A Fourth Estate

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Do curso por University of Amsterdam

Media ethics & governance

12 ratings

University of Amsterdam

Media ethics & governance

12 ratings

Media Ethics and Governance About this course: This course explores some of the basic theories, models and concepts in the field of media ethics. We will introduce influential ethical theories and perspectives, explore changing societal demands and expectations of media creation and media use, and we will elaborate on existing ethical norms for media professionals. After following this course, you will be able to reflect on ethical dilemmas and develop a well-substantiated argumentation for ethical decision making in a variety of media-related contexts. Upon completion of this course, students should: • have knowledge of the history and development of perspectives on media ethics; • have knowledge of the dominant theoretical approaches and concepts; • be able to use this knowledge to develop a well-substantiated argumentation

Na lição

Media Governance

In this part of the course we will discuss the developments of ideas on media governance. Media Governance refers to the entire system of rules and regulation and informal societal, ideological and economical processes that influence the behavior of our media. We will start with some basic models and then give an overview of the (historical) roots of modern governance models.

Media as Lapdogs of Kings, Councils and Corporations: Early-Modern Models of Governance3:46

A Fourth Estate3:22

The All-Powerful Media Paradigm. Examples and Their Fallout3:56

Commission on the Freedom of the Press3:41

Media Governance after World War II3:26

Conheça os instrutores

Rutger de Graaf
PhD
Graduate School of Communication Science
Damian Trilling
Assistant Professor
Department of Communication Science
Lotte Salome

Department of Communication Science
Sandra Jacobs
Assistant professor
Department of Communication Science
Annemarie van Oosten
Assistant Professor
Department of Communication Science

In the 18th century,

Edmund Burke was the first to refer to the media as a Fourth Estate.

By now, an interesting development had occurred,

more and more scholars were using the singular use,

referring to the media,

instead of the media plural.

Instead of several channels that had little to do with each other,

they were now regarded as being part of one larger Institute.

Burke named the media a Fourth Estate,

and he described this Fourth Estate as instrumental for

any nation because it functions firstly,

as a channel between government and people, secondly,

as a barometer of public opinion and thirdly,

as a check on the use of power by rulers.

But to serve as a channel between rulers and citizens,

as a barometer of public opinion,

and as a counterweight to the powerful elite,

the media needs complete freedom.

And these thoughts were not expressed by Burke alone but became

more and more common amongst the influential thinkers of the time.

"We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion;

and if we were sure,

stifling it will be an evil still."

"We have a natural right to make use of our pens as of our tongue,

at our peril, risk and hazards."

This was a drastic change from the old models of media governance.

This ideal of a completely free media landscape is, nowadays,

sometimes referred to as the free media model,

and the free media model is quite easy to explain today,

but it's not hard to imagine the novelty of the thought in the 18th century.

The press and the media in general needed to be completely

free from the pressures and intimidations that were,

up to then, quite common from governments and powerful corporations and individuals.

The French Revolution had taught rulers

the risks of ignoring the wants and needs of its citizens,

of the powerful elite misusing their power without constraints.

And governments all over the world learned this lesson and sometimes

grudgingly start to incorporate new political ideals in their laws and legislation.

Constitutions all over the world start to guarantee citizens' freedom of

the press and freedom from censorship and government interference.

Media professionals, like journalists, at the same time,

gained a higher status,

like obtaining special clearance to be at government meetings.

Politicians started to make more and more use of

the powers of the Fourth Estate instead of trying to suppress it.

Political campaigns were becoming media scripted events,

and important politicians also had close ties with newspapers,

often as editor in chief or financial backer.

We'll talk more about this in our next clip.

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