowledge that the media must remain in the hands of the private sector but that it could help the
media fulfill its obligations to citizens by providing the type of communications system needed to
successfully achieve its social and moral responsibilities to society. "Social responsibility theory
of the press holds that government must not merely allow freedom; it must actively promote it. .." 69
Government must exercise its legal power to ensure satisfactory media performance. Ways in
which governments can provide this service are many. "It may enact legislation to forbid flagrant
abuses of the press which 'poison the wells of public opinion,' for example, or it may enter the
field of communications to supplement existing media."70

The social responsibility theory "rests on a foundation of thought which has amended certain
fundamental assumptions of libertarian theory and which has largely rejected others. The concept
of liberty which it represents is fundamentally different from that which traditional theory
represented. "71 Again it is beneficial to parallel the two theories discussed above with negative and
positive freedom. The libertarian theory of the press was borne out of negative freedom; the
freedom from external restraints. In contradistinction, the social responsibility theory of the press
derives itself from the concept of positive freedom; freedom resulting from the influence of external
restraints. The libertarian model contended that self-development would inevitably occur through
the 'self-righting' principle of the media -- as long as the media remained unhampered from
external restraint.

The social responsibility paradigm and positive freedom, viewed negative

freedom as inefficient; it is necessary to provide an individual with the means to achieve their goals
and self-fulfillment, hence government intervention.
69

Peterson in Siebert, Four Theories of the Press, 95.
Ibid.
71
Ibid., 93.
70

25

''The rather general labeling of the libertarian and social responsibility doctrines as 'theories' does
not mean that they are in any way explanatory of the way the mass media acted .. . the liberal
theories were wholly normative in character and simply prescribed codes of preferred moral
conduct for the mass media.'.n To help understand how the media have acted and thus appreciate
their impact on societies and the democratic process, it is useful to discuss a summary of the
development of the media beginning with print culture and the Gutenberg press in 1455 AD.

Summary of the Development of the Mass Media
Communication is an exchange of ideas, opinion and information. As an activity, communication
has evolved from non-verbal body gestures to a system of spoken language. As societies grew in
number and intellect the development of a communications system became necessary to store,
retrieve and disseminate information. Progressing from stone, to clay, to bamboo and finally to
papyrus as the favored object for documentation, writing was the major cultural and technological
innovation that transformed the landscape of the world. Printing marks the transition from the
Middle Ages to the Modem era. However, it was the arrival of the remarkable invention the
printing press that facilitated this change.

The origin of the printing press is ambiguous. Even the correct spelling of the last name of the
individual credited for its conception is an area of contest. Johannes Gansfleisch zur Laden zum
Gutenberg' s printing press became the prototype for mass production and "impacted directly on the
world of ideas by making knowledge widely available and by creating a space in which new forms
of expression could flourish."73 Gutenberg's invention dealt a serious blow to 'vernacular literacy'
where the majority of written communication was produced and possessed by the church.
Acquiring literature was now a one-step process and with the assistance of paper written
communication became, to borrow a term from Harold A. Innis, "spatially biased". This is to say

72

Black, Politics and the News , 30.
Paul Heyer and David Crowley, Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society (New York:
Longman, 1991 ), 80.

73

26

that in the form of books, information was easily transported, much more easily than clay or stone.
Gutenberg' s innovation of the printing press helped spread literacy quickly across Europe,
in Basel in 1466, Rome in 1467, Venice in 1469, Paris,
Numemberg and Utrecht in 1470, Milan, Naples and Florence in
1471, Cologne in 1472, Lyons, Valencia and Budapest in 1473,
Cracow and Bruges in 1474, Lubech and Breslau in 1475, London
in 1480, Antwerp and Leipzig in 1481, Odense in 1482 and
Stockholm in 1483! 74
Printing took the manufacturing of information from the scribe's or copyist's desk to the printer's
workshop. As control of who produced information changed hands, as the circulation of books
encouraged literacy and education, as 'commoners' recognized the potential emancipating power of
literacy and as universities became dense with eager pupils, the printing press ignited a flame that
lit the way for the development of the modem newspaper.

Print Media
Newssheets, singular pieces of paper containing information for public consumption, were
conceived during the Tung dynasty in China in the tenth century B.C .75 The Pao or reports were
posted on designated signposts throughout the town; they reported relevant events of interest to
those who were literate in deciphering pictograms. Newssheets also existed in Rome during its
tenure of power. The Roman Acta Diurna was a "daily hand-written document posted in various
public places in this great city as early as 59 B.C."76 The first British coranto was published in
London by Thomas Archer in 1621. Arthur was imprisoned after the publication because he did
not have a license. Archer's associate Nathaniel Butler did receive a license and successfully
published the journal Corante, with help from Archer, for twenty years. However, the document
was not a daily publication.

74

George N. Gordon, The Communications Revolution: A History of Mass Media in the United States (New York:
Hastings House, 1971), 8.
75
Ibid.
76
Ibid.

27

"In the 1830s, the introduction of the steam driven printing press not only altered the newspaper

landscape but also produced major changes in the way politics was conducted." 77 And, reporting
as a model for gathering and presenting information was invented in the nineteenth century.78 This
new occupation was based on two-parts; either anchoring stories in entertainment or providing
pure 'information'. The former model, referred to as the "new journalism", defined its role as
providing an aesthetic function. The newspaper was to allow its reader to relax and enjoy the
aesthetic value that the stories brought, it was to act as guide for individuals to interpret their own
lives and surroundings not have the media dictate to them what the world is and should be. In
contrast, the "information" model purports to present the 'facts and nothing but the facts'. Stories
are to be presented in an understandable and comprehensible manner in which the world is spelled
out to the reader. Newspapers that have emphasized this model associate their journalists as fair,
impartial and 'objective'. Both ideals described above believe in providing reliable and trustworthy
news but differ in mandates. It was one individual who changed the format, presentation, context
and even operating procedures used in the newspaper industry: Joseph Pulitzer.

Pulitzer, an Austrian Jewish immigrant, began his newspaper career in St. Louis. A lawyer by
education, he wrote for a German-language newspaper and in 1878 bought the St. Louis Dispatch
where he served as editor, publisher and business manager. 79 Over time, Pulitzer brought about
changes in the social organization of the business side of the industry.

He began selling

advertising space based on circulation rates, helped introduce advertising in the format of
illustrations and initiated the printing of headlines in larger and darker print. Pulitzer also endorsed
that circulation of a Sunday paper-- one that would be filled with entertainment and stories that
"would appeal directly to the interests of readers on the day of rest." 80

77

Lawerence K. Grossman, The Electronic Republic: Reshaping Democracy in the Information Age (New York:
Penguin Books, 1995), 72.
78
Michael Schudson, "The New Journalism," in P. Heyer and D. Crowley, eds., Communication in History:
Technology, Culture and Society (New York: Longman, 1991), 137.
79
Ibid., 139.
80
Ibid., 141.

28

As newspapers seek to adapt to the changing world to maintain their readership and thus their
profits, their adjustments correspond to the perceptions and aspirations of its audience. Doing so,
means "an enlargement of the "entertainment" function of the newspaper, but it also meant the
expansion of what has recently been called the ''use-paper" rather than the newspaper. .. " 81 Today,
certain newspapers still pay heed to this approach. Newspapers on the today's market are as
diverse as there are target audiences. Particular newspapers take the "information" model as their
guide; papers such as the New York Times in the United States and the Globe and Mail in Canada
follow this journalistic orientation, while others follow the "entertainment" approach.

However, by the end of the nineteenth century the world had become 'wired' through the
communication inventions of the telephone and telegraph.

"As a result, news was packaged

differently and had a new emphasis, as did popular entertainment."82 Influenced by urbanization
and the move into an industrial economy resulted in the "emergence of 'mass society'. The local
and regional lost its hold as more uniform ideas, images and patterns of consumption ushered in
the twentieth century." 83

Broadcast Media
The transition to the "mass society" was fueled by radio during the 1920s. Invented by Guglielmo
Marconi in the latter years of the 1890s, his original goal was to transmit Morse code over the
Transatlantic. Like many innovations in communications technologies, the use it became famous
for (voice transmission) was not the use originally intended. ''What began as a hobby became an
entertainment experience, greatly facilitated in the early 1920s by the emergence of an increasing
number of corporate stations that broadcast on a regular basis."84 Radio altered the media industry
because it enabled citizens to experience events occurring in distant locations firsthand. Giving the
listener a greater sense of immediacy affected newspapers, which could not provide readers with a
human link to the newsworthy occurrences of the day.
81

Ibid.
Heyer, Communication in History, 151.
83
Ibid., 155.
84
Ibid., 184.
82

29

There exist four prominent reasons for the rapid rise and popularity of the radio as new instrument
of the media: (1) the novelty of hearing a 'voice' describing the day' s events; (2) literacy was not a
prerequisite to attaining knowledge; (3) it was not required to purchase broadcasts daily as was the
case with newspapers -- this aspect was crucial to radio's success during the depression and (4)
newspapers of the day had lost credibility and influence with the public. "By the late thirties, radio
journalism, though only in its teens (the first scheduled newscast was in 1920), had come of
age."85 Reasons for the credibility of radio included that, citizens, skeptical of the newspaper
industry, believed it was publishers who decided what was news; they doubted the sincerity of the
reporter and believed that owners used the newspaper to further their own benefit.

Radio transmitted news and information three ways. 86

First it would broadcast 'on-the-spot'

news. This type of reporting by broadcast media had a definite advantage over print media for the
obvious reason that print media was incapable of reporting events as they happened. The second
type of news used by broadcast media were bulletins which were precis' s of the wire service
dispatches such as Reuters and Associated Press which gave accounts of international news. The
final type of news were commentaries but these varied greatly from newspapers editorial columns.
Radio commentaries, unlike editorials, were broadcast as objectively as possible. There was no
desire to spark controversy; radio stations and broadcast media were novices in the media industry,
they did not wish to lose their audience nor cause trouble with the government over regulation
issues.

"The difference between the two media is plain. Radio is people talking to us (or apparently us) .
Newspapers are articles in uniform typeface. Radio is direct ... Newspapers are unimaginably
indirect; they are writing, to begin with . .. it is report of experience, not the experience. Radio
provides experience ... " 87

Radio established itself as a trustworthy and responsible medium of

communication by two methods of persuasion -- directly and by example.88 Radio was able to
William Stott, "Documenting Media," in P. Heyer and D. Crowley, eds., Communication in History:
Technology, Culture and Society (New York: Longman, 1991), 199.
86
Ibid.
87
Ibid., 200.
88
Ibid., 201.
85

30

"present the facts firsthand -- on the spot or nearer the spot -- yet did so usually through an
observer or commentator." 89 Both fact and observer reinforced the validity and truthfulness of
each other. But radio, at its pinnacle of acceptance and popularity, was about to face its ultimate
challenge. As radio displaced newspapers, television superseded radio.

Electronic Media
When radio hit the frequency spectrum in the early twentieth century' audiences had to adapt their
media consumption habits. Consumption of the daily news became an inter-personal activity for
many and often an entire family would listen to broadcasts together. For the first time the mass
media was being mass consumed by mass society. These patterns of consumption dealt a lethal
blow to radio because the mass audience that was enamored with radio easily adapted to television
during the fifties.

As newspapers gave permanence to speech, radio gave a voice to word, television gave a face to
voice.

Ironically, television newscasting is similar to oral society in the communication of

information: one individual telling others what has occurred.

The necessary technology for

television to become a medium of mass communication was developed by 1941, however its
acceptance into the household was delayed by the Second World War. By 1949 individuals living
within range of the approximate one hundred television stations could tune their dials and choose
between" ... CBS TV News, with Douglas Edwards, and NBC's Camel News Caravan, John
Cameron Swayze. The visuals on these newscasts consisted of mostly 'talking heads': shots of
somber Edwards or the boutonniered Swayze reading to the camera."90

Newscasts rarely

transmitted news footage of the events the anchorperson was describing because there was little
personnel comprising the film crew, camera equipment was extremely bulky, heavy and awkward
to carry and the developing of film was a time-consuming process.

Despite these obstacles,

audiences were enthralled with the ability to witness events and have a guest come "into their
homes" nightly and inform them of the day's events.
89

Ibid.
Mitchell Stevens, "Television Transforms the News," in P. Heyer and D. Crowley, eds., Communication in
History: Technology, Culture and Society (New York: Longman, 1991), 237.

90

31

Television, as a mass medium, was able to provide some degree of representation of events no
matter how primitive the equipment. Even the most basic reproduction of sights and sounds was
enough to capture the audience, already hypnotized by the new media. Reproducing any event for
the television screen was far more sophisticated than the print on the newspaper or the voice on the
radio. Correspondents and camera crews were stationed in the larger cities where important
political campaigns and conventions were covered.

Today, television news still captivates its audience as it has for decades. "Our interest in this
"pretty toy" has, if anything, increased as it has brought us images of inner-city riots and of men
hopping on the moon; images in color and via increasingly portable videotape equipment, from the
scene of famines and earthquakes, from John Dean's doorstep; images via satellite, from Iran;
images, live and then replayed endlessly on videotape, of a space shuttle disintegrating." 91 The
advent of satellites and twenty-four hour news sources such as the Cable News Network (CNN)
and the Canadian Broadcasting Company's CBC Newsworld are testimony to mass society's
attraction to television news -- we cannot get enough. Like radio, television does not require its
audience to be literate; images and "sound-bites" convey the message for the viewer.

Television has significantly affected journalism. News programs predominantly cover stories of
crime, sex, violence and disaster.

How these stories are reported is what has impinged on

journalistic newsgathering procedures.

Because of the technological biases inherent in the

medium, stories must provide images and sounds that retain the viewer's attention. Television
journalists have little room and time to get the information and significance of the story to the
audience. Depth of coverage in electronic media stories are shallower than print media because
television journalists have fewer words to work with.

"Whether communicating by print,

newsletter or cry, journalists are not often endowed with the time or the endurance to delve
deeper." 92 A mammoth effect television has had on journalism is its displacement of distance.
91

92

Ibid., 239.
Ibid., 241.

32

Television newstories have eliminated the chasm between the reporter and the viewer; reporting
'live' from whatever country to the audience who sit, most often than not, peacefully in their
homes watching the contemporary 'town crier' read aloud the particular events. Television brings
an abundance of information into our homes daily with breathtaking speed. The development of
television has been the apex of an efficient means of communicating news and disseminating
information about current events.

Conclusion
The consumption of the mass media by society has become so customary that it may be described
as a social ritual. The media now have the responsibility, whether social or economic, to report and
maintain these rituals. All messages of the mass media contain information that is intended to
maintain audiences who use the 'facts' of the media to create and interpret their own reality of their
community, country and of the world. Institutions of the media are supposed to act, according to
the mandate set out by the social responsibility theory of the press, in a morally and socially
responsible manner to promote the good of society, promoting and enhancing the democratic
process while simultaneously striving to attain profits.

A relative degree of citizen participation in the political arena is a necessary prerequisite for a
democratic polity to exist, especially in the vast and complex societies of the affluent liberal states.
By way of participating in mass communications and thus the mass media, citizens can be expected
to learn about the significant social, political and economic issues facing them and their
community. The media, if operated in a professional fashion and if freedom of the press is
acknowledged, respected and exercised, can raise the consciousness level of its citizens and
increase the participation level that liberal democracy, if to exist, is dependent upon.

Many

prominent commentators have made arguments and critiques of the mass media and its roles and
functions in democratic societies. The area of focus in the next chapter is a critical analysis of
some of the more prominent commentators and their arguments, or lack of, on the influences
market forces have on the political roles of the mass media in liberal democratic societies.
33

Chapter 2
Historical Background
Society can and does execute its own mandates; and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right,
or any mandates at all in things in which it should not meddle, it practices a social tyranny more
formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such
extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details
of life, and enslaving the soul itself
-- John Stuart Mill ,1859--

John Stuart Mill
The most famous text written by Mill, and concerning the role of freedom of thought and
discussion, is On Liberty. The introductory chapter of this work begins by examining the relation
between democracy and liberty. Mill was concerned with the possibility of the 'tyranny of the
majority'.

Heavily influenced by Alex de Tocqueville's Democracy in America (1835), Mill

recognized that a tyranny of the majority could present itself through the actions of public officials
and representatives either politically or socially. "Mill did not believe that government posed the
greatest threat to freedom ... (h)e was, however, convinced we should never be complacent about
the danger of state oppression, and he cautioned that it could occur in a democracy. ·Nevertheless,
he was far more concerned with the power of public opinion. "93

Liberty of Thought and Discussion, chapter two of On Liberty, gives attention to the ideal of
"moral equality among self-determining individuals implies unrestricted liberty of criticism. "94
Chapter two is set in a broad moral context.

It concerns itself with the emancipation of the

individual by way of freedom of speech which was, according to Mill, the vehicle for truth.
"Possession of truth permits us to function as well as possible in our converse with all of the
events of our experience. "95 It is necessary to outline, briefly, some of Mill's major concepts prior
to discussing his arguments concerning freedom of speech and liberty.

James Gorenlock, Excellence in Public Discourse: John Stuart Mill, John Dewey arul Social Intelligence (New
York: Teachers College Press, 1986), 7.
94
John Skorupski, John Stuart Mill (London; Routledge, 1991), 338.
95
Gorenlock, Excellence in Public Discourse, 8.
93

34

The Liberty Principle refers to the use of coercion in societies. For Mill, coercion, either physical
or non-physical, was only justified if it was employed to prevent harm from others. Individuals
should be permitted to act uninhibited as long as they do not infringe on the rights of other
individuals. To coerce an individual for their own good was unacceptable. "That the only purpose
for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his
will, is to prevent harm to others. "96 Although it was oppressive to coerce an individual, Mill
believed it acceptable to reason, persuade or rationalize with the individuals but not to compel
them.

Autonomy is a second concept that Mill took serious time contemplating. Autonomy is the capacity
to make one's decisions in life. Defined, capacity is the use of reason or rationality by individuals
to decide what is their best path to follow. With the right to autonomy comes the responsibility of
virtue or moral freedom. "It is implicit in Mill's view of practical reasoning that a will to do right is
a will to do what is rationally required. His doctrine is that the Utility Principle is the foundation of
practical rationality. "97 Autonomy, and rationality, is understood only if exercised in a naturalistic
environment. Chapter two of On Liberty argues precisely for such an environment to flourish by
way qf freedom of thought and discussion.

