normative theories

2. MUHAMMAD IBRAHEEM
Topic: “Normative Theories Of Mass Communication”
Semester: MS 1
Department: Media and Communication Studies

3. Contents
• What is Normative Theory
• Structure and Performance
• Origin of Normative Theory
• Four theories of Press
 Authoritarian Theory
Libertarian Theory
Social Responsibility Theory
Soviet Communist Theory
• Other Normative Theories
• Criticism
• Conclusion

4. The Origins of Normative Theories of Media
 Two opposing viewpoints
• Radical libertarians (First Amendment absolutists)
• Technocratic Control
• First Amendment absolutist stake the idea of “free press” as literal
and oppose government regulation.
• Technocrats do not trust the media and believes in the use of
regulators to act in the public interest.
• Propaganda and mass society theories are used to justify media
regulation

5. What is Normative Theory
Normative theory describes that
• How media should be structured and operated within the society?
• How media should be rather than how the media is? (maximum profit in a
minimum time)
• How the press operated under the various political environments?
• How media operate with specific system of social values?
• Ideal way for a media system to be controlled and operated by the
government, authority, leader and public.

6. Structure and Performance
• Structure – e.g. freedom from the state, multiplicity of different channels.
• Performance – e.g. how the media carry out their chosen or allotted
informative or entertaining tasks. Conventions, genres, professional
guidelines and ethical rules, which apply to what the media do.

7. Four Theories of Press
Siebert, Schramm and Peterson (1956) proposed that press system is divided
into four categories:
1. Authoritarian Theory
2. Libertarian Theory
3. Social responsibility Theory
4. Soviet communist Theory

8. Normative Theories
• The four theories of the press are the normative theories i.e. These theories
were based on observations and not from hypotheses testing.
• The authors (Siebert, Schramm and Peterson 1956 ) divided the world’s
press into four categories as mentioned above.

9. Authoritarian Theory

10. Authoritarian Theory
• Development :
(16th & 17th century England, widely adopted and still in practice in
many places) e.g. ( North Korea, China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia)
• Philosophy :
(Philosophy of absolute monarch, his government or both)
• Main Purpose:
(To support and advance the policies of the government in power
and to serve the state)

11. Authoritarian Theory
• How has the right to use the Media?
(Whoever get the royal patent or similar permission)
• How are the Media controlled?
(Government patents, guilds, licensing, sometimes
censorship)
• What is Prohibited?
(Criticism of the political machinery and officials in power)
• Ownership:
(Private or Public)

12. Authoritarian assumptions
• Authoritarian theory holds that journalism should always be subordinate to
the interests of the state in maintaining social order or achieving political
goals (Siebert, Peterson, & Schramm 1956).
• Press should be subordinate to vested power and authority.
• Press should avoid acting in contravention of prevailing moral and political
values.
• Criminalisation of editorial attacks on vested power, deviations from
official policy, violation of moral codes.

13. Relationship between Govt and Media

14. Libertarian theory

15. Libertarian theory
• Development:
(Adopted by England after 1688 and in U.S. Influential elsewhere)
Other countries whose media apply the Libertarian Theory include: The
Netherlands and Hungary.
• Philosophy:
• (Writing of Milton,Loke, Mill and general philosophy or
rationalism and natural rights) which considers that people are rational and
have the right to all angles of an issue to decide between truth and
falsehood.
Main Purpose:
(To inform, entertain, sell-but chiefly to discover truth and to check
on government)

16. Libertarian Theory
• Who has the right to use media?
(Anyone with economic means to do so)
• How are the Media controlled?
(By self right process of truth in free market place of idea and by
courts)
• What is prohibited?
(Defamation, obscenity, indecency, wartime sedition)
• Ownership:
(Chiefly Private)

17. Libertarian Assumptions
• Censorship
(The government cannot interfere in matters of press)
• Publication and distribution should be accessible to any individual or
group with a permit or license.
• Attacks on governments or parties should not be punishable.
• Freedom of access to information.
• Press should be free from any external

18. Fundamental belief in press freedom
• Theology (good and bad difference)
• Individual rights(press freedom is the strongest, if not the only, guarantee
of liberty from political elites)
• Attainment of truth(falsehoods must be countered)
 Restrictions on communication
• Libel
• Gag Orders
• Regulations prohibiting false advertising, child pornography, and offensive
language.
• Laws have been written to restrict communication freedom so that other
seemingly equally important rights might be guaranteed.

