by Abhai Singh Tanwar

This blog explores the four major theories of the press based on the work authored by Fred Siebert, Theodore Peterson, and Wilbur Schramm.

Journalism is known as the fourth pillar of democracy in India, but is it truly the case? You may agree and disagree with the ongoing state of the press in which journalism operates. What about North Korea? That is a country where any word against the dictator gets brutally silenced.

Hence, the media there works in complete obedience to the ruler. Then there is the U.S.A., where political satire against both the ruling and the opposition party gets expressed with little to no flak.

You probably wonder why this happens. It is because different socio-political structures create societies with varying degrees of freedom and limitations to expression. Here, we are concerned with the expression of the truth, which is the soul of journalism and, therefore, the press. As said in the book ‘Four Theories of Press,’

“The press always takes the form and colouration of the social and political structures within which it operates.”

So, let’s explore the theories that explain how the press has worked or is working in primarily four different ways based on the landscape in which they function, starting with the Authoritarian Theory of Press.

Authoritarian Theory

The Authoritarian press is the first and the most rudimentary form of press. Its existence dates back to the earliest. But what is authoritarianism? It is a form of a regime where a single political entity (king, monarch, party, etc.) controls the structure and functioning of a nation. Its purpose is to secure the power of the ruler.

Under this system, the voice of dissent is suppressed, and the interests of the masses are dismissed.

Under an Authoritarian rule, the press functions in a ‘top-down’ fashion, that is, in accordance with the ruling elites of the society. These elites define what truth is. They have the power to hide, edit, or eradicate the actual truth, with or without the knowledge of the public. Here, the press is the ‘servant’ of the ruling State, an idea that was prevalent throughout the 15th and 16th centuries.

Hence, this form of press avoids keeping a check on the government, which is the fundamental duty of the media today.

The Authoritarian press had its imprint on the communication history of India. Long ago, the media was only perceived as the medium for spreading the word of kings and monarchs. In pre-colonial India, emperors like Jahangir and Akbar issued ‘farmaans’ (royal orders) to make announcements to the masses.

During colonialism (late 19^th and early 20^th century), the British government fiercely controlled the press. They permitted selected news publishers, the ones who would likely act as their proxies. On the other hand, publishers who would platform content that was considered ‘seditious’ were heavily fined or imprisoned.

The Authoritarian press briefly halted with the arrival of the French Revolution, a capitalist revolution that led to the rise of bourgeoisie democracy. After that, the history of this press resumed with the Great October Socialist Revolution, a major sub-event of the Russian Revolution (1917-23), which led to the establishment of the Soviet Union (USSR) and a fully functioning communist government.

However, the media under the USSR did not turn out to be fully authoritarian despite major characteristic similarities. China (under the Chinese Communist Party) and North Korea (under the Kim dynasty) are current examples of countries with an authoritarian press.

Libertarian Theory

The Libertarian press is the most opposite form of the authoritarian press. In Libertarian theory, the public is not passive anymore. Every individual, irrespective of their origins, is capable of thinking like a rational being. That is, someone who is able to differentiate between truths and lies, better or worse alternatives, etc.

The truth is no longer an instrument controlled/manipulated by the elites. The search for truth becomes the inalienable right of the man, and the Libertarian press helps him to attain it, hence making it the ‘Fourth Estate’ in the governing process.

This further means that the press becomes a watchdog that is completely free from government interference. Thus, a Libertarian society encourages anything and everything to be talked about under the sun. In other words, it promotes ‘a free marketplace of ideas.’

The idea of a free mind was pioneered by thinkers like John Locke and John Milton. Locke dedicated extensive analysis to understanding the human mind as a ‘blank slate’ and the idea of liberty as a natural right.

On the other hand, Milton’s political speech, ‘Areopagitica,’ is one of the most influential works against censorship and in defense of free speech.

Another historical blueprint of free speech is ‘The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen,’ a document from the French Revolution of 1789. Article 11 of this document guarantees freedom of speech.

It is important to note that the idea of a Libertarian press is not fully implemented anywhere today. This is even true for countries like the U.K. and the U.S.A., where liberty serves as the cornerstone for the functioning of their press and society.

It is because of various barriers that hinder the circulation of unfiltered news with complete freedom. These barriers, also known as the five filters of the ‘propaganda model,’ are profit-driven ownership of media outlets, reliance on advertising revenue, lack of objective sources, negative backlash (or flak), and anti-communism. This model was proposed by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky in their work ‘Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media.’