The notion of autonomy, to Mill , means that

individuals are free to make independent decisions about life without fear of coercion or social
ostracism, and to exercise their moral responsibility to refrain from restricting others.

The third, and final concept to be addressed, is Liberty of Expression. "Mill says that his defense
of liberty of thought and of speaking and writing in chapter ii of Liberty is a single 'branch' of the
'general hypothesis' .. . that is the Liberty Principle. "9 8

In Mill's own words: "Liberty of

expression is a particular liberty, infringed by particular types of restriction on acts of expression.
It is not the complete liberty to announce any opinion we like in any manner we like ... Nor is the
obligation to refrain from pointlessly hurtful remarks -- however true."99 Thus, Liberty of
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (London: Penguin, 1974), 68.
Skorupski, John Stuart Mill, 354.
98
Ibid., 369.
99
Mill, On Liberty, 68.
96

97

35

Expression claims that individuals should be free to speak uninhibited but shoulder the
responsibility of respecting others.

The Liberty Principle is not possible without liberty of

expression.

In chapter two of On Liberty, Mill stresses three arguments concerning the suppression of
information: (1) a person is deprived of an · opportunity to replace an error for truth; (2) the
opportunity is lost to gain a clearer understanding of the truth through vigorous discussion and
debate and; (3) one is never sure if the information being suppressed is false because it never enters
the arena of debate.

The first argument presupposes an infallibility by those who censure

information because they make the arrogant mistake of accepting their version of reality as truth.
The latter two encompass moral considerations.

Information is the vehicle to ascertain truth; for truth to be of any value or significance it must
undergo a social process in which claims, opinions and arguments must endure public forums and
debates where their relevancy is discussed in terms of dominant and prevailing systems. Not only
does truth help attain autonomy, it also facilitates social stability because it permits individuals to
know how and why other individuals act. "Individuals must be free to inquire into and discover
the grounds of belief in any judgment. If the judgment is indeed true, it is that much better
supported. If it false, it is now identified as such. Either way, habits of curiosity, inquiry, and
verification are exercised and rewarded; and mindless complacency has had no support." 100

For an individual to develop the best position to ascertain the truth and strive to attain and exercise
autonomy we should, Mill contends, put issues, opinions and arguments to public debate between
contending parties. "The personal intercourse of submitting opinions to intersubjective scrutiny is
vital to the very process of stimulating and developing the intelligence of individual persons. "101
Moreover, Mill argues that truth and self-fulfillment flourish only when debate and discussion
inhabits an unbiased platform. All discourse must occur in an uninhibited manner.
100
101

Gorenlock, Excellence in Public Discourse, 12.
Ibid., 13.

36

Not that it is solely, or chiefly, to form great thinkers that freedom of
thinking is required. On the contrary, it is as much and even more
indispensable to enable average human beings to attain the mental stature
which they are capable of. There have been, and may again be, great
individual thinkers in a general atmosphere of mental slavery. But there
never has been, nor ever will be, in that atmosphere an intellectually active
people. 102
It is important to note that liberty, to Mill, did not entail everyone running around and doing as they
pleased. Rather, as mentioned, there exists a moral variable that is manifested in the social sphere;
a variable that excludes doing harm to others and involves individual responsibilities. "When there
is freedom in public discourse, the individual can participate in inquiry and conversation in a
manner that will his intellectual powers and consequently his powers of action. "103 Despite Mill's
claim that all opinions and arguments should be placed in a public forum for debate, he neither
endorses nor condones no limitations on freedom of speech. Rather, he asserts that,
opinions lose their immunity when the circumstances in which they are
expressed are such as to constitute their expression a positive instigation to
some mischievous act. An opinion that com dealers are starvers of the poor,
or that private property is robbery, ought to be unmolested when simply
circulated through the press, but may justly incur punishment when
delivered orally to an excited mob assembled before the house of a com
dealer, or when handed about among the same mob in the form of a
placard. 104
Mill's emphasis on the freedom of thought and opinion rests upon his belief that any kind of
rational confidence in an argument must be predicated on it being open to criticism by all members
of society. Focusing on the importance of open channels of communication for information to be
disseminated and how freedom of opinion is a necessary condition for liberty, Mill argues that free
discussion can correct previous 'wrongs' and help discover self-fulfillment. "He is capable of
rectifying his mistakes by discussion and experience. Not by experience alone. There must be
discussion to show how experience is to be interpreted." 105

Thus, it is the individual' s

responsibility and duty to search for the truth. "After more than a century of social change it may
seem clear that he (Mill) greatly underestimated the pace of technical and scientific change, and the

Mill, On Liberty, 95.
Gorenlock, Excellence in Public Discourse, 17.
104
Mill, On Liberty, 101.
105
Ibid., 80.
102
103

37

creative dynamism it would produce; nevertheless the questions remain central for liberal
democracy still." 106

"Because he has felt that the only way in which a human being can make some approach to
knowing the whole of a subject is by hearing what can be said about it by persons of every variety
of opinion, and studying all modes, in which it can be looked at by every character of mind." 107
Contemporary media do not give citizens the opportunity to approach knowing the whole of a
subject. Market forces have come to dictate content because the majority of news' content is
superficial. Mill writes: "The beliefs which we have most warrant for have no safeguard to rest on
but a standing invitation to the whole world to prove them unfounded. "108 Market forces impede
these safeguards of debate because citizens are not given all the sides of a story. Mill argues that
censoring any opinion is against an individual's right as it impedes their quest for truth. As Mill's
three main arguments regarding the suppression of information makes clear, it is wrong for others,
especially those in positions of power to assume infallibility because they deny an individual's
right to truth. "It is the undertaking to decide that question for others, without allowing them to
hear what can be said on the contrary side. And I denounce and reprobate this pretension not the
less if put forth on the side of my most solemn convictions."109
Mill is as concerned for the development of clear, strong, intellects as he is for the pursuit of truth;
and the basis for both conditions is the same: freedom. Freedom must be supported by an ethic
that pervades the entire society.

This ethic of rationality that Mill endorses does not exist.

Individuals are dependent on the media for information.

A contemporary legal guarantee of

individual freedom, as written in constitutions, is the freedom to search -- there is no guarantee that
an individual will find what they are looking for.

To summarize Mill's arguments, his first axiom is concerned with how the full development of
individuals can only be attained by full freedom of thought and expression.
106

Skorupski, John Stuart Mill, 339. Parentheses added.
Mill, On Liberty, 80.
108
Ibid., 81.
109
Ibid., 83.

107

38

Secondly, he

emphases virtue, the moral responsibility an individual must exercise for freedom to be effective
and meaningful. If freedom is to be meaningful and, therefore, desired, individuals must show
and exhibit respect for one another by not infringing on one another' s liberty in their quest for
truth. In the present day, unfortunately, the tactics or procedures for freedom of thought and
discussion that Mill endorses are rarely exercised. Although Mill has had an enormous impact on
normative political theory and arguments concerning the freedom of thought and discussion and
thus liberty, in practice we witness few traces of his influence.

Mill's arguments for freedom of opinion and the expression of opinion rest on four pillars. In
Mill's words they are:
First, if any opinion is compelled to silence, that opinion may, for aught we
can certainly know, be true. To deny this is to assume our own infallibility.
Secondly, ... it is the collision of adverse opinions that the remainder of the
truth has any chance of being supplied. Thirdly, even if the most received
opinion be not only true, ... it will, by most of those who receive it, be held
in the manner of a prejudice, with little comprehension or feelings of its
rational grounds. And not only this, but, fourthly, the means of the
doctrine itself will be in danger of being lost or enfeebled. 110
He goes on to discuss the responsibilities associated with freedom of thought and discussion.
Undoubtedly, the manner of asserting an opinion, even though it may be a
true one, may be very objectionable and may justly incur severe censure.
But the principal offenses of the kind are such that it is mostly impossible,
unless by accidental self-betrayal, to bring home to conviction. The gravest
of them is, to argue sophistically, to suppress facts or arguments, to
misstate the elements of the case, or misrepresent to opposite opinion. 111
Disseminating information that is predominantly entertaining but 'selling' it as informative is,
arguably, one of the principal offenses that Mill discusses.

Firstly, information that is

sensationalized makes it extremely difficult to "bring home to conviction" the importance of a story
when its significance is cloaked in an entertaining garb. Secondly, conviction is hard to attain
precisely because information has become the collective mediocrity or dogma of assumed
rationality that Mill warned against. Thirdly, the injustice to individuals when information and
discussion is misrepresented or suppressed occurs in contemporary media because market forces
110
11 1

Ibid., 115 - 116.
Ibid., 116- 117.

39

influence which information will attract and retain the greatest audience for advertisers, thus giving
priority to commercialism rather than the Liberty Principle. The presentation of superficial stories
operates both explicitly and implicitly in the media industry. The result of this misrepresentation,
although may be "done in perfect good faith", again leads to a collective mediocrity among citizens.
An example of this mediocrity, in the present day, is the low political participation rates by citizens

residing in liberal democratic societies and the dominant, yet false, belief that they cannot do
anything to change the system for the better.

Mill argues that, despite the grave injustices misrepresentation inflicts on the Liberty Principle,
"still less could law presume to interfere with this kind of controversial misconduct. "112 Thus,
privately owned media firms have the legal right to make a profit even at the expense of individuals
who do not search for relevant information. Mill continues to write "that what is commonly meant
· by intemperate discussion ... and whatever mischief arises from their use is greatest when they are
employed against the comparatively defenseless ... "113 Allowing market forces to influence the
political roles of the media imperils the reasoning potential of the majority of citizens who do not
have diverse viewpoints put in front of them by the mass media. Those diverse opinions are,
however, readily available but they must be sought out by individuals in their pursuit for the
"truth".

One can infer from Mill that the social responsibility functions of the media will inevitably succumb
to market forces because many media enterprises will present information that will entertain an
audience rather than inform them. In doing so, media firms are guilty of committing some of the
"gravest offenses" by way of omitting particular viewpoints not conducive to maintaining the
audience and by misrepresenting stories by way of sensationalism.

Mill even addresses the issue of why dissenting voices do not get heard and if they do, why they
are not seriously considered. "Those who hold any unpopular opinion are peculiarly exposed,
112
113

Ibid., 117.
Ibid.

40

because they are in general few and uninfluential, and nobody but themselves feels much interested
in seeing justice done to them, .. . they can neither use it with safety to themselves, nor, if they
could, would it do anything but recoil on their own cause. "114

Moreover, ".. . unmeasured

vituperation employed on the side of the prevailing opinion really does deter people from
professing contrary opinions and from listening to those who profess them." 115

In sum, Mill argues that the freedom of thought and discussion are necessary for individual selfdevelopment, autonomy and liberty. He emphasizes both the right to voice opinions uninhibited
and the virtue individuals must exercise to keep freedom of speech and the Liberty Principle alive.
Mill continues by arguing that neither law nor authority have any business in restraining either

dominant or dissenting opinions. It is up to the individual to decide or rationally deduce their own
verdict of what is 'truth'.

The Frankfurt School
The writings of the Frankfurt School offer a distinctive and persuasive account of the nature and
role of ideology, by way of mass communications, in modem societies. Typical of this approach
is the work of Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno who gave particular attention to what they
call the 'culture industry'. "Horkheimer and Adorno use the term 'culture industry' to refer to the
commodification of cultural forms brought about by the rise of the entertainment industries m
Europe and the United States in the late nineteenth and earlier twentieth centuries." 116

The Institute for Social Research was formally established on 3 February 1923. The founding of
the Institute was based on the beliefs of left-wing intellectuals who felt that it was pertinent to
reassess Marxist theory, especially the failed prophecy of the proletariat attaining a 'class
consciousness'. The Frankfurt School and critical theory "is generally understood as a body of
social thought both emerging from and responding to Marxism, and the work of critical theorists is
114

Ibid.
Ibid.
116
John B. Thompson, Ideology and Modem Culture: Critical Social Theory in the Era of Mass Communication
(Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990), 98.
115

41

recognized as having made significant contributions to the study of cultural (and superstructural)
phenomenon, areas not usually attended to by more orthodox approaches."117

Horkheimer became the director of the institute, in 1930, prior to its departure to the United States
and established its philosophical mandate. Adorno, in contrast, had loose affiliations with the
Frankfurt School until he became a full-time member in 1938.

Their adherence to social

philosophy as the main preoccupation sought to enquire into "important questions to be
investigated by these sciences and as a framework in which the universal would not be lost sight
of. "11 8 Moreover, this 'critical' base proved to be the foundation for 'critical theory' which rejects
the procedure of determining objective facts with the aid of conceptual systems, from a purely
external standpoint. "119 The fundamental task of this new critical theory was to reveal and convey
the existing class alienation throughout the world and to disseminate a consciousness to the
working class. Moreover, it was to unite the proletariat under the class consciousness that failed to
emerge in previous decades.

The Frankfurt school focused upon cultural phenomena because of its belief that it is within such
phenomena that human consciousness, alienation and liberation are manifested. "A preeminent
place was occupied by the criticism and rejection of positivism/empiricism, and more broadly of
any conception of a 'science of society' to which was opposed a philosophical idea of 'reason', as
capable of discovering the essence of phenomena by contrast with appearance or mere facticity." 120
The Frankfurt School believed that the dominance of scientism led to technological rationality as a
new form of domination. Moreover, reason, which the Frankfurt School likened to freedom, was
repressed by positivism insofar as that an individual's ability to reason had been confined to 'cause
and effect' processes.

117

Joan Alway, Critical Theory and Political Possibilities: Conceptions of Emancipatory Politics in the Works of
Horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse and Habermas (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1995), ii.
118
Ibid., 15.
119
Ibid., 16.
120
Ibid., 23.

42

Both Horkheimer and Adorno make the generalization "that the rise of the entertainment industries
as capitalistic enterprises has resulted in the standardization and rationalization of cultural forms,
and this process has in tum atrophied the capacity of the individual to think and act in a critical and
autonomous way. "121 They also recognized that content was to a large extent dictated by market
forces whereby the "dependence of the most powerful broadcasting company on the electrical
industry, or of the motion picture industry on the banks, is characteristic of the whole sphere,
whose individual branches are themselves economically interwoven." 122 Moreover, the 'culture
industry', specifically the mass media, do not see individuals as citizens but rather as consumers.
"The public is catered for with a hierarchical range of mass produced products of varying quality,
thus advancing the rule of complete quantification." 123

According to Horkheimer and Adorno the 'culture industry' is an important instrument employed
by elites that renders individuals incapable of autonomous thought, making them dependent on
social processes which further indoctrinate them. "The effrontery of the rhetorical question, "What
do people want?' lies in the fact that it is addressed -- as if to reflective individuals -- to those very
people who are deliberately to be deprived of this individuality." 124

Furthermore, the two

commentators contend that the 'culture industry' and the development of consumer culture has
stifled individuals' imagination and revolutionary potential and makes them susceptible to
indoctrination and manipulation by elites who are primarily interested in profit realization.
"Nevertheless, the culture industry remains the entertainment business. Since all the trends of the
culture industry are profoundly embedded in the public by the whole social process, they are
encouraged by the survival of the market in this area." 125

Horkheimer's and Adorno's analysis of the 'culture industry' is a bold attempt to understand the
consequences of mass communication and specifically the mass media in modem societies. Their

Thompson, Ideology and Modem Culture, 98.
Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, Dialectic of Enlightenment (New York: Continuum, 1944) Reprinted,
1993, 123.
123
Ibid.
124
Ibid., 144.
125
Ibid., 136.

121

122

43

investigations examine how mass communications have affected social and political life as well as
transformed the nature and role of ideology. 126

However, there are a number of flaws or

oversights in their observations and theory of the 'culture industry'. In their assessment of cultural
goods, those commodities that are mass produced with the goal of profit-realization, Horkheimer
and Adorno give a generic label to individuals; "in all cases the recipients are regarded as little more
than potential consumers whose needs and desires can, with suitable means, be manipulated,
stimulated and controlled." 127 In doing so, Horkheimer and Adorno limit themselves to abstract
processes of mass communication. The particular workings or procedures of social organizations
such as mass media firms are not given attention. Neither is attention given to the differences
between media institutions such as print and broadcast organizations.

Horkheimer and Adorno are correct to argue that technological innovations in mass
communications have had a significant impact on the nature of ideology in modem societies. They
are also correct to promote their contention that ideology is no longer limited to political elements
and studies must now account for symbolic forms such as music and images. However, their
assessments are limited because their claims concerning the 'culture industry' are, at minimum,
presumptuous. Because individuals consume and digest products disseminated by the 'culture
industry' does in no way mean that they are compelled to act in accordance with elite interests.

Horkheimer and Adorno rightly argue that free enterprise media have resulted in an oligopolisitc

form of ownership which have had potentially disastrous consequences for the development of
individual freedom and reason. The 'culture industry' has impeded the development of a critical
public because mass communication industries disseminate information without it being subjected
to critical reflection. "Under monopoly all mass culture is identical, and the lines of its artificial
framework begin to show through ... the fusion of culture and entertainment that is taking place
today leads not only to a depravation of culture, but inevitably to an intellectualization of
amusement." 128 For Horkheimer and Adorno, the construction of an entire industry around supply
126

Thompson, Ideology and Modem Culture, 101.
Ibid., 102.
128
Horkheirner and Adorno, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 121 - 143.
127

44

and demand means a retreat from thought because the 'culture industry', defending itself on the
grounds that it is supplying citizens with what they want, delivers information in an entertaining
light leaving it to be consumed during an individual's leisure time. "The liberation that amusement
promises is freedom from thought and from negation." 129
The political implications of these activities by the 'culture industry' are: (1) using mass media as a
leisure activity decreases time for critical self-reflection; (2) culture and politics are employing
similar procedures of administration based on market surveys or opinion polls and; (3) language is
being condensed into cliches and slogans which removes their meaning and issues an instant
reaction by the consumer. Thus, market forces decrease the informative and political functions of
the media because information becomes a product of technically calculated pleasure. All that is left
for citizens to realize is that their interests are the same ones the 'culture industry' disseminates.
This phenomenon occurs any time an individual consumes media content as a leisure activity. "By
craftily sanctioning the demand for rubbish it inaugurates total harmony. The result is a constant
reproduction of the same thing." 130 This process is executed almost subliminally and is repressive.

