Normative Theories of the Media: Journalism in Democratic Societies (The History of Media and Communication) - Hardcover

Christians, Clifford G; Glasser, Theodore; McQuail, Denis; Nordenstreng, Kaarle; White, Robert A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0252034236 ISBN 13: 9780252034237

Publisher: University of Illinois Press, 2009

Synopsis

In this book, five leading scholars of media and communication take on the difficult but important task of explicating the role of journalism in democratic societies. Using Fred S. Siebert, Theodore Peterson, and Wilbur Schramm's classic Four Theories of the Press as their point of departure, the authors explore the philosophical underpinnings and the political realities that inform a normative approach to questions about the relationship between journalism and democracy, investigating not just what journalism is but what it ought to be.

The authors identify four distinct yet overlapping roles for the media: the monitorial role of a vigilant informer collecting and publishing information of potential interest to the public; the facilitative role that not only reports on but also seeks to support and strengthen civil society; the radical role that challenges authority and voices support for reform; and the collaborative role that creates partnerships between journalists and centers of power in society, notably the state, to advance mutually acceptable interests. Demonstrating the value of a reconsideration of media roles, Normative Theories of the Media provides a sturdy foundation for subsequent discussions of the changing media landscape and what it portends for democratic ideals.

About this title

About the Author:

Clifford G. Christians is research professor of communications and the director of the Institute of Communications Research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Theodore L. Glasser is a professor of communication at Stanford University. Denis McQuail is a professor emeritus of mass communication at the University of Amsterdam. Kaarle Nordenstreng is a professor of journalism and mass communication at the University of Tampere, Finland. Robert A. White is a professor of social sciences and communications at St. Augustine University of Tanzania.

Review:

[The contributors] see four roles for the press: a monitor of events in the world, a facilitator of democratic decision making, a radical communicator free of any restraint, and a collaborator with those in power. Each of these four is explained in detail, with many excellent examples. . . . Highly recommended.”--Choice

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0252034236
• ISBN 13: 9780252034237
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 296