19. Relationship between Govt. and Media

20. Social responsibility theory

21. Social responsibility theory
• Development:
(In the U.S. in the 20th century) other countries e.g. France, Germany, and
Japan.
Philosophy:
(Writing of W.E. Hocking. Commission on freedom of press, and
Practitioners, media codes) The USA has a Bill of Rights that states that
the “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or the
press.”
• Main Purpose:
(To inform, entertain, sell but chiefly to raise conflict to the plane of

22. Social Responsibility Theory
• Who has the right to use the Media?
(Everyone who has something to say)
• How are the Media controlled?
(Community opinion, consumers action, professional ethics)
• What is Prohibited?
(Serious intervention of recognized private rights and vital social
interests)
• Ownership:
(Private unless government has to take over to ensure public service)

23. Strength of the Social Responsibility Theory
• Values media responsibility
• Value audience responsibility
• Allows reasonable government control of media
• Values diversity and pluralism
• Aids the ‘powerless’
• Appeals to the best instincts of media practitioners and audience
• Limits government intrusion in media operation

24. Weakness of the Social Responsibility Theory
• It is overly optimistic about media to meet responsibility.
• It is overly optimistic about individual responsibility.
• Underestimate the power of profit motivation & competition.
• Legitimizes status quo

25. Relationship between Govt and Media

26. Soviet/Communist Theory

27. Soviet communist press theory
• Development:
(In soviet union, although some of the same things were done by
Nazis and Italians)
• Philosophy:
(Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist thought, with mixture of Hegel and the
19 century Russian thinking)
• Main Purpose:
(To continue to the success and continuance of the Soviet Socialist
System especially that led to dictatorship of the party)

28. Soviet communist press theory
• Who has the right to use the media?
(Loyal and orthodox party members)
• How are the Media controlled?
(Surveillance and economic or political action of government)
• What is Prohibited?
(Criticism of the party objectives as distinguish from tactics)
• Ownership:
(Public)

29. Soviet communist Assumptions
• Media should act in the interests of and be controlled by the
working class.
• Media should not be under private control.
• Media should perform positive functions for society.
• Media should respond to the desire and needs of their
recipients.

30. Relationship between Govt. and Media

31. Other Normative Theories
• Development media Theory
• Democratic-participant theory
• Western Concept
• Authoritarianism concept
• Revolutionary Concept

32. Development Media Theory
• Role of mass media in the third world
• Some ideas from authoritarian perspective
• Media cannot be too critical of government
• Some from communist perspective
• Media should be mobilized to support the political system
• Some from North-American experience
• Use communication to improve life in rural areas in U.S. and
Canada

33. Democratic-participant media theory
• Support
• Right to relevant information
• Right to answer back
• Right to use new means of communication
• Encouraged
• Multiple, small scale, local, non-institutional committed
media
• Freedom and self regulation failed

34. Western Concept
• The U.S., Great Britain, and most other well-developed
industrial nations
• Combine libertarian and social responsibility theory
• Huge people (opposition to Govt.) involved in
broadcasting.
• New technology
• Lack of media outlets
• Need to promote culture and education
• Western concept more liberal as social responsible
• No Completely Free Media System

35. Authoritarian Concept
• A normative theory advocating the complete domination
of media by a government for the purpose of forcing
those media to serve the government.

36. Revolutionary Concept
• A system in which media are used in the service of revolution
• Aim to end the Govt. Monopoly over information
• Building an opposition to the existing government
• Destroying the legitimacy of an existing government
• Bringing down that government

37. Criticism
• Journalism in capitalist societies functions in the interests not of society as
a whole, but of dominant groups and classes.
• Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the
powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.
• Libertarian is based on the self-righting principle, if all the information is
available, good ideas will survive and bad ideas will die.
• Social responsibility theory assumes a press that balances profit and
service under the watch of an interested public.

38. Conclusion
 Authoritarian Theory
(Private or Public)
 Libertarian Theory
(Chiefly Private)
 Social Responsibility Theory
(Private unless government has to take over to ensure public service)
 Soviet communist press theory
(Public)