Horkheimer and Adorno both make 'blanket judgments' on the critical capacity of individuals.
They do not explore if and how individual consumers of information may interpret content
differently. Particular studies of the mass media focus on the role of the individual as an active
consumer of information and that individuals can and do indeed have varying interpretations of
media products. 131 A second issue arises out of the first. In making blanket judgments concerning
the impact of mass communications and content, both commentators also overlook the impact of
news programs and their organizational processes. Neither critic extends his discussions to include
such processes. Although it is possible to critique individual newscasts based within Horkheimer
and Adorno's blanket judgments (that the media dull critical self-reflection through an onrush of
images, sounds and words and that all stimuli are sensationalized further detracting the political
significance of stories and events). There exists a chasm between their blanket judgments and
Ibid., 144.
Ibid., 134.
131
For example, see Doris Graber, Processing the News: How People Tame the lnfonnation Tide, second edition
(New York: Longman, 1988).
129

130

45

condemnation of the 'culture industry' as a whole and the reality that not all information is
intrinsically predisposed toward a pacifying role on the population. Horkheimer and Adorno's
arguments only carry weight and usefulness when they locate the mass media within a particular
industrial or commercial matrix. Contending, as well as providing evidence, that the 'culture
industry' operates to supply the demands of individuals who want to become detached from their
everyday environment, with the unintended result being the decline in critical self-reflection, is a
much more palatable argument. A contemporary critic of the media whose arguments are similar to
those made by Horkheimer and Adorno but more thoroughly grounded in the daily operations of
the mass media is Noam Chomsky.

Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky offers a challenging critique of the political economy of the mass media. His
case studies are meticulously researched and documented. Much of what Chomsky has to say is
indeed important. However, there exist many shortcomings within his methodology and resulting
criticisms, leaving behind both philosophical and practical quandaries.

In his book, co-authored with EdwardS. Herman, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy
Of The Mass Media (1988), Noam Chomsky offers a comprehensive analysis of the workings of
the American mass media. Chomsky employs a propaganda model to describe the activities of the
media which, he feels, operate to support elite and special interests such as the government and
multi-national corporations. These agencies, he argues, dominate state and private activities. The
Chomsky model consists of a set of media 'filters' through which possible news stories and
coverage of such stories must pass through prior to their dissemination as content. These filters
include such constraints as the size of the organization, the nature and concentration of ownership,
influence and the media organization's overall profit orientation. 132 Each filter affects the range
and quality of news coverage produced by various media venues. Other filters examined are:
advertiser influence, the overall reliance by the mass media on government press releases and
132

Noam Chomsky and EdwardS. Herman, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy Of The Mass Media
(New York: Pantheon, 1988), 1- 37.

46

privately-funded think-tank organizations; 'flak' criticizing the media by influential lobby
organizations and the U.S. national ideology of anticommunism. These filters, Chomsky
contends, influence, if not manipulate, the mass media in its choice of content resulting in an
uninformed populace and the media being controlled by select elite interests.

Content is

structurally filtered to marginalize dissent.

Chomsky sets his explanations of media performance, by way of the propaganda model, within a
free-market paradigm. Content is largely the outcome of the workings of market forces . "Most
biased choices in the media arise from the pre-selection of right-thinking people, internalized
preconceptions, and the adaptation of personnel to the constraints of ownership, organizations,
market and political power." 133 The propaganda model "traces the routes by which money and
power are able to filter out the news fit to print, marginalize dissent, and allow the government and
dominant private interests to get their messages across to the public."134

The first filter -- the size of ownership and profit orientation of the mass media -- illustrates how
there has, for over a century, been a decline in the plurality of media ownership. Local and small
privately owned enterprises are dependent on wire services for content.

Operating under the

principle of profit realization, Chomsky illustrates how "media companies are fully integrated into
the market, and for the others, too, the pressures of stockholders, directors and bankers to focus
on the bottom line are powerful." 135 "The stock value of firms becomes the focal point for owners
who disseminate biased information to attract investors and advertisers."13 6

Further, Chomsky argues that owners have abandoned the social responsibility concept of the
media as "independent and committed to discovering and reporting the truth, and that they do not
merely reflect the world as powerful groups wish it to be perceived."137 In addition, deregulation
has lead to an increase in takeovers and concentration of ownership.
133

Ibid., xii.
Ibid., 2.
135
Ibid., 4.
136
Ibid., 5.
137
Ibid., xi.

134

47

Media firms, Chomsky

states, "have lost some of their limited autonomy to bankers, institutional investors, and large
individual investors whom they have had to solicit as potential white knights. "138

It is these

control groups who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo because they desire to
maintain their wealth and status.

The structural organization of the media, Chomsky asserts, makes itself reliant on external agencies
for information, particularly the government. The media are dependent on the government for
licenses, and the leasing of airwaves, for example, and this "technical legal dependency has been
used as a club to discipline the media, and media policies that stray too often from an establishment
orientation could activate this threat." 139 Thus, the first filter identifies how dominant media firms
are, in all practicality, businesses, and are subject to economic demands and constraints as any
other free market enterprise.

The second filter, the advertising license, illustrates how advertisers are, too, licensing authorities
the media are dependent upon because without such sponsors the media would cease to be
economically viable enterprises. "For this reason, an advertising based system will tend to drive
out of existence or into marginality the media companies and types that depend on revenue from
sales alone." 140

In order for media firms to attract advertisers it is essential that content is

entertaining and thus maintain a relatively large audience.

As such, the media compete for

advertisers' patronage who promote them with subsidies.

The losers in this competition are

citizens who are not exposed to enough 'hard' news to help them create their own informed ability
to hold governments to account.
The question of sources for the media is the third filter. Economic necessity draws the media into a
symbiotic relationship with powerful sources of information.

"Economics dictates that they

concentrate their resources where significant news often occurs, where important rumors and leaks
are abound, and where regular press conferences are held . .. government and corporate sources

138

Ibid., 8.
Ibid., 13.
140
Ibid., 14.

139

48

also have the great merit of being recognizable and credible by their status and prestige." 141

In

effect, these large organizations reduce the operating expenditures of media firms who do not have
to investigate 'leads' and provide routines for media organizations.

'Flak', the fourth filter, "refers to negative responses to a media statement or program." 142
Produced on a grand scale, either by individuals or groups, 'flak' can prove costly for media
organizations because advertisers will be inclined to withdraw their patronage. 'Flak' is related to
power -- the power of dominant groups to influence the media's agenda by way of criticism; it
"conditions the media to expect trouble (and cost increases) for violating right-wing standards of
bias. "143 The effects of 'flak' enforce the influence, and at times demands, of corporations and
government authorities in the decision making processes of media organizations.

The final filter is the ideology of anticommunism. "This ideology helps to mobilize the populace
against an enemy, because the concept is fuzzy it can be used against anybody advocating policies
that threaten property interests ... "144 Anticommunism helps imperil advances made by left-wing
oriented organizations such as labor unions. Portrayals of left-wing bodies, Chomsky argues,
reinforces conservative values and ideas held by wealthy interests. Thus, anticommunism acts as a
veil that shields the public's eyes from the hierarchical and oppressing nature that comprises the
United States' social, political and economic environment.

The effects of all media content having to be processed through these five filters is a narrowing
range of view or content that is available to individuals.

The portrayal of issues becomes

dependent on economic variables. In addition, it is predominantly elite corporations and the
government that have the resources to sharply limit what becomes news.

"Messages from and

about dissidents and weak, unorganized individuals and groups, domestic and foreign, are at an
initial disadvantage in sourcing costs and credibility, and they often do not comport with the
Ibid., 18- 19.
Ibid., 26.
143
Ibid., 27 - 28.
144
Ibid., 29.
141

142

49

ideology or interests of the gatekeepers and other powerful parties that influence the filtering
process. " 145

Chomsky highlights a further effect -- dichotomization in news content. Dichotomization in the
sense that stories that further advance the government and large corporations receive popular and
positive attention in mainstream media. Even agencies or affiliates of dominant interests will be
featured prominently. Any stories surfacing that portray preferred interest groups in a negative
light will not stay news for long. Dichotomization in news includes portraying 'opponents' of
industry and government with "slight detail, minimal humanization, and little context that will
excite and enrage." 146

In sum, Chomsky and the propaganda model accord primary attention to the role of market forces
impeding the political roles of the media. His arguments are based entirely within a free market
model which he uses to extrapolate and discuss how content is in actuality propaganda intended to
indoctrinate the masses. 147 To the extent that it represents one's vision of reality, Chomsky's
propaganda model is a damning account of long-time media control by an elite group of powerful
factions. Analyses made by way of the propaganda model are concise and thorough. 148 Chomsky
does not, however, describe or define what the political roles of the mass media are. He assumes
that they have a social responsibility to citizens yet he fruls to accord any attention to what exactly
these responsibilities might entail.

Chomsky's attention to the role of market forces offers many insightful observations and
accusations of the media forfeiting its social responsibilities.

Yet, again, he does not give

sufficient, if any, attention to the rights of media firms as private enterprises. Chomsky does not

145

Ibid., 31.
Ibid., 35.
147
Chomsky is clear to state that not all media convey propaganda consciously. Rather, biased content arises
through an internalization of values and self-censorship. In Chomsky's words: "We do not contend that this is all
the mass media do, but we believe that propaganda function to be a very important aspect of their overall service."
Chomsky and Herman, Manufacturing Consent, xi.
148
Chapters two through seven in Manufacturing Consent analyze particular cases studies of the, according to
Chomsky, massive and systematic dissemination of propaganda to serve political ends.
146

50

mention the right of privately owned firms to strive for profit. In addition, he does not consider
particular sources or 'newsbeats' as being part of the operational processes of journalists. The
third filter, sourcing mass media news, may just as validly be a filter of efficiency whereby time
'
and space demands placed on journalists and editors do not permit them to follow as many leads as
they would like to. Nor does he acknowledge the types of decisions editors and journalists make
everyday might be determined more by the sheer volume of information rather than by information
that coincides with elite agendas.

A third criticism of Chomsky has to do with the indoctrination process. His scathing criticisms of
the media's shortcomings amount to a 'witch-hunt' against the American

government and its

political and corporate allies. Chomsky loses sight of the fact that the media operate under the
market mechanism. The way his lamenting progresses implies that editors succumb to the demands
of corporate and government interests at whim.

The process of decision-making by media

personnel is not the 'cut and dried' process that Chomsky describes. Decisions are based on a
number of variables, of which government and corporate influence and demands are only a part. A
final criticism resembles one made against the Frankfurt School: the underestimation of a critical
public. Chomsky ignores the critical capacity of citizens; he assumes that they are being led, like
lambs to a slaughter, solely by the indoctrination process. The minds of individuals are not some
'tabula rasa' that the powerful interest groups manipulate with ease. Individuals can and are active
consumers of information and who have varying interpretations of content.

Conclusion
The three commentators discussed in this chapter all accord some attention, either implicitly or
explicitly, to the influence that the market has on the mass media. For Mill, ideas, thought and
discussion must flow freely throughout society for individuals to develop their reasoning abilities.
It is the media that help fulfill this task of liberty. The media, according to Mill, must not impeded

by any entity, otherwise it conflicts with an individuals 'greatest happiness'.

If the market can

operate freely, then a 'marketplace of ideas' will flourish as will liberty. Mill emphasizes both the
51

right to voice opinions uninhibited and the virtue individuals must exercise to keep freedom of
speech and liberty alive.

The Frankfurt School takes a different approach to the role of the market and its relationship to the
media.

Arguing that the negation of autonomous thought began during the Enlightenment,

Horkheimer and Adorno contend that the 'culture industries' forfeit moral responsibilities for
profit. The market, they feel, reinforces the 'culture industries' who, subsequently, bombard
citizens with information. This bombardment is the result of owners of the media, the bourgeoisie,
striving to attain profit maximization. The result of such is the suffocation, if not extinction, of
mass society's emancipatory powers.

The propaganda model which Chomsky uses, illustrates how news content is filtered through
multiple devices, all of which operate to support corporate and government interests. Content is
the result of the workings of the free market. Owners, who operate in economic tandem with
elites, strive to maintain the status-quo. According to Chomsky, the result of the media operating
within the free market is the dichotomization of news coverage which serves to reinforce our
social, political and economic environments which are oppressive and alienating.

This chapter has discussed particular theoretical and philosophical overviews of the mass media.
One school of thought that has not been considered is feminism. There are two primary reasons
why this paradigm was not addressed. Firstly, there exists the problem of the generic label of
'feminism' . There exist many factions of feminism, all with their separate and distinct analyses of
the loci of power in society. It is this factionalism that limits the space given to this worthy dogma.
Secondly, all the contributions of feminist literature that discusses the relationship between the
mass media, gender and patriarchy is enormous.149 To significantly assess both its strengths and
weaknesses is a thesis in itself. Feminist media studies, and feminism as a whole, is a new, valid,

For example, Klein (1984); Burt et. al (1993); van Zoonen (1994) and; Creedon (1995). This is by no means an
exhaustive list. Rather, it gives those who are intrested in this subject area a starting point.
149

52

necessary and refreshing paradigm and it is with regret that an analysis is not undertaken in the few
short pages which comprise this thesis.

53

Chapter 3
Globalization of Contemporary Mass Media
The dichotomy between information and entertainment has ended

-- Marshall McLuhan, 1962 --

Technological Changes Affecting Globalization
Harold A. Innis (1972), the Canadian economic historian and communications scholar, argued that
all societies have been shaped by the production and distribution of knowledge. 150 Writing in
1969, Marshall McLuhan observed that the electronic environment that constitutes our social
surroundings is as imperceptible to us as water is to a fish. 151 For McLuhan, innovations in
communications technology have brought about significant changes to our social and cultural
identities. By way of communication technologies, McLuhan asserts, we are experiencing a
tribalization process in the sense that new technologies are socially unifying because they bring the
world into our living rooms. For example, news media can transmit happenings in Haiti or postSoviet Russia instantaneously into our homes; to a certain degree we experience what they
experience -- we share the moment. Such changes are "bringing about equally radical changes in
the quality of social culture and in the character of politics." 152

This interrelationship between public and private spheres of society via communications
technology create what McLuhan called the 'global village'. By this he meant that we would soon
have the information gathering capacity to be intimately aware of the happenings of all people in the
world. "Everyone in it will be concerned about all others because of television's ability to involve
millions in the problems and emotions of people both near and far." 153 Although newspaper and
radio have the capacity to circulate and transmit information globally, primarily it is television that
gives individuals the illusion that they can witness events around the world as they happen.
150

Harold A. Innis, Empire and Communication (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1972).
Marshall McLuhan, Counterblast (New York: Hartcourt, Brace and World, 1969).
152
Edwin R. Black, The Political Biases of Info Tech (Prince George: University of Northern British Columbia
Press, 1995), 42.
153
Ibid., 43.
151

54

Broadcasting media are dependent upon three technological innovations that give them ability to
disseminate information around the world. They are communication satellites, computers and
digitization. All three have had a substantial impact on global communication as well as assisted in
the globalization of contemporary mass media.

Technological innovation is a primary impetus of social and economic change. The transitions
from agricultural to industrial society and from industrial to the present 'information society' have
all been stimulated by the advent of technologies. The significance of the steam-driven mill

stimulating the transition from agricultural to industrial society may be paralleled by the advent of
computer technology stimulating the momentous shift from the industrial to the information
society. These three shifts were the direct result of technological innovation. Our move into the
information age has been accompanied by the establishment of a global communication system
built on computers, satellites and digitization of text, sound and pictures. 154 The former Soviet
Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, in 1957. Since then, the number of satellites
launched has been great. By 1990, more than three thousand satellites had been put into orbit.

Today, through geostationary satellites, live transoceanic transmission programming of radio and
television is now routine. "Satellites provide cable networks such as HBO and Entertainment and
Sports Programming Network (ESPN) a low-cost method of networking thousands of cable
systems in the United States." 155

The deployment of satellite technology is being replicated

elsewhere throughout the globe. In Europe, satellite service and Direct Broadcast Service (DBS)
reached approximately two million homes in 1988 and in a number of Asian countries such as
Japan, Malaysia, The Republic of Korea and Thailand satellite technology is expanding consumer
access to media products. 156

Robert L. Stevenson, Global Communication In The Twenty-First Century (New York: London, 1994), 319.
U.S. Department of Commerce: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Globalization of
the Mass Media (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1993), 32.
156
Ibid.
154

155

55

Fibre optic cable is another communication innovation that is making more efficient the production
and distribution of information. Fibre optic cable employs the use of light waves to carry data
. through thin glass tubes. Fibre optic cables transmit voice, data and video signals with short
bursts of light; their transmission capabilities offer much greater information carrying capacity than
its predecessor, analog data transmission. One fibre optic line, the width of a human hair, can
transmit up to thirty thousand individual phone calls simultaneously. Not only does fibre optic
cable allow for increased capacity of data and transmit .it more rapidly, it is also the most secure
method of data transportation. 157

Information can be transmitted without being subjected to

electromagnetic or radio interference. Fibre optic transmission lines are being employed both
domestically and internationally.

Internationally, submarine lines are growing in number.

Submarine lines are fibre optic lines that are transoceanic because they are installed at the bottom of
oceans thereby connecting continents.

Fibre optics is slowly being integrated into present

communication technologies and methods. One reason for the delay is that many households still
have analog systems installed.

Another technological innovation that has influenced and induced the globalization of media firms
is digitization. This innovation enhances analog delivery systems. Analog systems are those
... that mimic the workings of the human ear and translate sound
waves into minute vibrations. The vibrations are then converted into
a weak electrical current that reproduces the original wave. The
current wave produces an analog of the sound wave, that is, if you
could see them both, the pattern of the current would look very
much like the original sound wave. The electrical current can be
transferred to a permanent storage system for later playback .158
Digital technology is possible because machines read information "in a series of ls and Os like
computers. Digital ways to create, transmit and store information are used in personal computers,
compact discs, televisions and phone messages. "159 Digital technologies may soon even replace
analog technologies entirely as "General Instrument announced a prototype", in June 1990 of a
"fully ATV transmission system for consideration by the Federal Communication Commission's
Ray Eldon Hiebert et. al, Mass Media N: An Introduction to Modem Communication (New York: Longman,
1991), 619.
158
Stevenson, Global Communication in the Twenty-First Century, 326- 327.
159
Kevin Maney, Megamedia Shakeout (New York: John Wiley& Sons, 1995), 6.
157

56

(FCC) Advisory Committee on Advanced Television (ATV) Service as the U.S . transmission
standard for terrestrial broadcasting." 160 Digitization is far superior because it is capable of
capturing more information from the sound wave and is not subject to deterioration. "The key is
that when something is digital, it can be rearranged, cut apart, and mixed with anything else that is
digital." 161 New communication technologies are being introduced to both the public and private
sectors of the world at an alarming rate. The technologies introduced in this section are by no
means comprehensive, rather they are the more significant ones that have accelerated the
globalization of media firms.

