CHAPTER 7
This chapter examines the standards and criteria of quality applied to mass media operations from the perspective of society and the 'public interest'. It focuses on how media are expected to function and be held accountable.
The Media and the Public Interest
Concept: The media perform important tasks in society, and it is in the general interest that these are done well, according to principles of justice, fairness, and democracy.
Historical Roots: Identifying matters needing collective control (e.g., roads, public utilities).
Contested Nature: Public control can conflict with freedom of expression; media often pursue profit or other goals, not solely public interest.
Commercial Media: Tend to equate public interest with 'what interests the public'.
Versions of Public Interest (Held, 1970):
Majoritarian: Settled by popular vote, 'giving the public what it wants', social solidarity on matters of 'social importance'.
Unitarian/Absolutist: Decided by a single dominant value or ideology (paternalistic).
Public Interest Criteria (Structure):
Freedom of publication
Plurality of ownership
Extensive reach
Diversity of channels and forms
Public Interest Criteria (Content):
Supportive of democratic political system
Supportive of public order and the law
Diversity of information, opinion, and culture
High quality of information and culture
Respectful of international obligations and human rights
Avoiding harm to society and individuals
Media Freedom as a Principle
Connection to Democracy: Essential for the functioning of a democratic regime.
Freedom of Media vs. Freedom of Expression:
Freedom of Expression: Wider right, refers to substance/content (opinion, ideas, information).
Freedom of the Press: Refers to the 'container' or means for publication. Law and regulation often transfer safeguarding from substance to means.
Freedom at the Structural Level:
Conditions for Effective Freedom:
Absence of censorship, licensing, or government controls.
Real independence from owners and outside interests.
Equal right for citizens to access channels (senders and receivers).
Competitiveness of the system, with limits to media concentration.
Freedom to obtain information from sources.
Public Benefits:
Systematic and independent public scrutiny of power (watchdog role).
Stimulation of active democratic and social life.
Opportunities to express ideas, beliefs, views.
Renewal and change of culture and society.
Increase in overall freedom.
Potential Conflicts/Inconsistencies:
Freedom is never absolute; must recognize limits (private interests, collective good).
Conflict between owners/controllers and those seeking access.
Control in hands of owners may not recognize rights of media workers.
Imbalance between what communicators want to say and what audiences want to hear.
Government intervention may be needed to secure freedoms not delivered by unfettered systems.
Freedom at the Performance Level:
Expectations: Active and critical editorial policy, reliable and relevant information, diversity of opinion, investigative/watchdog role, innovation, independence, originality, creativity.
Democratic Requirements (Müller, 2014):
Vertical Media Function: Disseminate information about political office-holders' activities and misconduct to as many citizens as possible.
Horizontal Media Function: Constitute an open public sphere reflecting societal diversity.
These functions are measured at both structure (access to news sources) and content (critical coverage of political affairs) levels.
Media Equality as a Principle
Underlying Principle: Valued in democratic societies, linked to normative expectations.
Equality at the Structural Level:
Goal: Different interests in society have similar mass media access opportunities (send and receive).
Measures: Public broadcasting, limits on media monopoly, support for competing media, universal provision.
Implies free, fair, and transparent operation of free market principles.
Equality at the Performance Level:
Requirements: No special favor to power holders, access for contenders/oppositional views, fair treatment for advertisers, fair access for alternative voices.
Calls for absence of discrimination or bias in access for senders/receivers.
Challenges: Depends on social/economic development and communication capacity; high welfare/extensive systems (e.g., US) don't guarantee equality if freedom of opportunity is prioritized over equality of outcomes.
Media Diversity as a Principle
Importance: Underpins social change, replacement of elites, circulation of power, countervailing power.
Nature: Valuation of variety, choice, and change in themselves; neutral as to content.
Public Benefits:
Opening way for social/cultural change, access for new voices.
Checking misuse of freedom (e.g., ownership concentration).
Enabling minorities to maintain existence.
Limiting social conflicts through increased understanding.
Adding richness to cultural/social life.
Maximizing benefits of 'free marketplace of ideas'.
Diversity at the Structural Level:
Requirements: Many different, independent media firms; different types of media (press, radio, TV); geographical diversity; reflection of societal structure (language, ethnicity, politics, religion).
Challenges: Enlarging channels doesn't always enlarge content diversity; media convergence and conglomeration (multinational corporations).