Social Responsibility Theory

There are 2 aspects to the Social Responsibility theory, also known as the new Libertarianism.

First, it proposes a certain obligation for the media to give fair representation to any information disseminated, to make sure that all possibilities of its truth or falsehood are shared. If the media is not taking such responsibility, then it’s for the public or any other agency to implement it.

This responsibility becomes paramount in discussion because of the recent dominance of media owners in the institution of press and journalism, where they decide what reaches the public and what does not, just like in the old authoritarian days.

These owners came to fruition when the media industry started growing, not from the diversity of media outlets, but from capital investments for limited publishers. Hence, owing to this practice today, only a few newspapers, a few channels, and a few journalists are able to get national attention, resulting in a monopoly or oligopoly.

The other aspect of this theory of the press is the emphasis on the need for certain restrictions on free expression. A major setback of Libertarian theory was that freedom of speech can potentially encourage certain thoughts that may incite harm to others. Case in point, hate speech that propels stereotypes and violence against a minority group of a nation.

Therefore, as much as history has enjoyed romanticizing free speech, the importance of having limitations to it as well was realized with time. Let us refer to the Constitution of India to understand a representation of freedom with reasonable restrictions.

As per Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution, all citizens have the right to freedom of speech and expression. Then there is Article 19 (2), which imposes “reasonable restrictions” on this freedom to protect the sovereignty, security and integrity of India; friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality.

Soviet Communist Theory

Soviet Communist theory, also known as the new Authoritarian theory of the press, was born out of Marxist determinism. As per Marxist (or economic) determinism, economic forces influence all social, intellectual, political and other aspects of a society. This theory shares both similarities and differences with Authoritarianism.

A Communist government controls the press, and the information disseminated is streamlined through it. This is to ensure that the objectives of the Communist party are perceived as righteous and the social welfare through communism is seen as the sole ‘truth.’

This form of press came with the formation of the USSR through the Russian Revolution, particularly, the October Revolution of 1917, led by Vladimir Lenin. The Revolution ended the rule of the Tsar (monarch) to establish a socialist government. The movement was inspired by the ‘Communist Manifesto,’ the most notable work of German philosopher Karl Marx, co-written with Friedrich Engels.

According to the Communist Manifesto, humanity is divided into the Bourgeoisie (the ruling class) and the Proletariat (the working class). The ruling class owns all the means of production, for e.g., factories, land, machinery, etc.

On the other hand, the working class works for the ruling class by selling their labour in exchange for wages to survive in the modern industrial society. Marx predicted that the first Socialist Revolution would take place in England due to the rise of capitalism from the Industrial Revolution. Instead, it happened in an agrarian country like Russia.

Upon the success of the Russian Revolution, a new regime was established, where private property was abolished, and the means of production were to be owned by the community, forging a way for communism. The political system assumed ‘direct democracy,’ i.e., people ruled by people.

Now, the media under this regime is backed by the Soviet government, which is the ruling State, just like the Authoritarian press. However, the media works not to preserve the power of a private player but to safeguard the interests of a political system whose purpose is to serve the public fairly.

Hence, even though the mechanism of ownership is similar between a Soviet Communist press and an Authoritarian press, their end goals are poles apart.

Conclusion

The theories mentioned above broadly cover all the ways a press can operate. The earliest being the Authoritarian theory, grounded in centuries of monarch rule over the state and its media.

Then, we covered the Libertarian theory rooted in the idea of rationality and man’s inalienable search for truth, and how a Libertarian press is not a realistic press today due to certain factors.

Thirdly, we discussed the Social Responsibility theory, in which the media is obligated to use its influence to tell the truth but not to exploit it through content that could incite harm to anyone at any level.

Finally, we talked about the Soviet Communist theory, its history with respect to the formation of the USSR, and how it’s different from the Authoritarian theory of the press.

Even though this theoretical assessment leaves no room for debate, the countries you think of as examples of each theory can be debated due to certain nuances.

For example, you might put China as an example of the Soviet Communist theory of the press. But on analysing its socio-political structure, China is just a nominal example of a Communist state. It is actually an Authoritarian country that runs its economy on capitalist principles. This is primarily because China’s end goal is not the welfare of the Chinese people but to become a global superpower.