How do these innovations facilitate the globalization of mass media institutions?

All of the

aforementioned technologies help convert most forms of communication -- pictures, sounds and
text -- into a common code that is easily transmitted over all mediums of communication. In the
information age, information can now be compressed and then sent to its destination, freeing up
space in fibre optic lines. It is this compression that allows the possibility of the much heralded
arrival of the '500-channel' television system.

Satellites, fibre , optics, telephone lines,

simultaneous broadcasts all contribute to a merger of different mediums simultaneously or
"multimedia". Owners of goliath media firms have understood the enormous advantages that
"multimedia" offers to making their operations run more efficiently, increase their profits and size,
distribution and overall scope and power of their companies in the global economy.

Modes of Globalization
Many citizens in both developed and developing nations grow up unaware of the dynamics and
complexities of media firm behavior, their expansion strategies as well as who owns the copious
amounts of media they consume daily. The globalization phenomenon of media institutions is a
result of the changing political, socio-economic and demographic environment. Increases in lifeexpectancy, consumption of commodities and leisure time are all variables that motivate media
conglomerations to expand their scope and power into the international arena. Understandably, the
U.S. Department of Commerce: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Globalization of
the Mass Media , 34-35.
161
Maney, Megamedia Shakeout, 6.
160

57

incentive to expand services into the global market has led to an increase in global competition
among media moguls. Thus, this section provides a basic framework for understanding the
workings related to the development of competitive strategies used by contemporary mass media
firms.

Hassan and Kaynak ( 1994) in their text Globalization of Consumer Markets: Structures and
Strategies identify four major factors influencing the competitive advantage of global industries: (1)
the supply side conditions; (2) demand side factors; (3) scope of segmentation and; (4) degree of
globalization. 162 The supply side assists industries in attaining greater economies of scale and
market penetration. "To these firms, global competitiveness is demonstrated via the ability to
standardize research and development, product design, manufacturing, assembly, and packaging
procedures." 163 The demand side facilitates competitiveness in the global economy because it helps
conglomerations understand their consumer audiences and preferences. Scope of segmentation is a
vital instrument for an international company. ''The importance of segmentation to the global
strategy is consistent with two key trends: the emergence of specific global segments, and the
usefulness of segmentation to global strategy." 164 The degree of globalization "dictates the degree
of standardization of the marketing program and process." 165

Keeping this framework for

competitiveness in the global economy in mind, it is possible to observe the dominant trends and
strategies being utilized by media firms in their effort to expand the scope and power of their media
firms in the international economy.

Complementary expansion is when one institution is "engaged in the production of complementary
products in different countries." 166 Products are considered complements of each other when
supply or demand in one product changes it produces the opposite effect in the other.

For

example, when compact disc players first became available on the market they were quite
162

Salah S.Hassan and Erdener Kaynak, eds., Globalization of Consumer Markets: Structures and Strategies
(Binghampton: International Business Press, 1994), 19-25.
163
Ibid., 20.
164
Ibid., 22.
165
Ibid., 23.
166
U.S. Department of Commerce: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Globalization of
the Mass Media , 53.

58

expensive to purchase because of the electronics and circuitry necessary for operation. However,
as technology advanced and compact disc players became cheaper to produce and offered new
options (i.e., multi-player as opposed to single) and were cheaper to consume, the price of the
compact discs (CD's) was raised because of increased demand now that more consumers could
afford compact disc players.

The mutual dependence certain products have on one another sometimes entices media firms to
merge to reduce 'demand externality'. A demand externality exists "whenever the market demand
for one firm's products is influenced, positively or negatively, by the decisions made by another
firm and, moreover, the latter firm cannot realize the benefits or costs of these decisions." 167 A
merger may take place in the attempt to inhibit demand externalities, increase the firm's efficiency
and increase profits. By pooling all resources under one corporate umbrella it is easy to see how,
complementarity may induce foreign direct investment (FDI) and ,
therefore, globalization. Complementaries exist over a wide range
of media products (e.g., computers and software programs,
compact discs (CDs) and players, and cameras and film).
Moreover, the firms that produce such complementary products are
typically located around the world. Media firms may attempt to
capture additional producer surplus by internalizing the demand
externality through merger, acquisition, or joint venture. 168

The second mode of globalization, horizontal expansion, takes place when one ·media institution
sells the same product in at least two different foreign markets. Within this mode of globalization
companies do not buy or sell to one another, as in complementary expansion, "but are a number of
enterprises, usually in different locations, doing the same business." 169 All attempts of horizontal
expansion are premeditated corporate strategies with the primary motivation to attain frrm-specific
advantages.

Firm-specific advantages are benefits a firm receives when entering a foreign market as well as
advantages over rival companies; the type and degree of advantage depends on both the company
167

Ibid., 54.
Ibid., 55.
169
Lorimer, Mass Communication, 86.
168

59

and the product. For instance, a firm expanding into a new market yet keeping its management
philosophy and team may reduce operating budgets. A second firm-specific advantage may be the
decision to locate a firm overseas or across borders in order for the firm to reduce distribution costs
because the expansion allows the firm to distribute the product itself. Being both producer and
distributor reduces long-term operating costs.

The final mode of globalization, and the most recent management fad, vertical expansion, occurs
when an institution is involved in successive stages of production and where one or more of the
stages are located in different countries. Engagement in the stages of production is primarily done
through either foreign direct investment or long-term contracts. 170 Within this mode of
globalization companies buy and use products from the same owner.

One motive stimulating vertical integration is said to be improvement of economic efficiency.
"Specifically, some transactions are more efficiently completed within the governance structure of a
single firm rather than through a market." 171 Vertical integration is often more efficient because its
internal management structure and organization can control and direct the firm' s behavior in all
aspects of the production process as well as the distribution process. A prominent characteristic of
vertical integration is the interdependence the different stages of the production process have on
one another; it is essential that open channels of communication exist so different groups in the
production process can communicate freely in order to maximize profits.

Vertical expansion has occurred in almost every facet of the media, from the manufacturing of
television sets to the distribution of films and compact discs. Corporations such as Time-Warner,
and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. have engaged in vertical integration in order to increase
efficiency and reduce vertical externality.

Vertical externality, like horizontal externality,

diminishes the possibility of confusion and miscalculating marketing strategies. A second form of
vertical integration, long-term contracts, is also employed by media firms to increase efficiency.
170

U.S. Department of Commerce: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Globalization of
the Mass Media , xi.
171
Ibid. , 64.

60

Contracts, similar to joint ventures, are signed between producers and distributors for long
durations of time to distribute a media institution's product. Most often, the producers will work
with only one distributor to ensure a lasting and open relationship, one that fosters trust and
openness between the two parties.

"Those countries that develop a comparative advantage in the production of such (mass media)
products will increase the economic welfare of their inhabitants." 172 But who are these media
behemoths that have come to dominate the international media market? How did they get there?
What are the media economics they abide by? What are the consequences of their actions for the
democratic process? These questions are addressed in the final two sections of this chapter.

The Globalization of Media Firms -- Media Economics
Economics is the study of how finite resources are allocated to satisfy the infinite needs and wants
of a particular society or audience. Further, economics can be compartmentalized into micro and
macro economics.

Microeconomics considers the market system in operation, analyzing the

economic activities of producers and consumers in specific markets. In contrast, macroeconomics
studies operations of the entire economic system on a national level. Both share the goal of better
understanding the interrelationship between supply and demand. Media economics refers to the
business and economic activities of media firms operating within the media industry. It includes
the operations involved in both the production and distribution of information services. However,
as the globalization of media firms continues, making the distinction concerning the primary type
of industry the particular company participates in becomes convoluted. 173 Specifically, "media
economics is concerned with how the media industries allocate resources to create information and
entertainment content to meet the needs of audiences, advertisers and other societal institutions."174

Ibid., 68. Parentheses added.
There is a tremendous amount of economic activity occurring in the media industry, proving difficult to illustrate
the specific selling, buy-outs and joint ventures occurring. The deals and maneuvers are so pervasive that any given
day can amount to multiple business announcements from major companies. For the purpose of this study it is only
the dominant owners and companies in the globalization of media firms that are investigated.
174
Alison Alexander, James Owen and Rob Careth, eds., Media Economics: Theory and Practice (New York:
Lawerence Erlbaum Associates, 1993), 3.
172
173

61

r---------------------·---

All financial undertakings a media firm engages in, regardless of the country the firm operates out
of, are subject to rules established by political, legal, economic and social institutions.

"The

overall nature of a country's political organization is clearly a fundamental factor in the
determination of the media industries and business practices of media firms." 175 The activities of
media firms investigated in this study are capitalist ventures, operating in a "mixed-capitalist
society" whereby the majority of firms are privately owned and operate within a capitalist
economy. To better understand the economic environment that media firms operate in, it is
beneficial to focus on the microeconomic element. The benefits of doing so are two-fold: (1) it
allows an investigation into the economic and organizational philosophies media firms adhere to
and (2) it assists in the understanding why firms are expanding into the global economy.

Awareness of the microeconomic principles provides a conceptual framework for understanding
the operations of media firms. "Economists assume that individuals maximize their utility. Utility
refers to satisfaction and enjoyment from the consumption (today or in the future) of a particular
good or service." 176 The microeconomic activities of media firms concerns itself with how
individuals (consumers) make decisions in the consumption of information and entertainment
content. It also focuses on the supply and demand and price of particular goods and services.

The day-to-day operations of media firms may be compartmentalized into three principles;
organization and production and distribution. 177 Organization is the coordination of activities that
require a structured and interdependent environment in order to successfully achieve the firms
goals and directives. Typically, the organizational structure of a media firm, within a mixedcapitalist system, is headed, theoretically, by the stockholders. The stockholders appoint a board
of directors who represent the collective interests of the stockholders. It is the duty of the board of
directors to appoint a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who is responsible for the ongoing operations
of the entire firm, often referred to as 'line and staff duties. Line refers to the actual physical
Ibid., 5.
Ibid., 7.
177
The number of principles that can be compartmentalized vary. Other principles include technology use,
accounting and information systems, financial management and, transactions in the financial system.
175

176

62

involvement in the production of goods and services whereas staff describes those functions that
are not directly involved in the physical production of the good.

To fulfill this mammoth

responsibility the Chief Executive Officer appoints numerous personnel to supervisory positions.
For example, the Chief Executive Officer would employ a vice-president of programming whose
duties include making certain that all programming was reaching its intended market.

Production and distribution refers to the creation of the good or service being produced for the
market by the organization. "The process of creating a product to distribute to a market varies
widely across the media industries. In the case of newspapers, for example, production is by
necessity compressed into a few hours. Most processes .. . must take place in a compressed time
frame. In contrast, the time for a book may be years." 178 The means employed by media firms to
distribute a finished product also vary according to the media industry being considered. For
example, a large percentage of television programming is distributed by the network that produces
the program, therefore, distribution is a major area of concern to the producers of television
content. However, the production and distribution of goods and services will not attain profit if
the firm does not comprehend what needs it serves and more importantly, who's needs it attempts
to satisfy.

Media organizations operate in the economic system to meet both private and public needs. 179
Private needs are those needs that are essential to an individual's survival (shelter, food and
clothing). However, individuals are neither complacent nor satisfied with only private needs.
Once an individual's subsistence needs are met, they desire convenience needs-- ones that make
life easier and more comfortable. Goods which satisfy convenience needs include cars, money and
entertainment. In contrast, public needs are those goods and services that make society's way of
life more convenient and secure. For example, bridges, military and public education are public
goods because all of society may consume them.

178
179

James Owen, Alison Alexander and Rob Careth, Media Economics: Theory and Practice, 15.
Robert G. Picard, Media Economics: Concepts and Issues (Newbury Park: SAGE Publications, 1989).

63

To fulfill these differing needs, media firms serve four groups: (1) media owners; (2) audiences;
(3) advertisers; and (4) media employees. 180 The needs of the four groups are diverse. Owners
desire both maximum profit and preservation of the firm. Audiences wish high quality information
and entertainment services at a low cost. Advertisers pay services for access to their intended
target audiences. And, employees call for good working conditions and a non-discriminatory
work environment. Moreover, the media also deliver a public service by providing forums for
ideas and discussions to take place for the democratic process to prosper.

Meeting all the demands placed on a firm requires media organizations to operate in dual markets.
Institutions of the media produce one good but participate in two service markets. Content is the
good that is provided to both markets; media content may be a song, a news program or an
editorial piece. Content is the delivery of the information and entertainment package that the
particular medium manufactures. The commodity is then marketed to two different consumers.
First, content is marketed to individuals. This involves attracting their attention to the product in
exchange for their time and money. The second market the media sell their commodity to is the
advertising industry. "Although some observers may casually conclude that media sell space or
time to purchasers of advertising, a more precise and descriptive explanation is that the media sell
access to audiences to advertisers."ISI 182

The dynamics of media economies are premised on one fundamental tenet -- profit. In economic
terminology, the goal of all media organizations is the 'maximization of shareholder wealth'.
Operating in a 'mixed capitalist system', the media compete with each other to provide choices to
consumers and access to audiences. "The number of producers in a given market is important
because it is an indication of the market power that firms possess and their ability to control and
influence the economic operations in that market." 183 The structure of a market may be analyzed by
using four types of market environments: (1) perfect competition; (2) monopolistic competition; (3)
Ibid., 9.
Ibid., 18.
182
Not all media participate in the advertising market. Rather, those who do not reley on product sales alone and
some depend on contibutions such as the Public Broadcasting System.
183
Picard, Media Economics, 31.
180
181

64

oligopoly and; (4) monopoly.

Perfect competition exists when economic competition for

advertisers and audiences is uninhibited.

Monopolistic competition occurs when "there are a

number of sellers of similar goods and services, but the products are differentiated and each
product is available only when the firm makes it." 184 Oligopolies are when the market structure is
dominated by a few select media firms competing against one another and whose goods are either
homogenous or differentiated. A monopoly market structure is denoted when only one producer
has complete autonomy over economic functions of the market structure and all consumers are
dependent on that one firm for goods and services to fulfill their private and convenience needs.
Competition is one of the pillars that a capitalist economy is built upon. Therefore, all producers
strive to 'comer the market'. To remain competitive and be profitable many media firms constantly
restructure their internal dynamics. Restructuring can take form in two ways: (1) downsizing; or
(2) increase their holdings.

Circumstances inciting the decision to restructure are numerous,

ranging from current market conditions and technological innovations to corporate takeovers or
'raids'. However, efficiency and increasing the scope and power of the particular firm are the
primary motivations behind such decisions. It is the latter influence that has led to the increase in
the globalization of media firms. This globalization began in the late 1980s and continues in the
present day. The multimedia communication mergers that dominate media economics have begun a
journey whose destination is unknown as are the implications on the democratic process.

Major Players

Media companies have been aware of technological convergence -- the amalgamation of
communication mediums like the television, telephone, satellites and computers to create an
interactive, easy access information and entertainment industry-- for many years. However, they
were ignorant of the speed at which the rate of innovation would develop.

The plethora of

innovations in communication technology has occurred in a very brief period of time. Beginning in
the mid-1980s enormous mergers, buy-outs and joint ventures became the norm in the day-to-day
operations of media economics. By 1992, the economic philosophies of media firms changed

184

Ibid., 32.

65

completely. "Companies altered their strategies and set off in new directions. New leaders took
over and visibly led the charge." 185

These new leaders or media behemoths compete in research and development in communications
technologies to make the '500-channel' television reality.

Regardless of who controls the

production of hardware it is the software that consumers desire. Thus, the daily operations of
media firms and media economics is a battle by corporate strategists for control over content.

Walt Disney Co.
The nineteen billion dollar acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC by the Walt Disney Co. in August of
1995 introduced the world's largest entertainment empire and the second largest player in global
entertainment to the global economy. In the U.S.A., Disney owns the Disney channel, a specialty
cable station with fourteen million subscribers. Capital Cities/ ABC Inc. owns eighty percent of the
ESPN sports network, twenty-one radio stations, shares in the A&E (Arts and Entertainment)
channel and a publishing group with seven daily newspapers. The most severe threat to the U.S.
democratic process the merger arises from the Walt Disney Co.'s ownership of the ABC television
network's eight television stations and their two hundred and twenty-five affiliates.

Time-Warner Inc.
The merger between the book publishing mogul Time and the film and television company Warner,
in June of 1989, created one of the largest media enterprises in the world. Time bought Warner for
thirteen billion dollars. As Bagdikian (1992) and Hiebert et al. (1991) illustrate; Warner controlled
fourteen percent of the sixty-six hours of prime-time television each week, had forty-four movies
on the market, fourteen first run shows on television and was a major supplier of cable. 186 The
motivation to buy-out Warner was based on economic security. Time, forecasting minimal growth
in its magazine industry, wanted to diversify but felt underdeveloped in areas relating to
185

Kevin Maney, Megamedia Shakeout (New York: John Wiley& Sons, 1995), 6.
Ben H. Bagdikian, The Media Monopoly (4th ed.) (Boston: Beacon Press, 1992). Ray Eldon Hiebert et. al, Mass
MediaN: An Introduction to Modem Communication (New York: Longman, 1991).
186

66

communications technology. Wamer had been successful in its records and music division as well
as film production. The new media behemoth, as Bagdikian ( 1992) notes, now own assets
exceeding the combined gross domestic product of Bolivia, Jordan, Nicaragua, Albania, Liberia
and Mali.

Time-Wamer is an excellent illustration of the evolution from information to

infotainment because it is the integration of a journalistic enterprise (Time) with the entertainment
industry (Warner).

Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation
Australian businessman Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has the greatest global reach of
newspaper circulation, owning: two-thirds in Australia, one-half in New Zealand and one-third in
Britain. Murdoch' s conglomerate is composed of newspapers, magazines, films, satellites and
cable services around the globe.

