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Four Theories Of The Press Essay

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Four Theories of the press According to three professors of communication Fred S. Siebert, Theodore Peterson and Wilbur Schramm there are four theories of the Press (Siebert, Peterson and Schramm, 1956).

Authoritarian Theory Authoritarian theory in mass media can be comprehended as media that operate under either publicly or privately owned (Biagi, 2012). The authoritarian theory is origin from Ancient Greece philosophy Plato (407 -327 B.C) with the theory “who thought that the State was safe only in the hands of a few wise men” (Peoi.org, 2015). Then, a brittish academician, Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) had argued that the power to maintain order was sovereign and individual objections were to be ignored (Peoi.org, 2015). Another German thinker, Engel further reinforced the theory by stating that freedom came into its supreme right only under Authoritarianism (Peoi.org, 2015). Authoritarian theory concept of the press is developed in Europe after Gutenberg. Presses in Europe were privately owned until the 1850s. However the aristocracy who governed the countries wanted some sort of control on the financial and political power. The aristocracy …show more content…

Libertarian theory is under private sphere (Penning, 2006). The libertarian theory declares that, everyone has the right to publish anything that he wants without fear of the constraints of licensing or censorship. This theory is free from government control, even to the point of allowing attacks on institution (Amira, 2012). In this theory, the Libertarian model functions as a “watchdog” to monitor government policy. However, there are also limitations among the libertarian model. Limitations of libertarian like journalism have been unwilling to recognize and censure colleagues who violate professional standards. Sometimes, there will be standards overly abstract and ambiguous. Journalism may pursue truth aggressively and present the news

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