British Press Is an Independent Fourth Estate - Essay Example

British Press as an Independent ‘Fourth Estate’ Name Course Tutor Institution Date Introduction By tradition, the press has for the longest period being termed as being a fourth estate. Therefore, it is commonly viewed as a central part of democracy in nations and more so as a means through which the power of a state can be monitored and when found necessary, the power can be limited to considerable levels. In relation to the classic liberal theory, which has been greatly expounded, it articulates that, the media has a purpose of helping to discover the truth and plays an essential role when it comes to assisting in solving the political as well as the social problems. The best way in which this can be achieved is by offering all manner of evidences in addition to opinions to guide in the decision-making. The press plays a crucial role in the democratic governance and this role has been recognized since the late 17th century. With time, it has remained a very fundamental principle and more so in the modern day democratic practice and theory. The Fourth Estate is termed as the segment of the society that tends to yield indirect but at the same time significant influence on the society but it is not in any way formally recognized part of the political systems. This paper aims at aims at discussing if thе соnсерt of thе British рrеss as an indереndеnt ‘fourth еstаtе’, that is a аutоnоmоus institution rерrеsеnting thе реорlе, is а myth. This will be done in reference to the реriоd between 1750 - 1850. Discussion The concept of the British press as an independent fourth estate that is an autonomous institution representing the people during the period between 1750-1850 can be termed as just a myth. For the press to be termed as being an autonomous institution representing the people, the media needs to be free, from the control of the governments or domination. Based on these, the main duty of the press is to keep the officers of the state from exceeding or abusing the authority offered to them. Thus, the press at all times needs to be the watchdogs over the workings of democracy and it needs to be vigilant and always point out and expose any forms of authoritarian or arbitrary practice (Donohue, Tichenor & Olien, 1995). While a great number of journalists approve of the соnсерt of thе British рrеss as an indереndеnt ‘fourth еstаtе’, that is аutоnоmоus institution rерrеsеnting the реорlе, a great number of the social scientists and more so those operating in the anti-journalism world of media studies term the fourth estate theory ideological as just a way of self-delusion. The journalists mainly invented the term and concept with the aim of adding lustre to their profession and this means that, the journalists mainly tend to believe in the concept since it makes them feel good but it is not true in all ways ((Donohue, Tichenor & Olien, 1995). In such a familiar vision of the situations, the journalists ought to be the crusaders of truth, they also need to support greatly the free expression and expose instances of oppression, corruption and well as the abuses of the official authority of individuals (Donohue, Tichenor & Olien, 1995). There are many examples of these expressions. A good example was in 1821 when James Mill termed the freedom of the press as being an indispensable security and as a way of safeguarding the interest of individuals. Scoot also argued that, the individuals in the journalism profession needed to depict ‘cleanness, honesty, courage, a sense of duty to the readers as well as to the community and fairness’ and those are not to be affected by anything. Francis Williams further termed the press as a minefield and through it, those who were small, great and in authority needed to step carefully since a wrong step or turn may blow it up. David Randaal has further formulated these aspects when he argues that, journalists have a job that entails the questioning and to: Discover and then publish reliable information aimed at replacing the speculation and rumors Evading and resisting the control by the government Informing and empowering the citizens Challenging the individuals whose authorities places more importance of lack of public information Scrutinizing the inactions and actions of the elected people, those in public services and those in governments Scrutinizing the businesses on how they treat their customers and workers and the quality of products offered to the public Comforting those who have been afflicted and offer a voice for the vulnerable in the society Ensuring that there is justice for all individuals irrespective of their social standing Acting as a mirror to the society and Offering individuals with an opportunity and forum for the free exchange of opinions and ideas. It can noted that, no matter how admirable the above sentiments are, and no matter how they accord strongly with the manner in which a great number of journalist do view their role in the society, it is very hard to square out with the reality of the British press between 1750-1850. The British press acted contrary to what they were expected do by the society at large, in a way suggest that the British press between 1750-1850 cannot be referred to as a fourth estate and this was just a myth. Thus, there was a need of reconsider and the extent to which the British Press is and whether it has ever been a fourth estate or whether it was just a myth that was believed by a number of people. It would be quite mistaking to assume that, the British Press is or has ever been driven by something that closely resembles the liberal values let alone the progressive values. This statement can be greatly supported by the statement offered by A. Aspinall in his book Politics and the Press, 1780 – 1850, when he states that, a great number of the London newspapers usually accepted subsidies from the parties in government (Aspinall, 1949). At times, they also accepted help from those who were in the opposition and in other ways, there were also tied to a number of the party organizations. During the period, the freedom of the press was very limited too and this was mainly in terms of the governemnets