Controlling the Financial Times, Viking, Penguin Books,

Harper-Collins in both the United Kingdom and United States, the Fox Broadcasting network and
seven percent of Reuters news agency allows Murdoch to attain profits up to fourteen billion
dollars annually. Moreover, Murdoch has been open about giving right-wing politicians, like
Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, advantageous press coverage. Both Thatcher and Reagan
returned the favor by granting leniency in laws and regulations concerning media ownership.
Thatcher even allowed Murdoch to circumvent the United Kingdom's Monopolies Commission,
allowing him to buy the London Times, thus enhancing his reign of power in the United Kingdom.

Bertlesmann AG
The German media giant, Bertlesmann AG, is the biggest player in the global entertainment
industry and the third largest integrated media company in the world, next to Disney-ABC and
Time-W amer. Its operations are so decentralized that although the name Bertlesmann may be
unfamiliar to most, some of its companies may not be. Bertlesmann owns RCA, Ariola Records,
Doubleday Publishing and Bantam Books, with sales exceeding some seven billion annually. 187
All the companies Bertlesmann devours are left in their original name. Bertlesmann' s power and

187

Anthony Smith, The Age of the Behemoths (London: Twentieth Century Fund, 1993), 41.

67

influence are based on self-concealment; thereby reinforcing the image of diversity in consumer
choice.

Silvio Berlusconi
Italian businessman, Silvio Berlusconi, entered the media industry in 1976 and by the early 1980s
had acquired all three private national networks in Italy and four specialty channels. In 1984 he
had managed to purchase all three publishing houses in Italy. Also in 1984, the Italian courts ruled
nationwide private television ownership illegal; it appeared that Berlusconi would have to sell most
of his networks. However, then Prime Minister Bettino Craxi intervened and reversed the law
permitting Berlusconi to keep his empire. Berlusconi's Finivest company owns forty-five percent
of Kabel Media located in Munich and its audience reach is approximately two and a half million.

These dominant media firms are large multi-national, profit-seeking corporations. Other colossals
include Westinghouse-CBS, Sony-Columbia and the Thomson Corporation. These information
czars operate in tandem with the corporate community whose market strategies of infotainment,
operating on the principle of supply and demand, detract from the political roles of the mass media
and thus the democratic process.

Infotainment and Market Forces
Writing in 1951 , Harold Innis observed that "enormous improvements in communication have
made understanding more difficult." 18 8 The relative abundance of political information about local,
national and international issues has important implications for the theory and practice of informed
citizenship and thus democracy in the affluent liberal states. In contemporary times, the citizen is
deluged with more information than ever before. This section is a theoretical examination of how
the globalization of mass media institutions affect the political roles of the mass media.

Vigilant and independent media are indispensable in a modern democracy, that is, a system of rule
where political power resides in the citizenry and is exercised by them either directly or through
188

Harold A. Innis, The Bias of Communication (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1951), 31.

68

representatives. Citizens require objective information to formulate opinions on political, social
and economic issues. Democracy, according to J.S. Mill, requires a free press; one that provides
information-rich news and diversity. A test of a healthy democracy is the degree to which a
political system can tolerate and encourage freedom of expression. Some preliminary comments
are in order about the meaning of informed citizenship and its relation to democracy. Informed
citizenship means more than an individual receiving information on political, economic and social
concerns; it implies the motivation to become informed. Normatively speaking, citizens become
motivated because they realize they are agents possessing interests, rights and responsibilities.
Pertaining to democracy, the desire to be informed rest upon the citizen's ability, upon the
acquisition of appropriate information, to initiate actions that influence the democratic process.

Unfortunately, the ideal of informed citizenship has never existed in practice. Citizens are not
motivated to participate in the democratic process: think of low voter tum-out in recent elections.
Numerous attempts have been made to explain this circumstance. One interpretation rests on the
assumption that citizens feel they do not have any influence or effect on the democratic process:
"Like my vote is going to change anything!"

Moreover, this interpretation identifies,

quantitatively, the percentage of national voter tum-out. Withholding information, relevant to the
democratic process, is the premise of a second school of thought. lllustrating the hegemonic
relationship between political and civil society, its proponents argue that informed citizenship is
impossible because elites censor information in the attempt to impede the populace from attaining
class-consciousness. A third explanation, one that will provide the foundation for this
investigation, argues that it is not a lack of available information per se but the quality of
information that makes the attainment of informed citizenship difficult.

Institutions of the media are in a current process of change. The increase in cross-ownership by a
select few media moguls has led to a concentration of large international companies dominating the
mass media industry. The consequences of this transformation are unknown.

What requires

investigation are the political and social consequences these oligopolies have on democratic
societies.

69

Globalization of media firms in the sense of an increasing concentration of international companies
procuring previously locally owned information and entertainment enterprises is still in its early
stages. It is important to investigate patterns of media ownership and their consequences because
they link economic structures to cultural and political ones. "More particularly, they connect a
productive system rooted in private ownership to a political system that presupposes a citizenry
whose full social participation depends in part on access to the maximum possible range of
information and analysis and to open debate on contentious issues." 189

With the arrival of

satellites, fibre-optics and other technological innovations, media moguls publish and broadcast
information from all over the world at faster speeds and lower costs.

A representative democracy requires a citizenry that is both informed and has an opportunity to
voice concerns. "In general, capitalism makes no allowances for relations between cultures and
economic institutions" 190 ; the consequence of such is that media content, rather then being
informing, is entertaining because owners wish to create greater profit margins regardless of the
damage they inflict on the democratic process. "The problem is not that television presents us with
entertaining subject matter, rather the problem is that all television content is", because of market
demands, "presented as entertaining." 191

Infotainment, the assimilation of information into

entertainment to maintain audience levels, is the economic blueprint all private-sector media
institutions obey. No matter what the content, the overarching presumption is that it is there for
entertainment, thus fulfilling economic mandates.

Television is the primary source of public

information and constructs the stage for other mediums, such as radio, magazines and specialist
newspapers, to perform. Before investigating the consequences the globalization of media firms
has on democracy, a theoretical discussion of the ideal of freedom of the press is required.

189

Graham Murdock, "Redrawing the Map of Communication Industries: Concentration and Ownership in the Era
of Privatization," in Majorie Ferguson, ed., Public Communication: The New Imperatives: Future Directions for
Media Research (London: SAGE Publications, 1990), 4.
190
Lorimer, Mass Communication, 75.
191
Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death (New York: Penguin, 1985), 87.

70

The use of information is the crux of ethical and moral questions involving media and journalistic
practices. However, the quality, composition and depth of information used to inform the citizenry
will not necessarily be determined by the twin virtues of balance and fairness (however defined).
An investigation of the degree of freedom the press experience, in any society, requires asking two

questions: (1) to what extent is the press limited in its ability to disseminate information to the
public and (2) what is the impact of ownership and control mechanisms (i.e., regulation) on media
content. 192 Both of these questions have implications on the public's interest in political, social and
economic issues.

"Public means open and available, not private or closed." 193

A necessary condition for the

existence and activity of a public discourse is the availability of adequate means of communication.
"Public communication are those processes of information and cultural exchange between media
institutions, products and publics which are socially shared, widely available and communal in
character." 194

Freedom of the press is a structural condition. The "operation of the media is often guaranteed (or
limited) by provisions of society in the form of constitutional clauses or laws." 195 The existence of
a free press system, as McQuail notes, requires three categories; rights, conditions and duties. 196
Rights imply that media institutions be permitted to: publish news for profit, report on public

meetings, convey alternative and conflicting viewpoints of the state and refuse to publish material
without castigation. Conditions essential for freedom of the press are the absence of censorship
and interference from sponsors and government. Duties of media organizations include: serving
the public good, expressing alternative and dissenting views and presenting the opportunity for
citizens to express their opinions. Objectivity in news practices, normatively speaking, is the
fundamental tenet executing these processes. However, tenets do not execute processes.
192

Dennis McQuail, Media Peiformance: Mass Communications in the Public Interest (London: SAGE, 1992).
Ibid., 2.
194
Majorie Ferguson, ed., Public Communication: The New Imperatives: Future Directions for Media Research
(London: SAGE Publications, 1990), ix.
195
McQuail, Media Performance, 2.
196
Ibid., 99-100.
193

71

Objectivity is a professional ideal of a certain type of journalist. The idea of objectivity may be
traced to Plato who was concerned with the influence of poets and playwrights on the Greek
populace.197 By the 1920s journalists adopted objectivity, in the sense of dichotomous balance, as
an ideal. 198 Closely associated with truth is objectivity; indeed these two words have long been the
cardinal "buzzwords" of journalism. Moreover, objectivity, as understood by the communicator,
signifies more than truth; it implies thoroughness. Aristotle emphasized his ethical normality the
"Golden Mean". By this he meant that moral virtue is a mean between two extremes; one involves
excess and the other deficiency. Establishing equilibrium or balance between the extremes
provided a foundation for individuals to behave responsibly. Moderation, Aristotle argued, was
the key to excellence.

This argument is an exemplary example of the journalistic practices

necessary for freedom of the press. Objectivity may be paralleled to Aristotle's 'Golden Mean"; it
is discovering the equilibrium between excess and deficiency in reporting. Equilibrium compels
proper focus, organization and unbiased selection of facts. Unfortunately, this ideal of freedom of
the press has been sacrificed to the cardinal zeal of capitalism -- the quest for profit.

The economic structure of a medium governs the shape and transmission of information as well as
its source. It is pertinent to note that any private media institution operates in response to the
interplay of supply and demand. Like any other private enterprise, owners of media seek to satisfy
consumer demand at the lowest economic level and in ways which maximize their economic
welfare.

The "culture industry" is dominated by a select number of companies.

The dynamics of its

industrial structure -- the effects of owning the means of production, distribution and presentation - involve conglomerations, combining a variety of corporate linkages, usually integrating
horizontally and vertically integrated companies. This pattern of ownership became prominent
during the early 1970s when media corporations began to diversify into ventures not associated
Black, Politics and the News , 13.
Nick Russell, Morals of the Media: Ethics in Canadian Journalism (Vancouver: University of British Columbia
Press, 1994), 25.
197
198

72

with their original enterprise. Inciting the economic desire for conglomeration derives from two
sources: first, media conglomerates reduce costs by way of vertical integration where they sell
products to themselves. 199 An example of this is Sony-Columbia, which manufactures the
necessary hardware for the music and recording industry. Sony-Columbia owns CBS records.
Demand for their hardware is maintained through themselves. Second, and more relevant to the
democratic process, is 'cornering the market'. Horizontally integrated companies do not have to
worry about access for their products, especially in key demographic areas; thus diminishing
audience concerns. There exists a consistent pattern of expansion in the growth of media
behemoths. First, they become dominant in their own countries, sometimes with the assistance of
politicians. Then, after solidifying their operations in their home countries, expand, thanks to the
amelioration of borders in the information age, into the international arena.

Television in the 1950s united societies by way of news broadcasts, educated citizens and thus was
a harbinger of the democratic process. A critical trait of a representative democratic form of
government must always be borne in mind: accountability of those in power to those who elected
them. One form of accountability, other than voting, is the role the mass media, as 'watchdogs',
execute. Normatively speaking, as the social responsibility theory of the press contends, objective
reporting serves as a check on authority and political power. Informed citizenship is dependent
upon the mass media to furnish this ~

e and provide differing viewpoints on relevant issues so

that citizens may, based on the acquisition of appropriate information, make informed judgments

and evaluations of political issues and elected officials.

However, the structure and role of private-sector media ownership are founded on cost-efficiency.
As previously mentioned, the economic aims of a media organization dictates content. Therefore,
content, with the arrival of conglomerates has become nothing more than infotainment because
owners of media corporations need to maintain their audience in order for sponsors to keep
purchasing air-time. On radio and television there is little space for discussion; when stories run an
199

Ray Eldon Hiebert et. al, Mass Media IV: An Introduction to Modem Communication (New York: Longman,
1991), 54-70.

73

average of forty-five seconds there is no time for contemplation or question the validity of the story
itself.

The goal of newscasts, aside from maintaining captive audiences for advertisers, is

acclamation not contemplation. Televised media provides citizens with a selective view of the
world about what is important and what is not. Market incentives lead to a selection of news
portraying an image of the world with striking homogeneity. Networks and news coverage are
now composed of personalities (Dan Rather, Diane Sawyer, Peter Jennings, Barbara Walters and
Wolf Blitzer) and news stories are animated graphics displayed at rapid speeds.

A news program

and its formats are designed to entertain not educate. Everything in a newscast exemplifies this:
opening theme music, the perfect hair and good looks of broadcasters and the use of images not
commentary. What do music and attractive anchorpersons have to do with news? Nothing, they
provide the aesthetic value for infotainment.

The media reproduce one vision of reality without subjecting it to critical reflection. Affixing the
obstruction of informed citizenship with infotainment, merely requires the realization that for
entertainment to remain pleasing, it must not demand any personal effort. It suppresses critical
thought in citizens. Most important about infotainment is that people watch it; they watch its
moving pictures of short duration and variety. Citizens watch or 'join" the newscaster every
evening despite all the violence, tragedy and barbarism. The onrush of images that viewers
experience is a distraction, disrupting thought and preventing contemplation. Infotainment has no
intentions of stories having any implications, if it did, it would require the audience to think thus
restricting attention to the following story -- or worse, the next commercial. Contemplation and
introspection are in contradiction to infotainment. Equal in importance is that infotainment assumes
that citizens are capable of separating truth from images by using their reasoning and deductive
abilities that liberalism purports, thereby excusing the mass media from any liability they have
caused to the democratic process.

In the advanced capitalist states, information is primarily geared towards privatism and
consumption. A paradox immediately presents itself between the democratic process and
information. In this context, information obtained through the mass media serves not only to

74

"inform" the individual, it isolates the citizen from political problems because it detaches them from
issues. Infotainment detaches the individual by placing issues of public concern within the private
realm of the home, hindering public discourse and participation by decreasing interpersonal
communication. Simultaneously, it provides infotainment that trivializes issues pertinent to the
development of informed citizenship.

The media, as agents of socialization, hinder informed citizenship on account of their ability to
personalize, fragment, isolate, and normalize news stories. 200 Technology allows journalists to
compress vast amounts of information into "media frames", selected stories for presentation, that
audiences effortlessly decode and digest as commonsense.201

The media impede the political

capacity of citizens as Horkheimer pessimistically writes, ". .. the giant loudspeaker of industrial
culture ... endlessly reduplicate[s] the surface of reality." 202

The mass media play a significant role influencing citizens. The patterns of individual use and
consumption of the media, in everyday life, help mold citizen's attitudes and opinions.
Unfortunately, most patterns of usage occur during an individual's leisure time that serves to detach
the individual from their community. Also, using the media as a form of leisure stifles the
opportunity for critical thought and discussion with members of the populace. The result of these
structural and systemic conditions inhibits participation precisely for the reason that participation is
not encouraged. Citizens know that despite the fragmented nature of news, commercials will
appear and defuse any relevance, continuity or importance of the preceding story.

Citizens are

accustomed to discontinuity, they expect the disruption of commercials.

Within the surrealistic environment of the media is a paradigm that abandons logic and reason. A
fundamental concern is that the paradigm of infotainment is being accepted as reality. Fragmented,
iqelevant and entertaining "reality" deprives citizens of information vital to their social well-being.
200

Lance W. Bennett, News: The Politics of Illusion (4th ed.) (New York: Longman, 1988).
Todd Gitlin, The Whole World Is Watching: mass media in the making and unmaking of the new left (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1980), 9.
202
Max Horkheimer, The Eclipse of Reason (New York: Continuum, 1947), 142.

201

75

The decline in critical awareness ameliorates the autonomous individual -- the crux of liberal
democratic theory. The media undermine the rational individual through the quest for profit, the
reproduction of reality, a barrage of images and incomprehensible political rhetoric.

Conclusion
In conclusion, informed citizenship in the information society remains elusive. Infotainment
bombards citizens with an abundant amount of information and images, leaving them detached from
the community -- resulting in a rationalized public, not reasoning individuals.

As future

technological innovations make the transmission and consumption of information increasingly
efficient and market incentives increase the amount of infotainment, the outlook for increased
informed citizenship is bleak. "We are presented not only with fragmented news but news without
context, without consequences, without value, and therefore without essential seriousness; that is to
say, news as pure entertainment." 203 The rise of media oligopolies and the accompaniment of
infotainment imperils the individual's ability to critically assess media content thus making political
decisions increasingly difficult.

Hence Horkheimer' s assertion: "As their telescopes and

microscopes, their tapes and radios become more sensitive, individuals become blinder, more hard
of hearing, less responsive and society more opaque, hopeless ... than ever before." 204

Aside from the aforementioned consequences to the democratic process resulting from
infotainment, there exists another consequence. As the concentration of ownership continues for
reasons of profit and power, owners are slowly infecting themselves with a potent economic
disease. Owners are undermining the very process in which their ability to achieve profit derives.
Tightening an economic noose around the neck of the free market, media moguls detract from the
liberal democratic system in which the free market depends upon for survival. The present day
environment of the oligopolistic media suffocates liberal democracy, competition and the free
market.

If this implication is not adequately addressed, not only could the oligopolistic

environment of media industries evolve into a monopoly but media owners will erode the very
203

204

Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death, 100.
Max Horkheimer, Dawn and Decline: Notes 1926-1931 and 1950-1969 (New York: Continuum, 1978), 162.

76

foundation in which their ability to accrue profit is built upon. The result could not only be the
extinction of competition in the media industry but a serious blow to liberal democracy.

The obligations of the media to adequately inform citizens does not necessarily derive from societal
responsibilities but out of their own self- interest. If owners of huge media conglomerations favor
the continuance of a free mass media system, they require a liberal democratic polity; in tum, such a
polity requires informed citizens. Media moguls want the present oligopolistic media system but
they cannot have it. It is doubtful that any arguments like the one presented in this project will
persuade these owners. But many other, smaller firms, need to realize that their economic survival
depends on liberal democracy and the free market which, at present, is being eroded.

As innovations in communication technology make the transmission of information more rapid and
as government de-regulation of the mass media industries increase the concentration of ownership
into the hands of the few, it is pertinent to address the issue: how has the transition into the
information age affected the political roles of the mass media? This is the area of investigation in
the following chapter.