Variants of 'Diversity as Equal Treatment':
Literal Equality: Everyone receives same provision/access chances (e.g., equal time in elections, separate language services).
Fair/Proportional Allocation: Provision reflects distribution of relevant groups/beliefs or audience demand.
External vs. Internal Diversity:
External: Separate channels for different interests.
Internal: Different voices represented within the same channel.
Conflict with Market-Driven Freedom: Liberal pluralism (media in hands of less powerful) vs. market-driven (ownership rights over regulation, powerful companies control).
Diversity at the Performance Level:
Goal: Content differentiation matches sources/receivers; content matches societal information, communication, cultural needs.
Assessment Criteria: Reflection of social/cultural differences, equal access to all voices, wide choice for consumers (genre, taste, style, topics, political viewpoints).
Limitations: Limited by channel capacity and editorial selections; proportional representation can exclude small minorities; catering to dominant groups limits choice.
Dysfunctionality: Too much diversity can lead to social fragmentation ('naïve pluralism'), accelerated by online algorithms.
Truth and Information Quality
Historical Claims: Strongly related to freedom of expression and value of truth (religious, personal, scientific, legal, historical).
Broad Interest: Access to reliable, depended-on knowledge that matches reality and is relevant/useful.
Benefits of Information Quality:
Contributing to informed society and skilled workforce.
Basis for democratic decision-making (informed electorate).
Guarding against propaganda and irrational appeals.
Warning against risks.
Meeting everyday needs for information.
The Objectivity Concept:
Definition: Form of media practice and attitude to information collection, processing, dissemination.
Features: Detachment and neutrality, avoidance of partisanship/bias, strict attachment to accuracy (relevance, completeness), lack of ulterior motive.
Affinity: With Habermas's 'undistorted' communication; ideal for professional journalists.
Links: Necessary condition for freedom (independence); strong link to equality (fair, non-discriminatory attitude, equal standing for different viewpoints).
Practical Benefits: Agencies can speak directly without undue distortion, clear distinction between editorial and advertising, increased public credence and trust.
Evolution: Transparency adopted as a definition, where journalists make inherent limitations visible (McNair, 2017). Objectivity gives news high market value.
Framework for Objectivity (Westerstahl, 1983):
Factuality: Reporting verifiable events/statements, free from comment, accurate, complete, honest, not misleading. Includes relevance (selection according to clear principles of significance).
Impartiality: Neutral attitude, achieved through balance (equal/proportional time/space) and neutrality in presentation.
Informativeness: Qualities that improve chances of information being noticed, understood, remembered.
Information Quality Requirements:
Comprehensive supply of relevant news and background information.
Objective information: factual, accurate, honest, complete, true to reality, reliable, separating fact from opinion.
Balanced and fair (impartial) reporting of alternative perspectives.
Limits of Objectivity:
Uncertainty about 'adequate supply' and nature of 'objectivity'.
Fundamental Critique (Muñoz-Torres, 2012): Assumes excluding values improves reporting, but value judgments are inherent (e.g., which facts to omit); both objectivity and relativism are problematic.
Following rules can lead to new biases (advantage dominant parties).
Inconsistencies with media freedom and diversity principles.
More appropriate for totality of media information, not every channel.
Debate: 'Full news standard' (comprehensive) vs. 'burglar alarm' (essential alerts).
Social Order and Solidarity
Normative Criteria: Relate to the integration and harmony of society.
Perspectives:
Authority: Expects media support for maintaining order.
Pluralistic Societies: Media have mixed responsibilities to various groups and expressions of conflict.
Concept of Order: Applies to symbolic (cultural) and social systems; distinct from 'above' (established authority/control) and 'below' (individuals/minorities/solidarity).
Theoretical Handling:
Functionalist Theory: Media secure social order continuity by promoting consensus (Wright, 1960).
Critical Theory: Media as agents of dominant power, imposing values, marginalizing dissent.
Expectations and Norms:
Provide channels of intercommunication and support for relevant publics.
Contribute to social integration by attending to disadvantaged groups.
Not undermine law and order by encouraging crime/disorder.
Limit freedom for national security (war, terrorism).
Observe reigning norms of morals, decency, taste; avoid grave public offense.
Cultural Order
Definition: Mainly refers to symbolic content transmitted; distinguished from social order.