attempts to otherwise influence or control the press. In this regard, the press during that time was not in any way an independent organ of the public opinion and it was therefore mainly swayed based on whom it was supporting. The sale of content was very restricted and thus, it robbed the media of the ability to be exclusively self-supporting (Aspinall, 1949). During the same period, it is also argued that public money, which was mainly spent on buying the support of the newspaper printers, were mainly drawn from sources which the parliament had no control over. This in a way affected the concept of the British press being viewed as a fourth estate since it failed to meet the core aims that they were expected to do by the society. What made the situation complicated was the fact that, there were no statutory limits on the amount of the money, which would be spent, and thus those in power could even use considerable amounts to curb any kind of information and dissuade newspaper publishers from publishing certain kind of information. Thus, those in power had an upper hand in determining what the masses were told and what would be concealed from them (Aspinall, 1949). The British Press can be said to have abandoned partially and some completely the ideals that are associated with the Fourth Estate and this can be in one common face termed as the self-interest. Thus, the British press can be said to have used their media to support the government and those in opposition and their support was mainly to those who supported their business interests. Based on Barker 1999, the newspapers in the 17th century usually played a decisive role. In this regard, the British press was mainly used to support the policies of the existing government. In addition to the above mentioned role, the British Press also articulated the popular opinion and thus, in addition to altering the way in which the politics were conducted, it also affected the manner in which politics operated in almost all the levels of the English live (Barker 1999). Wiston 2011 also points out these sentiments, when he states that of late, there are measures, which are being put in place to have a cross-media power regulation, and this could return Britain to the era of the 17th century. He clearly states that, if measures are implemented it would offer the government with an opportunity to have control of over the news that are delivered to their citizens as it was the case in the 17th century. Berry 2015, further shows the reason as to why the British press cannot even in the modern day be termed as an indереndеnt ‘fourth еstаtе’, that is an аutоnоmоus institution rерrеsеnting thе реорlе. His argument is formulated against the fact that the shift that took place in the British press in 2009. He points out that, there was a rise of neoliberalism and the role it played in financialising of the economy. These kinds of developments had a great impact on the production of news and thus the neoliberal perspectives were more prominent in the media as opposed to the others. This shows how the media has failed in its role as being as a watch dog and the deficit was mainly characterized with the presentation of information that was misleading and which entailed false comparisons, and it had fear appeals. It can be noted that, like in the period between 1750-1850, the newspapers usually endorsed the austerity measures and this was done despite the consistent failures about policy during the recession period. For the British press to be referred to as an indереndеnt ‘fourth еstаtе’, that is an аutоnоmоus institution rерrеsеnting thе реорlе, they ought to have offered the right kind of information and at the same time offered true comparisons. This in a way erodes the role they are expected to do by the citizens of their country. Hampton further argues that there were a number of qualities that the contemporarily British press was supposed to posses such as being a lively writing, impartiality, speedy, and its ability to depose corrupt governments by informing readers if such cases cannot be in any way characterized with the British Press during the period between 1750-1850. This further explains the reason as to why the соnсерt of thе British рrеss as an indереndеnt ‘fourth еstаtе’, that is a аutоnоmоus institution rерrеsеnting thе реорlе being just a myth among the people. Conclusion From the above discussion, it is evident that the press in many countries has a role to play in the society. Thus, individuals who take up courses related to the press need to take note of the fact that, they have role to play and that the press is a central part of democracy in nations. Therefore, they should use the press as a means through which the power of a state can be monitored and when found necessary, the power can be limited to considerable levels. It is evident that, the concept of the British Press as being an indереndеnt ‘fourth еstаtе’, that is an аutоnоmоus institution rерrеsеnting thе реорlе, is а myth. In conclusion, the press in all countries needs to ensure that the information offered to the public is correct and that they do not misinterpret or mislead the population. This will help greatly in augmenting the confidence of the people in the press and the information that they offers to them from time to time during the various situations in the society. References Aspinall, A 1949, Politics and the Press, C.1780 – 1850, Home & Van Thal, London. Barker, H 2000, Newspapers, Politics and English Society, 1695-1855, Longman, Harlow. Berry, M 2015, The UK press and the deficit debate. Sociology, Epub ahead of print 20 May. DOI: 10.1177/0038038515582158. Donohue, G, Tichenor, P & Olien, C 1995, ‘A Guard Dog Perspective on the Role of the Media.’ Journal of Communication, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 115-128. Hampton, M 2004, Visions of the Press in Britain, 1850-1950, University of Illinois, Urbana and Chicago. Wiston, B 2011, October 6, Cross-Media power regulation could return Britain to the 17th Century, viewed 24 July 2017, https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/brian-winston/cross-media-power-regulation-could-return-britain-to-17th-century Read More