77

Chapter 4
The Mass Media in the Information Age
Today, given the long-tenn trendfrom manufacturing to knowledge based economies, few fonns
of power are as forceful as media, information and cultural industry ownership, or command over
trade in the distribution of their products.
-- Marjorie Ferguson, 1995 --

The Information Society
Information is the 'thing' to own, sell and trade in the 1990s. Affluent liberal states have, within
the last two decades, begun a significant shift from the tangible to the intangible -- from a
manufacturing toward an information based economy. As we near a new millennium much of the
world's economy will be driven by the processing of information, the effects of which will affect
every citizen. Information's marriage to technology has resulted in what some refer to the
'commodification' of information. 205 Industrial manufacturing is being replaced as the primary
economic activity in advanced capitalist societies, by the production, distribution and consumption
of information and its related services and technologies. This chapter has five goals. The first is a
theoretical examination of the concept of the information society.

Second, it highlights the

economic, governmental and technological challenges the media are facing in the information
society. Third, it addresses the issue of concentration of ownership impeding the political roles of
the media. Fourth, it addresses the issue of accountability by the mass media. Lastly, how and to
what degree can the internet become a new form of mass media?

For some, the coming of the "information society" represents the final achievement of the "good
life". Martin (1978) contends that the proliferation of information technology will provide for a
better informed citizenry, enhance the political process and participation, increase wealth and
decrease human drudgery. 206 The Japanese scholar Yoneji Masuda has even heralded the arrival of
'computopia', which he defines as: "Computer Utopia, an ideal global society in which multi-

205
Vincent Mosco, "Information in the Pay-Per Society," in Vincent Mosco and Janet Madison, eds., The Political
Economy of Information (Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988)
206
James Martin, The Wired Society (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1978), 15.

78

centered, multi-layered voluntary communities of citizens participating voluntarily in shared goals
and ideas flourish simultaneously throughout the world." 207
A critical approach conceived, in opposition to optimists of the information age, has led to a reexamination of the relationship between power and class within the information age. Proponents
of this paradigm argue that, " ... technologies are a political and cultural product, and argue that its
implementation and use will serve those in power. "208 Certain theorists argue that the information
society is characterized by large corporations and conglomerates who are the only entities that can
afford high priced technologies, discouraging the needs of the populace which cannot invest in
such technological goods. 209

The major forces of production and consumption, including knowledge, have historically had a
determining influence on the nature of political, social and cultural relations of any given society.
Theorists such as Toffler (1980) and Naisbitt (1982) contend that the proliferation of information
technology will provide for a better informed citizenry and an invigorated political participatory
process. 210 Both Toffler and Naisbitt assert that innovation produces positive social, economic and
political developments and the implementation of user friendly and easy access technology would
"de-massify" society as it enhances individualism.

The "information society" has both proponents and opponents.

It is necessary to examine

prominent thinkers on both sides to illuminate the theoretical debate that exists in the present day.
Although they differ in opinion on the implications of technology, they agree that technological
innovation is the primary force of societal, economic and political change. Furthermore, they agree

207

Yoneji Masuda, The Information Society as Post-Industrial Society (Tokyo: Institute for the Information
Society, 1980), 159.
208
Charles Steinfeld and Jerry L. Salvaggio, "Towards a Definition of the Information Society," , Jerry Salvaggio,
ed.,The Information Society: Economic, Social and Structural Issues (New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,
1989), 8.
209
For example see: Salvaggio, The Information Society: Economic, Social and Structural Issues ; Vincent Mosco,
The Pay-Per Society (1988) and; Herbert I Schiller, Who Knows: Information in the Age of Fortune 500 (New
Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1986).
210
Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1980) and John Naisbitt,
Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives (New York: Warner Books, 1982).

79

that the most influential element in advanced capitalist societies is information technology. 2 11
Information technology, and its impact, began receiving earnest attention commencing with the
changing world of post World War II. Despite this attention occurred in the formative years of the
information age, certain theorists, such as Jacques Ellul, Marshall McLuhan, Daniel Bell and
Herbert Marcuse, merit attention because their knowledge and contributions establish the
theoretical foundation for the post-industrial society debate.

Jacques Ellul prophesied the existence of autonomous technology. This evolution of technology
would undermine cultural values, creating a social environment where individuals and communities
were subservient to the machine. 212 The core of Ellul's theory rested on "technique", which he
defined as, " ... the totality of methods rationally arrived at and having absolute efficiency in every
field of human activity." 2 13 Technique incorporates itself into every facet of human activity and
creates a social world devoid of abstract thought; it functions solely to promote the technical means
and functioning of a given society. Technique assimilates itself into the human psyche, ceases to
be external and therefore becomes the individual's very substance. 214

Marshall McLuhan, a theorist of communication thought, was another scholar who identified
dominant features of the oncoming post-industrial society.

He believed that technology was

reaching an apex in its ability to reproduce human consciousness and, in effect, facilitate the
process of knowing. 215 The outcome of such facilitation is what McLuhan termed the global
village. According to McLuhan; "... our current translation into the spiritual form of information
seem[s] to make of the entire globe, and of the human family, a single consciousness." 216

Ironically, McLuhan uses the metaphor global village to express his view that certain aspects of the
world, because of technological innovation, are reverting to tribal-like societies. The global
211

Jerry Salvaggio, ed., The Information Society: Economic, Social and Structural issues, pp. 2- 3.
Jaques Ellul, The Technological Society (New York: Alfred A. Knopf Inc., 1954), x.
213
Ibid., XXV.
214
Ibid., 5-6.
215
Marshal McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (New York: Penguin, 1964), 19.
216
Ibid., 67.
212

80

village, for McLuhan, is devoid of social structures and mediums of communication shape the
values and normalities societies. McLuhan bluntly states his position with the aphorism, 'the
medium is the message' .

Close to twenty years after World War II, what had been thought and opinion on the role of
technology in advanced capitalist societies was becoming reality. During this period, the most
definitive piece of work, within the liberal post-industrialist tradition, on the information society
was produced.

Daniel Bell's, Coming Of Post-Industrial Society (1973) argued that five generalizations
characterized the post-industrial society. 2 17 Firstly, the transition from industrial to post-industrial
society was the shift from a goods producing to a service economy. An increase in professional
class employment was in correlation with the decrease in labor-intensive occupations. This was
due to innovation in the workplace, the second generalization, and the need for educated personnel
to understand the operations of new automated technologies. The third generalization the "axial
principle", the source of theoretical knowledge, served as the catalyst of innovation and policy
formulation. Fourth, the increase in governmental regulation of technology and the implementation
of technological assessment would assist in educating the citizenry through social and
governmental policies.

Finally, Bell observed that "intellectual technologies" would facilitate

decision making in the technocratic arena.
For Bell, post-industrial society offers rational problem-solving through informational and
technological innovations. 2 18 The result of this, for Bell and other liberal observers, is increased
political participation, more educated citizenry, and a thriving global economy. However, some
theorists differ in opinion regarding the social implications of the information society.

To this debate Herbert Marcuse brings the perspective of critical theory.

As a member of the

Frankfurt School, where critical theory was conceived, Marcuse argued, not against obvious social
2 17
218

Daniel Bell, The Coming of Post-Industrial Society (New York: Basic Books, 1973), 14.
Ibid., 349,

81

changes that were taking place because of technological innovation but rather that the detrimental
social and political effects of such innovation were being not being sufficiently analyzed. Against
the capitalist argument that innovation bred progress and rationality, Marcuse contended that, ...
this society is irrational as a whole. Its productivity is destructive of the free development of human
needs and faculties, its peace maintained by the constant threat of war, its growth dependent on the
repression of the real possibilities for pacifying the struggle for existence... " 219
Irrationality is said to be an informal means of social control. While it does not employ coercion, it
is subversive because what appears logical is, in effect, alienating. For example, the threat of
nuclear war helps maintain international peace. Attempts to make real progress, Marcuse argues,
have to occur outside the dominant paradigm and outside the status quo. Marcuse even argues that
'rational' innovation exists to contain and sanitize such attempts to change the social order. 220
Technology is the driving force restricting political participation to mere discussion or to
movements which are portrayed, as radical, by civil society institutions such as the media. The
result, he said, is to encapsulate individual thought and interpersonal communication within a
superficial status quo. 221

To recapitulate, liberal post-industrialists, such as Bell, argue that technological innovation fosters
individual autonomy, freedom from manual labor, enhances the democratic process and increases
the degree of political participation. Conversely, critical post-industrialists, such as Marcuse,
dispute the notion that innovation fosters personal enlightenment and that the essence of capitalist
innovation is repression. As Marcuse notes, ''The slaves of developed industrial civilization are
sublimated slaves, but they are slaves. "222 This overview sets the stage to investigate challenges
that the mass media face within the information society.

219
Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology ofAdvanced Industrial Society (Boston: Beacon
Press, 1964), xi.
220
Ibid., 16-17.
221
Ibid., 1-18.
222
Ibid., 32.

82

Challenges to the Mass Media
The mass media, in the information age, are facing numerous challenges.

These challenges

manifest themselves primarily within economic, governmental and technological forms.
Economically, firms must continuously adapt to the changing face of innovation and try to stay
'one step ahead' of their competitors. These fiscal hurdles require that firms take necessary
measures to maintain their competitiveness. The main governmental challenge that media are
encountering is deregulation.

The effects of deregulation, the lessening of governmental

intervention in the media, industry,

are two-fold: (1) it is facilitating the concentration of

ownership in the mass media on the global level and (2) on the periphery it is an accessory to the
growing trend of infotainment.

The final challenge is the technological innovations that are

stimulating changes in the processes of newsgathering and presentation.

For a media firm to be competitive, it must choose a particular strategy within the industry. Porter
( 1990) identifies two prominent strategies of international competition. 223 A media firm can either
choose a competitive advantage strategy or a competitive scope position. The former is achieved
when a firm offers consumers the lowest costs or a superior product than their competitors. The
latter strategy is employed by two methods: br{)ad or narrow scope. Broad scope refers to a firm
attempting to reach the widest possible audience. Narrow scope means that the firm wishes to
market very specific attributes of a product to a target audience.

Internationally, media firms

predominately strive to attain the competitive advantage wherein they try to capture the largest
audience. To achieve this goal many media firms merge with others or buy their competitors,
hence the recent increase in the globalization of media firms.

To secure the largest audience, many media firms have turned increasingly to the international
marketplace for revenues. "The trend began when Australian media baron Rupert Murdoch (News
Corporation) acquired newspapers such as the New York Post, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the
Boston Herald American, the Metromedia broadcast station group, and the Fox production and

223

Porter in James Owen et al, Media Economics.

83

syndication divisions." 224

Changes in the global marketplace have increased media firm's

incentives to expand internationally and as the three dominant types of ownership, those described
in the preceding chapter, indicate, the dominant players have adopted a globalization strategy to
achieve their goals. Media firms have been reorganizing in recent years -- all with the goal of
increasing efficiency and profit. Circumstances dictating the reorganization structure of a firm
include the nature of the particular firm and the technology, or its lack, in its various operations.
There have been four 'waves' of business activity in the globalization of media firms to overcome
economic challenges. The four 'waves' are: (1) business combinations (mergers and acquisitions);
(2) business separations (divestitures and sell-offs); (3) realignment of financing (leveraged buyouts) and; (4) variations of sell-offs? 25

Very briefly, business combinations refer to companies that engage in a joint venture, striving
towards the same goal and audience. In business combinations there is consent by all corporate
parties and they are dedicated to improving results without formally or legally merging firms.
Business separations include divestitures, spin-offs and liquidations. All three involve a process
of reducing the size and scope of the firms operations. The motivations for business separations
"vary from a need for cash in order that the corporation may survive, to having received offers so
attractive that even prime assets such as 'cash cows' are sold."226 The remaining two 'waves'
involve the partial substitution of debt for equity. Associated with sell-offs and spin-offs, these
'waves' can occur without changing management personnel or philosophies and occur after a 'raid'

in the attempt to increase the value of the firm. Regardless of the adopted strategy, all have
implications for the global integration of the mass media.

The 1980s was the decade of corporate mergers and the media industry was not immune to this
phenomenon. To remain successful and profitable media firms must find "... partners who are
philosophically compatible from an editorial point of view, as well as financially compatible, and

224

James Owen et al, Media Economics, 336-337. Italics original.
Ibid., 37.
226
Ibid., 39.
225

84

who have a long-time orientation." 227 The mass media will encounter many obstacles in their
attempts to globalize and they range from philosophical to practical in nature.

If successful partnerships are to emerge from the globalization of media firms they will have to

maintain a competitive advantage over their competitors.

Combining hardware and software

industries permits firms to circumvent operating costs and regulation. As a result of mergers that
take advantage of this 'competitive edge' , institutions can infuse capital into the newly acquired
enterprise and aid in the ability to acquire programming rights in rival companies.

Companies that

are unable to gain a competitive advantage in the international arena will be engulfed by those firms
that have been able to maintain their fiscal prowess. Firms that do not capitalize on the relative
advantages of mergers, partnerships and buy-outs fail in the global arena.

To stay economically afloat, partnerships will also be faced with the challenge of changing
management strategies and philosophies. On the surface, this appears straightforward: if you want
to be successful, you have to adapt to the ephemeral market. However, particular firms possess
particular corporate ideologies that act as a blueprint for their actions. If a media institution's
corporate and even political ideology is static and thus incapable of adapting its life will be short
lived as innovation and the concentration of ownership continues. Management philosophies have
tended to be either grounded in a concentration or dispersal strategy. 228 A concentration strategy is
one where all business activities take place in that company's home country and its products are
exported to other countries. Dispersal strategies are used by firms whose ventures of production,
transmission and distribution occur in a variety of nations to take advantage of competitive
differences. In the information age, all media firms must adopt a dispersal strategy if they are to
remain competitive.

One of the most important reasons for adopting this philosophy is to

overcome cultural and institutional barriers. If a media firm is able to mesh itself in a host country,
making its content appear to have been produced in that country, the firm will stand a much greater
chance of economic survival in the global jungle. A good example of a company to fail in this
227
228

Nick Nicholas, co-CEO of Time Warner in Carveth et al. , Media Economics, 346.
Ibid., 348.

85

endeavor is Disney-ABC's Euro-Disney. This theme park located on the outskirts of Paris, France
has been a financial nightmare. Disney failed to account for cultural differences and assumed that
Europe was hungry to consume American culture.

A second challenge that firms experience when implementing dispersal strategies is the demand
from stockholders for an immediate return on their investments.

Expansions and takeovers,

especially in a foreign country take time to produce results, whether positive or negative.
Moreover, a firm cannot run the risk of its content offending the new host country. Therefore, the
economic demands of profit stockholders place on CEOs during sensitive alliances and 'raids' may
not be produce the desired result if CEOs act too quickly and transmit content prior to all marketing
research being completed.

As media mergers and take-overs continue in the global marketplace, the results of these alliances
and 'raids' is yet unknown. Primary incentives to globalize are to increase revenues through access
to new markets, and to increase the size and scope of an enterprise. If mergers, 'raids' and the
increase in the concentration of ownership are indeed transitional_phases, a colossal economic
challenge media firms might encounter is that globalization may not be attainable in the long-term.
''The proliferation of languages, and the stark differences in culture, especially between the
Japanese and the EC-U.S. countries, makes global media content almost impossible to
produce. " 229

Aside from the economic obstacles affecting the practical operations of media firms there exists one
economic obstacle affecting philosophical operations of media institutions. As the globalization of
media firms continues to expand the developing nations will continue to be at a disadvantage
relative to developed nations. 230

"Have-not" countries will continue to depend on developed

countries not only for employment but for information. Developing countries have been limited to
the degree that they participate in the global economy and are thus vulnerable to developed nations
229
230

Ibid., 351.
Ibid., 349.

86

who have competitive resources and capital.

Moreover, many developing countries' media

systems use the authoritarian philosophy of the media and do not condone competition within their
own borders. This double-edged sword citizens of developing nations face continues to impede
the development of a free media system in such countries and serves to impede these countries
from competing globally.

Governments have always been closely tied to the mass media. The information age has presented
many challenges to both institutions and one of the major challenges the media face in the
information are governments themselves. It is not by accident that 1980s was the decade that
media mergers began their explosive growth. During that same decade, many European states and
the United States of America initiated policies privatizing the media or increasing the privatization
trends already in effect. This move came about for several reasons.
The swing to political conservatism, and, in particular, the free-market
capitalist foundation on which it was based, began to sweep across Europe.
Technology, especially the dramatic increase in the use of satellite
technology (such as direct broadcast satellite-- or DBS --systems), reduced
the scope of governmental control over the media within their respective
national borders. Finally, the movement toward the formation of the
European Community (EC) dictated a more complete opening of trade
markets.23 1
The 1980s began an era of neo-conservatism and reductions in the role of governments in the
media industries.

Although some paternalistic systems are still present in countries such as

Canada, Spain and France; ironically, the globalization of the mass media has been stimulated by
government policy.

The ideological shift towards neo-conservatism has opened many

opportunities for the media previously restricted by regulation and anti-cartel legislation. Today,
media companies have far greater room to maneuver.

The benefits of deregulation policy are received by both the media and governments. As Ferguson
(1995) notes, state corporatism is experiencing a revival? 32 As governments, industries and media
23 1

Ibid., 340.
Majorie Ferguson, "Media, Markets, and Identities: Reflections on the Global-Local Dialectic", Canadian Journal
of Communication 20 (1995), 439-459.
232

87

firms join to attain mutual economic benefits the result is what Ferguson calls "nee-corporatism".
"Today, the national corporate state fixation on the 'information society' appears unbounded,
borne aloft by 'multimedia' and 'infohighway' scenarios and the technological realities of
telecommunications, computer, and television convergence."233 Ferguson continues by arguing
that the results of nee-corporatism are either overt or covert corporatism. Overt corporatism occurs
when governments involve themselves in the infrastructure-building frenzy now underway.
Covert exists in activities such as deregulation.
How does covert corporatism and thus governmental actions affect the globalization of the mass
media? The challenge of such governmental behavior is felt by both major and minor players in the
global market of media firms . However, the smaller firms face a greater challenge than do the
major players. Deregulation rewards media oligopolies while smaller firms have to protect
themselves in areas previously protected by law. For example, media barons can own a greater
percentage of print media in a particular country; by 1992 Rupert Murdoch owned a third of the
entire print media in Great Britain.234 Small firms not only have to worry about operation costs and
keeping apace with technological innovation, they now face deregulation policy which makes them
prey for takeovers and buy-outs.