Concerns: Cultural 'quality' and 'authenticity' of media content.
Subdivision: Between 'dominant'/official culture and 'alternative'/subcultures (hierarchical vs. equal rights).
Cultural Quality Norms:
Reflect and express language/contemporary culture of the people served.
Prioritize educational role and expression of cultural heritage.
Encourage cultural creativity, originality, high quality work.
Diverse cultural provision, including popular culture.
Challenges: Little agreement or action; principles desirable but rarely enforceable due to lack of consensus.
The Meaning of Accountability
Foundation: Built on freedom and responsibility; freedom carries special duties.
Definition: All voluntary or involuntary processes by which media answer directly or indirectly to society for the quality and/or consequences of publication.
Accountability Process Criteria:
Respect rights to free publication.
Prevent or limit harm to individuals and society.
Promote positive aspects of publication.
Be public and transparent.
Tension: Inescapable tension between freedom and accountability.
Distinction:
Responsibility: Obligations and expectations directed at the media (defining proper conduct).
Accountability: Processes by which media are called to account (compelling conduct).
Degrees of Compulsion: Voluntary, contracted, legal. Softer modes involve less conflict with freedom.
Two Alternative Models of Accountability
Liability Model:
Emphasis: Potential harm and danger from publication (individuals, public order).
Measures: Material penalties imposed by private or public law.
Challenge: Weighing private harm vs. public benefit; 'chilling effects' on publication, especially for small publishers.
Answerability Model:
Emphasis: Non-confrontational, debate, negotiation, voluntariness, dialogue.
Measures: Predominantly verbal (enquiry, explanation, apology, corrections).
Consistency: Most consistent with participant democracy, encourages diversity, independence, creativity.
Lines and Relations of Accountability
Internal Accountability: Chain of control within media, making acts of publication organizational responsibility.
Tension: Between freedom of expression of media workers and owner's interests.
Not solely reliable for broader social accountability.
External Accountability: Relationships between media and external parties.
Partners: Audiences, clients (advertisers), content suppliers, subjects of reporting ('referents'), owners/shareholders, government regulators, social institutions, public opinion, pressure groups.
Frames of Accountability
Definition: A frame of reference within which expectations/responsibilities arise, claims are expressed, and handled (agent, claimant, adjudicator, criteria, rules).
Four Prevalent Frames:
Law and Regulation:
Purpose: Create conditions for free intercommunication, advance public good, limit harm.
Mechanisms: Regulatory documents, formal rules, procedures.
Issues: Alleged harm to individuals, media regulation (especially electronic).
Advantages: Power to enforce claims, democratic control, clear limits to freedom/regulation.
Disadvantages: Conflict with freedom, resembles censorship, easier for structure than content, benefits powerful, potentially ineffective, prone to vested interests.
Financial/Market:
Mechanism: Demand and supply in a competitive market, audience/market research.
Focus: Communication 'quality' as seen by the consumer.
Advantages: No compulsion, self-regulating, balances producer/consumer interests.
Disadvantages: 'Too commercialized' (profit over quality), markets are imperfect, private monopolies, defines freedom/quality by owner welfare.
Public Responsibility:
Concept: Media fulfill public tasks beyond profit; 'fiduciary' or 'trustee' model for the public.
Mechanisms: Pressure groups, consumer organizations, public opinion surveys, press/broadcasting councils (voluntary), government commissions, public debate/criticism.
Advantages: Direct expression of societal needs, continuous interactive relationship, open, democratic, voluntary, protective of freedom.
Disadvantages: Voluntary nature (some media reject trustee status), not a complete 'system', undermined by globalization/concentration.
Professional Responsibility:
Concept: Self-respect and ethical development of media professionals (journalists, advertisers), self-regulation by associations.
Mechanisms: Codes of conduct, procedures for complaints/judgments.
Issues: Harm or offense to individuals/groups.
Advantages: Voluntary, in self-interest of media, non-coercive, encourages self-improvement/control.
Disadvantages: Narrow application, not strong pressure on powerful media, not independent enough, fragmentary, weak professional development/autonomy.
Conclusion
Assessment: Multiple overlapping processes, no single sufficient system.
Preference: Priority for transparent, voluntary accountability based on active relationships, dialogue, and debate.
External Control: May be effective short-term but runs counter to the spirit of open society long-term.