As governments pursue their covert corporatist policies and interests in the information age the
result is a somewhat paradoxical, if not hypocritical, environment for media firms to operate.
Sustainable competition is a euphemism to promote deregulation policy for both competition and
innovation to flourish. However, there is a logical inconsistency because sustainable competition
"is an oxymoron of the first order when market liberalism calls for competition, but functions by
its elimination through mergers, alliances, and acquisitions." 235

Deregulation raises issues and concerns not only about competing interests among private
companies and nations but about public goods. Public goods are those that have a jointness of
supply, for example airwaves and radio frequencies which all members of society can consume
233

Ibid., 447.
Bagdikian, Media Monopoly, 241.
235
Ferguson, Media, Markets, and Identities, 450. Author's italics.
234

88

without inhibiting one another. "Who should own the newly created wealth opportunities resulting
from deregulation and privatization of what were once public assets?" 236 Not only did the 1980s
bring challenges to the media in the form of deregulation policy, they also brought challenges
pertaining to the collection and presentation of news and information.

The printing press enabled the evolution of oral to print society. Presently, technical innovations
such as computers have led to many changes in both print and broadcast newsrooms. 237 As the
information age continues to chum out innovation after innovation, the future of newsgathering
and presentation by the mass media is, at best, in a state of flux.

Many technological innovations functioning in the media industries are employed in both the print
and broadcast organizations. 238 Computers were introduced into newsrooms in the early 1970s for
writing, printing and typesetting. 239 Today, a reporter can type a story on a terminal and then send
it to a central computer where editors can download the story for reviewing. Most often, stories
appear on a split screen (the reporter's story on one side and the wire service on the other) and " ...
after approval, the story is sent to a photo typesetting machine that can print it at a rate of 2,500

°

lines or more per minute on paper strips to be posted up." 24 Computers are also used to check
sources. Using databases such as the Freenet or Infomart, journalists can find, collect and analyze
a plethora of information. However, these new sources are not used to their full capacity due to
time constraints on journalists.

Richard Parker, Mixed Signals: The Prospects For Global Television News (New York: Twentieth Century
Fund, 1995), 35.
237
For a description of newsroom procedures for gathering and presenting information in the information age's
formative years see, Edwin R.Black, Politics and the News (Toronto: Buttersworth, 1982), 89-116.
238
The following section is a brief exploration on how technology in the information age is impacting on
news gathering and presentation by the media. Despite the numerous organizational efficiencies innovation has
brought to the media industry, an interesting study by Catherine McKercher (1995) has found that reporters at two
Canadian newsrooms tend to use computers to perform traditional functions. Catherine McKercher, "Computers and
Reporters: Newsroom Practices at Two Canadian Daily Newspapers", Canadian Journal of Communication, 20
(1995), 213-229.
239
Catherine McKercher, "Computers and Reporters: Newsroom Practices at Two Canadian Daily Newspapers",
Canadian Journal of Communication, 20 (1995), 213-229.
240
Hiebert et al., Mass Media VI, 612,
236

89

Two prominent information technologies that have impacted on print media and consumers are
videotex and fax newspapers.

Both have modified how news is transmitted and presented.

"Videotex is the process of transmitting millions of bits of information from a mainframe or 'host'
computer for presentation on one's computer screen."241

Subscribers to this new electronic

newspaper receive the stories they want. Typing in keywords, stories relating to the search topic
are displayed for the reader.

Subscribers read the text of the story on their video screen.

Equipment necessary for videotex includes a mainframe computer where the information is stored,
transmission lines, usually telephone lines, to send the information to the subscribers computer,
and a modem to convert the digital information to analog.

Fax newspapers are the second electronic medium of communication that has changed the format
presentation of print media. This new media is usually consumed by private enterprises who
desire specific news stories, particularly stockmarket and business transactions. Certain articles
are sent to the subscriber at a prearranged time. Relevant articles, taken from that day's news, are
transmitted over a fax machine to the client. Costs for this service are more than a newspaper
because of the time taken to extrapolate the necessary articles and the technology used to transmit
the information. Technological innovations that have facilitated the globalization of media firms
have also affected the traditional methods used for disseminating news in the broadcast industry. 242

Great inroads have been made with the advent of new technologies developed to speed up and
improve the quality of news and information. Satellites have greatly enhanced both the quantity
and quality of information that media institutions obtain and send. Technologically speaking, the
information that a satellite receives and transmits, while it orbits the earth, is virtually error-free.
Also, the size of the receiving dishes, also called terrestrial or earthstations, continues to decrease.
Therefore, today it is possible to receive transmissions, enough to carry hundreds of channels, on
receiving dishes whose size is equivalent to a medicine ball.
241

Ibid., 613.
The following discussion examines how innovation has affected the broadcast industry. However, these
technologies have also impacted on the print media but more in the collection and organization of information as
opposed to its dissemination which is the focus here.
242

90

Satellites or relay stations are affecting the mass media in a variety of ways. 243 One impact that
satellites have on media organizations is that they allow for the immediate exchange of information
between news organizations. Stations now share stories with one another which reduces operating
costs and frees up reporters to cover other stories. For example, it is not unusual to see on the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) a story on the American government that was produced
by the Cable News Network (CNN).

Moreover, today it is commonplace in the media to use

stories covered by overseas media firms to report on foreign events. International television news
agencies play central role enabling firms to use one another's stories. 244

An extension or

outgrowth of global wire services, agencies such as Visnews, Worldwide Television News and
CBS-Newsfilm provide regional and national stations with news footage from around the world.

Not only do satellites give news agencies advantages in the sharing of information with one
another, they also assist journalists in investigative reporting. Pictures and background stories
about other countries can now be easily obtained to help reporters make independent observations
about a particular event that has occurred, or even occurring, overseas. The recent military events
taking place in the Chechnyn Republic in post-Soviet Russia is an example of how satellites help
journalists in their investigative reporting. Recently, a group fighting for the independence of
Chechnya from Russia took a bus load of Russian citizens hostage. After a certain time had
elapsed, official statements from the White House in Moscow claimed that all hostages had been
assassinated and that the Russian Army was to launch a full-scale assault on the Chechnyn rebels.
Moreover, press releases stated that only terrorist camps were being targeted and fired upon by the
Russian military. However, satellites transmitted video footage of the Russian military lambasting
the entire city with bombs and artillery and even more damaging to the Russian government was
footage showing the hostages were indeed still alive.

This example illustrates how satellite

technology has helped reporters by not only allowing them to make independent observations but
also not having to rely on outside or suppressed sources.

243

Hiebert et al., Mass Media VI, 616.
Michael Gurevitch, "The Globalization Of Electronic Journalism," in James Curran and Michael Gurevitch, eds.,
Mass Media and Society (New York: Edward Arnold, 1994), 178-193.
244

91

A third advantage satellites give media institutions is the opportunity to cover a story 'live'.
"Producers are no longer limited to in-house visuals, nor do reporters have to race back to the
station with film footage to be edited before the broadcast."245 It is now possible to film an event,
send it (uplink) to a satellite that the news station leases and then downlink the footage to the studio
to be broadcast into the homes of viewers. This method of 'live-remote' was used extensively
during the 1991 Gulf War. Practically at any time, people could tum on their television and find
some live report from Baghdad or a location close to the 'action'.

Technological innovation, especially computer technology, is greatly affecting the day-to-day
operations of the mass media. No longer is it easy to keep up with these industries. Innovation
has caused a blurring of the boundaries separating the different media institutions. For example,
print industries now employ fibre optics and transmission lines to send their product to customers
who prefer fax newspapers or videotex.

The communication processes for gathering and

presenting information are having important effects on the daily decision editors and journalists
have to make. Ironically, the technology that is opening opportunities for reporters and media
organizations is the same technology that is facilitating the concentration of ownership in the
globalization of the mass media. Is the result of the concentration of ownership a threat to the free
exchange of information? Does the diminishing number of owners of international media firms
and, simultaneously, the global reach of information impede the political roles of the media?

Issue of the Concentration of Ownership
Some of the more overt political functions the mass media execute are those of ombudsperson,
agenda-setters, regime legitmation and social stabilization. 246

As depicted by the social

responsibility theory of the press, the media have been marked to fulfill the daunting task of
informing citizens so they may make educated decisions on questions concerning their political,
economic and social environment. Does the concentration of ownership, especially at the global
level, in the media impede the political roles of the media institutions?
245
246

Ibid., 187.
Black, Mass Media as the Enemy Within, 5.

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"By the beginning of this century that age of chain ownership and the press barons had arrived,
prompting liberal democratic commentators to acknowledge a growing contradiction between the
idealized role of the press as a keysource for citizenship and its economic base in private
ownership." 247 As the trend in ownership continues, the issues and implications of concentration
are more pertinent than ever due to the global nature of this issue. Investigating the concentration
of ownership is an area of importance because at the heart of any study of the media organizations
"embody the processes through which the output of the media comes into being. " 248

There are, as Margaret Gallagher (1982) illustrates, three dominant sets of goals that confront
media organizations: (1) economic; (2) organizational and; (3) professional. 249 Economic goals are
those issues concerned with audience maximization and profit. Organizational goals are primarily
concerned with efficiency whereas professional goals strive towards an accepted doctrine or criteria
for employees to execute their duties. ''The values the media profess and the values that govern
executives and employees may be or may not be the same. It is hard to tell without accepted codes
of ethics or genuinely shared values, no one really knows what the rules are." 250 There exists a
tension or dialectic between these goals because economic imperatives most often take priority over
professional duties of media personnel.

This dialectic between owners, striving for profit, and journalists, trying to execute their duties,
has many consequences for the political roles of the media and their accountability to the citizenry.
It is argued by proponents of the libertarian theory of the press that competition is the hallmark of

the media industry because offering differing points of view allows individuals to discern their
opinion. But, as new technology further fragments the audience, media firms have to do more to

247

Graham Murdock, "Redrawing the Map of the Communication Industries: Concentration and Ownership in the
Era of Privatization", in Majorie Ferguson, ed., Public Communication: The New Imperatives (London:SAGE,
1990), 1.
248
Margaret Gallagher, "Negotiation of Control in Media Organizations and Occupations," in James Curran et al.,
eds., Culture, Society and the Media (New York: Metheun, 1982), 151. Italics original.
249
Ibid., 166.
250
Everrete E. Dennis, Reshaping the Media: Mass Communications in an Information Age (New York: SAGE,
1989), 48.

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attract and retain their audiences. A primary method used to keep audiences fixated to content is to
present the content in an entertaining fashion. For decades concern has been demonstrated, in both
academic and popular literature, about the relationship between entertainment and news. "Writers
have long been abandoning journalistic norms and emphasizing, either consciously, or
unconsciously, audience enjoyment in choosing and shaping news narratives." 251 The result of
this 'desertion of duties' is storytelling. The political roles of the media are imperiled because of
the manner in which "news executives act to cultivate audience belief in the journalistic integrity of
their products while pursuing a strategy of linking news and entertainment organizations for the
parent firm's profit." 252

Moreover, there is now the requirement, in the sense of economic

survival, to make news pertinent to the largest audience thereby attracting the readers and viewers
advertisers want to reach. News as the 'profit-centre' of media industries detracts from the firm's
political roles because stories that might be of political or economic relevance are replaced by less
serious stories, stories that do not inform but nonetheless captivate citizens because of their
entertaining storyline.

As previously mentioned, deregulation has facilitated the concentration of ownership of the mass
media both domestically and internationally. Concentration of ownership has relaxed informative
doctrine standards set out by the social responsibility theory of the press and now advertising
agencies "gather data to demonstrate the audience characteristics of a particular medium and its
desirability as an advertising vehicle." 253 Thus, the political roles of the media are further impeded
by outside agencies-(advertisers and their clients) by the profit motive of privately owned news
organizations who perform data and audience analysis to find what type of information will attract
and maintain an audience. Everete C. Dennis (1989) refers to this as the shift from a law of large
numbers (attaining the largest possible audience) to a law of right numbers (effort to reach the more
affluent members of society). The result of this shift of priorities is the production of news content
that is, rather than educating, commercially viable.
251
Joseph Turrow, "A Mass Communications Perspective on Entertainment Industries," in James Curran and
Michael Gurevitch, eds., Mass Media and Society (London: Edward Arnold, 1991), 173.
252
Ibid.
253
Everete E. Dennis, Reshaping the Media , 60.

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The potential reach and power of some of the leading players in the globalization of the mass media
is reaching an apex due to two interlinking movements -- concentration and conglomeration. These
two actors operating in free-market economies have stifled the opportunity for the normative
functions of the social responsibility of the media to be executed. The discussion presented above
and the section on infotainment and market forces in the previous chapter have argued that the
political roles of the media have been sacrificed for profit.

·One fundamental question has yet to be addressed. The question or issue of the accountability of
the media has predominantly been taken for granted. The majority of mass communication studies
focuses not only on the history of the mass media and its incorporation into a capitalist economic
system but also a political history of their increasing centrality to the exercise of full citizenship. 25 4
However, most studies neglect the rights of media owners and their freedom to attain profit. It is
this issue of accountability that will now be addressed.

The Issue of Accountability
"The 'noble lie' of liberalism was that everyone who wished could find his or her version of truth
and the good life. In their liberal democracy the press was to act as though everyone was not only
capable but likely to make independent judgments about public affairs according to individual
appraisals of truth and social worth." 255 This quote raises the extremely pertinent issue concerning
the role of the citizen as the final judge of truth. Historically, in affluent liberal states, there has
been some degree of independently owned media operations.

The need for these private

enterprises of disseminators of information rested in the fundamental tenet of the libertarian theory
of the press and the 'marketplace of ideas' . The responsibility of the media, within both the
libertarian and social responsibility theory of the press lay in the enterprises professionalism and
ethical behavior to deliver relevant information to citizens. It is then the responsibility of citizens to
make independent judgments and come to their own conclusions on pertinent matters.
254

Peter Golding and Graham Murdock, "Culture, Communications, and Political Economy," in James Curran and
Michael Gurevitch, eds. , Mass Media and Society (London: Edward Arnold, 1991), 15.
255
Black, Mass Media as the Enemy Within , 3.

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The duty of journalists to provide democratically effective news to citizens is correlative to the
citizen's right to information. What if the media gather and present information to citizens but this
information is not consumed by individuals? What if citizens do not seek information that pertains
to the social, political and economic well-being? This is the problem of consumer sovereignty.

Consumer sovereignty refers to an individual's right to consume the information they desire. T. C.
Pocklington eloquently summarizes the individual's right to information in relation to democratic
theory:
If voters cannot have a right to comprehensive information, because such a
right would be impossible to satisfy, they can at least have the right to seek
out the best information available as to the probable consequences of opting
for one alternative rather than others. And this right really resolves into two
related rights . .. (freedom of speech), and the right of access to the
opinions of others ... consist(ing) mainly in the right of free assembly. 256

Thus, the accountability of the majority of the media to the public and the democratic process rests
in their duty to provide citizens the opportunity to seek information from a variety of perspectives
and then deduce their own beliefs on particular issues, matters and stories.

Private media

enterprises, theoretically, fulfill their responsibility to the commonwealth by providing a plethora
of information on diverse topics. Competition facilitates the democratic responsibilities of the
media as there exist numerous sources for citizens to get their information. The media cannot
coerce citizens into consuming their product, they can only present the information in the context
that will attract the greatest audience. Media firms have the right to present information in a context
that will draw the greatest number of consumers and thus the greatest profits. The responsibility of
consuming the most relevant information lays in the hands of the citizens.

Therefore, the

responsibility and accountability of the media rests in these firm's abilities to present information
that is important to the democratic process.

The media cannot make citizens consume this

information. How the particular industries present relevant information is up to the executive
256

T.C. Pocklington, "Democracy," in Liberal Democracy in Canada and the United States, T.C. Pocklington
ed.,(Toronto: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1985), 7-8. Parentheses original.

96

decision-makers in these firms . If a company is capable of generating the greatest revenue from
sensationalizing stories it is their right to operate their organization as they see fit. " In doing so,
journalists may aid citizens in exercising their democratic rights and responsibilities by providing
the best information possible about alternative proposals for democratic choice, but they needn't do
so." 2s1

Citizens have the right to information and moreover, a right to information from a variety of
sources. It is the responsibility of citizens to consume that information they deem important. What
one citizen feels important may not be deemed important by another. For example, an individual
may feel that federal government cut-backs to social programs is important to them in particular and
society in general, whereas another person may fret over a possible raises in municipal taxes to
repair roads. Granted, both examples are important to the democratic process, the point is that
what is deemed important depends on the individual. News is relative. "What it is at any one
moment depends on the observer's perspective." 258

It is the right of an enterprise operating in a free market economy to strive to attain the greatest

profit possible. How businesses do so is their prerogative. The context in which information is
presented in the media depends on the particular medium, its target audience and how to increase
the size of its audience. The Latin proverb Caveat Emptor (let the buyer beware) is an appropriate
warning to those citizens seeking to find the most politically relevant information and the best
coverage on such issues.

The rights of citizens to have the opportunity to search out the best information and the rights of
private media firms to strive for profit are, simultaneously, conflicting and harmonious. There is ,
on the surface, no extrinsic problem facing the democratic process with the media disseminating
information for profit and subsequently fulfilling their public role as the 'fourth estate'. But a

257

Greg Pyrcz, "Democracy and Freedom of the Press," in Don Carmichael et al., eds., Democracy and Rights in
Canada (Toronto: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991), 227.
258
Black, Mass Media as the Enemy Within , 5.

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problem arises if citizens believe that they already have the best information that they seek on
particular topics.

The reality is that the high percentage of citizens, regardless of nationality, do not have time nor
choose to pursue all the available sources of information.

Most people "cannot read all the

newspapers at the end of the work day, and the library is seldom open long enough for them to do
so all their civic homework. In this way, as well, a thin reading of the right to information is
unsatisfactory. "259 It is essential that media firms be held accountable to their responsibility to the
public when acting as the 'watchdog' on government or disseminating other politically relevant
information. Journalists, editors and owners must all deliver the highest possible standards of
information and news analysis. 260 This responsibility of the media must be carried out because not
only do individuals have limited time to consume the daily news and events, most cannot make the
distinction between good and bad journalism. To make such a choice requires an individual to
"have, as a standard, first-hand knowledge of the event that the journalist seeks to represent. But
citizens usually do not have such information upon which to choose their journalism, which is why
they are dependent upon and vulnerable to the power of others. "261

Citizens must have access to a variety of sources to assist them develop their opinions and beliefs
on issues that have consequences for the democratic process. They require diverse points of view
in order for them to refine their beliefs prior to executing their democratic rights, such as voting. 262
Media firms that market themselves as a trustworthy conveyor of information and protector of
democracy yet fail to live up to, or even practice, this title are not assisting neither informed
citizenship or democracy. Firms that sensationalize stories, resort to infotainment and succumb to
market forces are not only detracting from the democratic process but undermine the entire system.

259

Ibid., 229.
The argument raised in this section is not endorsing the view that all media flnns execute the role as public
'watchdog'. Rather, it asserts that those enterprises whose content deals with political, economic and social issues
fulfill their social responsibilities to the public. For example, the content of tabloids such as the National Enquirer
vary considerably than that of Toronto's Globe & Mail. Moreover, the argument does not condone citizens using
tabloids as their primary source of information on political, economic and socially relevant issues.
261
Pyrcz, Democracy and the Freedom of the Press, 231.
262
This, of course, presumes that citizens will use this and other democratic rights.

260

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Stories that focus on political corruption, greed and the like rather than provide a balance with
stories such as some good qualities of both politicians and government reinforce the stereotype that
all politicians are criminals and that the government misrepresents the public. The inescapable
terms of citizen's lives make some dependent on infotainment or soft news rather than on hard
news or "thicker sources" . Although, citizens are given the opportunity to seek out a variety of
sources they might not be able to tell the difference between hard and soft news.

It is this

information of a sensationalized nature, when used by citizens to make decisions, that is
detrimental to the democratic process.

A new source of information that is rapidly gaining popularity as a new disseminator of
information is the internet. Hailed as possibly the savior to overcome the lack of time citizens have
to seek out information, the internet has been bestowed great potential to overcome biased and
sensationalized news.

Internet as a New Form of Mass Media
"We are playing on the shores of the infinite ... " wrote Joseph K. Hart about the societal
implications of radio. 263 This statement concerning the impact of communication technologies on
societies has more validity today than when written more than seven decades ago. The potential
and the actual capabilities of the internet as a medium of inter- and intra-personal communication,
an instrument of mass communication, a technology of knowledge and entertainment and as an
evolution of the mass media is breathtaking.

In chapter two of Understanding Media (1964), Marshal McLuhan introduced the concepts of hot
and cold media. 264 Both controversial and confounding, the essence of these precepts is worth a
closer examination concerning the realm of the internet as a new form of mass media. According
to McLuhan, all mediums of communication contain hot and cool properties. A hot medium is one
263
264

Joseph K. Hart, "Radiating Culture," in Survey (March 18, 1922), 949.
Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (New York: Penguin, 1964).

99

that extends one single sense in high definition. For example, a photograph is a hot medium
because all information is provided to the subject in the form of a photo. Moreover, the photo is
full of visual stimuli. It is an 'eyes only' medium. In contrast, a cool medium is one that provides
low definition which has to be 'filled-in' by the subject for understanding to occur. The telephone
is a cool medium because it provides very little information for the ear. When in a phone
conversation the listener is also a participant in the dialogue and their contributions to the
conversation allow for understanding. Cool mediums are ones of low definition and require a high
degree of participation by the subject for the medium's message to be comprehended. Hot media
are, therefore, high in definition and require minimal levels of participation such as television.

It is pertinent to note that these terms are not static. They are not tightly defined terms and should

be viewed as relative and not fixed. Consequently, the terms can and do operate in tandem
depending on the medium of communication. The internet is a prime example of how a medium
can and does contain both hot and cool properties simultaneously. The internet is a hot medium
because it predominantly draws on the visual and the auditory senses. Depending which resource
the on-line user is using, communication is delivered to the user through images -- understanding
is attained through reading. In this instance, the internet is similar to television because the visual
field is filled with a low degree of resolution. The internet is also a cool medium in the form of
chat-lines users can log-on to. Engaging in these inter- and intra-personal dialogues the medium,
as do the users, require a high degree of participation for both information and communication to
be conveyed. Further, the internet is both hot and cool because meaning is derived from either a
single point of intense focus (eyes) or from multiple points (eyes, ears and the extension of voice
in the form of text).

What does the internet offer the mass media? The internet reaches millions of individuals daily.
The media industry sees the internet as the ultimate 'cash cow'; by offering subscriptions for
providing news on demand. The incentives for media industries to join the internet bandwagon are

100

three-fold: (1) to stay abreast of innovation; (2) maintain competitiveness and; (3) the internet
provides the greatest possible audience because access can be provided to anyone. 265

The potential of the internet becoming a new 'watchdog' on the government is feasible.

The

internet and the media firms that own and operate netsites could offer such services as news on
demand where a diverse range of stories could be 'demanded' by users who could use the
information at their convenience. Many media netsites update their coverage of stories every few
hours. More promising is that the internet could provide much more in-depth coverage and
reporting on stories. Since the internet does not have any temporal or spatial boundaries to restrict
reporting, journalists would be able to provide more rigorous investigative reporting on stories.
Arguably, the media, through its vigorous coverage, could better fulfill its democratic
responsibilities to the public while capitalizing on its right to make a profit by offering a new
product. Providing these services could alleviate some of the criticism the media has received in
recent decades regarding it being an instrument of the state or multi-national corporations. 266

The notion of the internet as a new form of mass media, where individuals are electronically
connected to broadcasting and print media by way of netsites, indeed sounds promising. Both
technically and theoretically the internet, to increase informed citizenship, is feasible. Being able to
review a wealth of information, from a variety of sources, concerning political, economic and social
issues, offer political ideas and criticisms through chat and feedback lines, voice concerns on social

issues appears to offer a new and invigorated form of informed citizenship.

Simultaneously,

citizens can request information on demand while media firms can strive to increase revenues.
Unfortunately, little consideration has been given to social, economic and temporal barriers
associated with the internet as a new mass medium.

265

One has to be computer literate to enjoy the services that the internet brings. This prerequisite and others such
as income and personal time involving the internet as a new form of mass media are considered later in the thesis.
266
Literature discussing the mass media in this light is numerous. For example see: Bennett (1988); Gitlin (1980)
and; Chomsky and Herman (1988).

101

Utilizing the blessings the internet bestows, individuals must be computer literate and able to afford
the hardware, software and on-line time demanded to employ these services.

Most important,

individuals must be motivated to participate in these activities. At present, most individuals do not
possess the personal time to learn and engage in media netsites and newsgroups.

Citizens have

mortgages, families and car payments, to list a few expenses, that take priority over "surfing the
net".

Conclusion
This chapter has explored the mass media in the information age. Investigating economic,
governmental and technological challenges the media are facing in contemporary times the chapter
has argued that market forces and the concentration of ownership have indeed imperiled the political
roles of the media. However, the dialectic of the right to profit and the responsibility to inform
creates a recognized quandary for media firms.

Media firms have the right to be commercially

lucrative as well as disseminate information in a professional manner. Citizens have the right to
information and be given the opportunity to seek it for themselves. Thus, it is every citizen's
responsibility to search for information concerning their well-being and the democratic process.

The chapter also explored the notion of the internet as a new form of mass media. The internet does
offer a promising future to both news organizations and citizens by way of novel newsgathering
and presentation techniques. The internet is not only a new financial venture for media firms to
journey but it also offers citizens news on demand and the possibility of more in-depth investigative
reporting. Moreover, the internet as a new mass media can provide more comprehensive coverage
of stories because of relaxed time and spatial constraints. However, the promise, at present, is a
broken one. To enjoy the fruits of the internet citizens must be computer literate, afford the
necessary hardware and software as well as the required on-line time. Netusers must also use the
internet for information purposes rather than entertaining ones. There may be millions of people
using the internet on a daily basis and the numbers may be rising but the millions using the internet
are far short of the hundreds of millions who are not.
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Chapter 5
Conclusion
But where danger is, grows
The saving power also
-- Johann Christian, 1979 --

In terms of media ownership, the world's information is corning from fewer and fewer sources.
Where competition has traditionally marked the mass media, co-operation and partnership appear to
have become the main operating principles of the world's media industry. The concentration of
ownership is by no means peculiar to the mass media. Mergers and acquisitions are accepted
economic practice world-wide. As our primary sources of information, however, the mass media
are different from other industries.

Competition usually guarantees choice.

Choice does not

always guarantee quality.

Discussion of the democratic role of the media is bound up within a debate about how the media
should be organized. At the sake of becoming repetitious, the watchdog role of the media,
according to the social responsibility theory of the media, is to take precedence over all other
functions of the mass media. However, for competition to flourish and therefore for choice to be
available to citizens, the media must be anchored within a free market paradigm. The benefits of
doing so are, at minimum, two-fold: (1) provide choice to citizens; (2) ensure the media's
independence from government censorship.

The watchdog role of the media is important;

however, this traditional view "derives from a period when the 'media' were highly politicized and
adversarial. Most modem media are given over mainly to entertainment."267

In addition, the

traditional approach defines the watchdog responsibility in terms of being a check on the state. The
consequences have been an inadequate fulfillment of the watchdog function in relation to core
sectors of finance, including media industries themselves. "By implication, media conglomerates

267

James Curran, "Mass Media And Democracy: A Reappraisal, " in in James Curran and Michael Gurevitch, eds.,
Mass Media And Society (London: Edward Arnold, 1994), 85.

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are not independent watchdogs serving the public interest but self-seeking, corporate mercenaries
using their muscles to promote private interests." 268

Despite Curran's lamentation and condemnation, his remarks are valid. The media operating within
the free market mechanism has led to the rise of the globalization of media firms, compromising
their integrity and responsibility. The complex dialectic between right to accrue profit and their
responsibility to provide information-rich news to citizens cannot be resolved by simplistic
criticism. What is needed is a feasible working model of the media, one that strengthens the
media's role as a watchdog while operating within the free market. The model that Curran endorses
provides the firmest foundation for the operating principles of the mass media in the information
age.

Prior to discussing Curran's model, it is worthwhile to discuss reasons why a new system is
necessary. First, the rise of the globalization of media firms has led to a decrease in diversity. As
illustrated in chapter three, there has been a continuous reduction of the number of major players
capable of competing in the global marketplace. These prevailing trends have undermined the
operations of the free market or as Ferguson labels it -- sustainable competition. Consequently, a
second reason, an offspring of the first, is that entry into media industries has become restricted to a
select few. An aspiring owner can, of course, enter into smaller even marginalized, sectors of the
media but these have much less of an audience share. An unfortunate outcome of sustainable
competition is the ideological suffocation of competing views. Dominant players in contemporary
media are, for the most part, ideologically conservative. That is, they endorse the workings of
laissez-faire, allowing themselves to engulf a larger 'piece of the pie'.

A third reason for the adoption of a new working model of the media is audience development in
recent decades. No longer are mediums of communication inhibited by distance. Technological
innovations, as discussed in chapters three and four, have enabled the mass media to reach millions
of citizens. Moreover, audiences are no longer homogeneous in terms of social, political and
268

Ibid., 86.

104

cultural composition. The nature of diverse audience preferences leads into the final reason for the
re-formulation of the media's democratic role. Because audience tastes are characterized by a
collage, media firms adapt to these by disseminating infotainment: conveying generic content to
satisfy the diverse tastes of millions. The consequences of infotainment to the democratic process
are, as mentioned, unknown.

What is known is that the traditional view of the mass media is

outdated and if contemporary media wish to be profitable, accountable and representative a new
working model of the media' s democratic role has never been more pertinent.

Explicit in these reasons is that the media should perform two primary democratic functions: (1)
plurality -- presenting information from multiple perspectives and; (2) representation -- media
should be organized to allow access for such diverse opinions. Performing these functions does
not guarantee informed citizenship but facilitates an atmosphere for citizens to assess and critique
those issues that constitute their social experience.

Doing so allows for the possibility of an

invigorated civil society.

In Curran's model, the democratic roles of the media include organizational appendages that serve
to fulfill the obligations inherent within a plural and representative media industry. Curran's model
is comprised of four satellite sectors organized around a core sector. The core sector provides a
forum for public debate whereby it disseminates information on a grand scale. The fundamental
role of the core sector is that, in Curran' s words:
It offers an opportunity for different classes and groups to
take part in the same public dialogue about the direction for
society. It provides scope, therefore, for them to interact
with one another and engage in reciprocal discussion. It also
provides a single emporium in which individuals can explore
where their self-interest lies, and relate this to rival
definitions of the common interest. Lastly, it offsets the
particularistic features of the rest of the media system by
providing a common symbolic environment which reinforces
ties of mutuality. 269

269

Ibid., 105.

105

The adjoining satellite sectors are comprised of more narrowly defined roles; targeting specific
audiences while promoting a 'multiplicity of voices'. Curran divides the satellites into four distinct
sectors: (1) private enterprise sector; (2) social market sector; (3) civic sector and; (4) professional
sector. The diversity of these media is designed to feed into and invigorate the core system; it
entrenches a system of checks and balances that promotes pluralism; and it strengthens the
democratic institutions of civil society.

The private enterprise sector "provides a countervailing and corrective influence to that of other
forces -- ranging from the journalism profession to organized interests -- that will shape the rest of
the media system.'mo Situating his model within the free market, the private enterprise sector
ensures competition and provides for a responsiveness on behalf of commercial media to audience
demands. Furthermore, this sector enhances the media's watchdog role by way of its independence
from government influence.

The social market sector, theoretically, counters market domination and economies of scale. "Its
central role is to incubate new forms of competition, rooted in social forces underrepresented in the
market, as a way of extending real media choice."271 Attached to this sector is the mandate to serve
minorities. This mandate can be executed in three ways. Guaranteeing diversity of output through
partial subsidization and advertising revenue. "Second, a public funding agency can be established.
to fund challenges to the media conglomerates from groups with limited resources and a reasonable
prospect for success. One sector where such an agency can have a considerable impact is local
radio, where entry costs are still relatively low."272 A final measure taken to assist the social market
sector achieve its objectives is to enact tough anti-monopoly legislation.

The third sector's mandate, the civic sector, is dual in nature. It is to represent both citizen and
corporate interests. Ensuring this diversity of representation requires the sector to be tiered into
three components to best articulate society's views.
270
271
272

Ibid., 110.
Ibid.
Ibid.

106

The top tier consists of media (such as partly controlled
general interest newspapers) which are linked to collective
organizations but are aimed, in principle, at least, at a general
audience with the intention of winning wider support . . . The
second tier consists of subcultural media (such as magazines
for gays and lesbians) which relate to a constituency rather
than an organized group. But they can have, nonetheless, an
important organizational role . . . The third tier consists of
organizational media (for example, a national trade union
journal or a newsletter of a local parents association) which
serve as channels of communication between members of a
group.273
Contemporary civic sector media do not facilitate such representation. The increase in infotainment
severely detracts from the media's political roles. Furthermore, the civic sector, at present, does
not provide much access or opportunity for marginalized groups despite their relevance, and more
importantly their rights, in society.

Stimulating the civic sector to fulfill this dual role of

representation may be accomplished in a number of ways. For example, through legislation, it can
be made compulsory for civic media to give access to these groups; similar to Canadian content
rules for television and radio. The point is that the civic media has to be invigorated in a morally
. responsible manner; how to do so depends on the social, cultural and ethnic minorities involved as
well as the severity of oligopoly in the commercial media.

Finally, the professional media sector is a satellite that "speaks to the public in a different way. It
can relate to society not in terms of organized groupings ... but as an aggregation of individuals in a
voice and idiom that it can define." 274 Simply put, the professional media sector will revive the
'multiplicity of voices', permitting, indeed encouraging, diverse voices and opinions and expanding
the boundaries of our social consciousness.

This sector also fulfills the watchdog role of the

media. "Public service broadcasting is linked to the state; the market sector is dominated by big
business; the civic sector-- or, at least, the most influential part of it -- is controlled by collectively
organized interests. There is a need for a professional sector which is a bedrock of independence

273
274

Ibid., 108.
Ibid., 109.

107

and which can be relied upon to maintain a critical surveillance of all power centres in society, and
expose them to the play of public opinion." 275

To conclude, Curran's model offers a viable alternative for the re-invention of a commercial media
system based on plurality. This model is not only desirable but feasible. Despite a relative degree
of association to government, market-led pragmatists have little ground for arguing that this model
impedes freedom of speech or any other lifeline of a free media system. In contrast, such a system
provides the necessary foundation for a representative media industry and political pluralism. It
represents, normatively of course, a system of 'give and take' that provides protection for citizens,
owners of commercial media and journalists. Establishing a core media sector surrounded by
private and public networks strengthens the capabilities of the media, citizens and the free market.
Thus, it offers the firmest foundation for the democratic process to build upon in the information
age.

However, implicit in Curran's model is the motivation for all parties involved to partake in a
revamping of the commercial media system. Few would dispute the important democratic functions
the media should execute. Few less would dispute their rights to consume politically relevant
information. And yet, the majority of citizens are not concerned with the increase in infotainment
that dominates commercial media content.
It is evident that there is an explosion occurring on a global level. People throughout the world

want more news --look at the successes of the Cable News Network (CNN) and the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) Newsworld. What is striking is that citizens continue to accept
infotainment to satisfy their demands. Citizens have the right to demand particular styles and news
content, this consumer sovereignty allows citizens to exercise their choice between a number a
divergent views.

Recalled from chapter four, citizens enjoy a democratic right to have the

opportunity to seek politically relevant information.

275

Ibid., 109- 110.

108

At present, the mass of society does not demand the type of information from commercial media
that is beneficial to the democratic process.

Rather, citizens remain content to consume

infotainment. The consequences of such are a dulling of an individual' s capacity for critical selfreflection, the continuing trend of globalization by a select few media giants and a serious blow to
representative democracy. Until citizens begin to exercise their democratic right of consumer
sovereignty in a socially responsible manner, commercial media will continue to supply what is
demanded from them -- infotainment. It is ironic that the victors of this dialectic are the citizens,
who receive what they ask for. But they do not ask for infotainment for reasons of truth, selfrealization or democratic responsibility, but for entertainment. We reap what we sow.

109

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