Four Theories of the Press

Four Theories of the Press
Author: Fred Siebert
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Total Pages: 168
Release: 1963-10-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 025205105X

Presented here are four major theories behind the functioning of the world's presses: (1) the Authoritarian theory, which developed in the late Renaissance and was based on the idea that truth is the product of a few wise men; (2) the Libertarian theory, which arose from the works of men like Milton, Locke, Mill, and Jefferson and avowed that the search for truth is one of man's natural rights; (3) the Social Responsibility theory of the modern day: equal radio and television time for political candidates, the obligations of the newspaper in a one-paper town, etc.; (4) the Soviet Communist theory, an expanded and more positive version of the old Authoritarian theory.

Social Theory after the Internet

Social Theory after the Internet
Author: Ralph Schroeder
Publisher: UCL Press
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2018-01-04
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 178735122X

The internet has fundamentally transformed society in the past 25 years, yet existing theories of mass or interpersonal communication do not work well in understanding a digital world. Nor has this understanding been helped by disciplinary specialization and a continual focus on the latest innovations. Ralph Schroeder takes a longer-term view, synthesizing perspectives and findings from various social science disciplines in four countries: the United States, Sweden, India and China. His comparison highlights, among other observations, that smartphones are in many respects more important than PC-based internet uses. Social Theory after the Internet focuses on everyday uses and effects of the internet, including information seeking and big data, and explains how the internet has gone beyond traditional media in, for example, enabling Donald Trump and Narendra Modi to come to power. Schroeder puts forward a sophisticated theory of the role of the internet, and how both technological and social forces shape its significance. He provides a sweeping and penetrating study, theoretically ambitious and at the same time always empirically grounded.The book will be of great interest to students and scholars of digital media and society, the internet and politics, and the social implications of big data.

Social Theories of the Press

Social Theories of the Press
Author: Hanno Hardt
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2001
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0742511340

Foreword / James W. Carey Preface 1 Mass Communication Research and Society: An Introduction 1 2 Communication and Change: Karl Marx on Press Freedom 19 3 The Nerves of Society: Albert Schaffle on Symbolic Communication 43 4 The News of Society: Karl Knies on Communication and Transportation 67 5 The Linkages of Society: Karl Bucher on Commerce and the Press 85 6 The Mirrors of Society: Ferdinand Tonnies on the Press and Public Opinion 107 7 The Conscience of Society: Max Weber on Journalism and Responsibility 127 8 The "American Science" of Society: Albion Small, Edward Ross, and William Sumner on Communication and the Press 143 9 Communication and Social Thought: Decentering the Discourse of Mass Communication Research 169 Notes and References 185 Index 203 About the Author 211.

Normative Theories of the Media

Normative Theories of the Media
Author: Clifford G Christians
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2010-10-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0252090837

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.

The Handbook of Media and Mass Communication Theory

The Handbook of Media and Mass Communication Theory
Author: Robert S. Fortner
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 1002
Release: 2014-03-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1118770005

The Handbook of Media and Mass Communication Theory presents a comprehensive collection of original essays that focus on all aspects of current and classic theories and practices relating to media and mass communication. Focuses on all aspects of current and classic theories and practices relating to media and mass communication Includes essays from a variety of global contexts, from Asia and the Middle East to the Americas Gives niche theories new life in several essays that use them to illuminate their application in specific contexts Features coverage of a wide variety of theoretical perspectives Pays close attention to the use of theory in understanding new communication contexts, such as social media 2 Volumes

Four Theories of the Press

Four Theories of the Press
Author: Maira T. Vaca-Baqueiro
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2017-10-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1351662783

The links between distinctive political regimes and media systems are undeniable. As Siebert, Peterson and Schramm wrote (1956: 1) 60 years ago: ‘the press always takes on the form and coloration of the social and political structures within which it operates’. Nevertheless, today’s world and politics are completely different from the bipolar era that inspired the ground breaking Four Theories of the Press. What are the main changes and continuities that have driven the study of politics and the media in the last decades? How to approach this interaction in the light of the challenges that democracy is facing or the continuing technological revolution that at times hampers the media? This provocative book explores the main premises that have guided the study of politics and the media in the last decades. In so doing, it gives the reader key analytical tools to question the sustainability of past categorizations that no longer match up with current developments of both, political regimes and the media. In searching for clarification about current discrepancies between democracies and media’s distinctive structures or purposes, Four Theories of the Press: 60 Years and Counting puts forward an alternative premise: the political-media complex.

Media and Modernity

Media and Modernity
Author: John B. Thompson
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 425
Release: 2013-07-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0745656749

This wide-ranging and innovative book develops an original theory of the media and their impact on the modern world, from the emergence of printing to the most recent developments in the media industries.

The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication

The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication
Author: Kate Kenski
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 977
Release: 2017-06-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0199793484

Since its development shaped by the turmoil of the World Wars and suspicion of new technologies such as film and radio, political communication has become a hybrid field largely devoted to connecting the dots among political rhetoric, politicians and leaders, voters' opinions, and media exposure to better understand how any one aspect can affect the others. In The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication Kate Kenski and Kathleen Hall Jamieson bring together leading scholars, including founders of the field of political communication Elihu Katz, Jay Blumler, Doris Graber, Max McCombs, and Thomas Paterson,to review the major findings about subjects ranging from the effects of political advertising and debates and understandings and misunderstandings of agenda setting, framing, and cultivation to the changing contours of social media use in politics and the functions of the press in a democratic system. The essays in this volume reveal that political communication is a hybrid field with complex ancestry, permeable boundaries, and interests that overlap with those of related fields such as political sociology, public opinion, rhetoric, neuroscience, and the new hybrid on the quad, media psychology. This comprehensive review of the political communication literature is an indispensible reference for scholars and students interested in the study of how, why, when, and with what effect humans make sense of symbolic exchanges about sharing and shared power. The sixty-two chapters in The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication contain an overview of past scholarship while providing critical reflection of its relevance in a changing media landscape and offering agendas for future research and innovation.

Theories of Social Order

Theories of Social Order
Author: Michael Hechter
Publisher: Stanford Social Science
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2009
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780804758734

This newly expanded and reorganized collection of readings provides a compelling exploration of what arguably remains the single most important problem in social theory: the problem of social order.

Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences

Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences
Author: Alexander L. George
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2005-04-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0262262894

The use of case studies to build and test theories in political science and the other social sciences has increased in recent years. Many scholars have argued that the social sciences rely too heavily on quantitative research and formal models and have attempted to develop and refine rigorous methods for using case studies. This text presents a comprehensive analysis of research methods using case studies and examines the place of case studies in social science methodology. It argues that case studies, statistical methods, and formal models are complementary rather than competitive. The book explains how to design case study research that will produce results useful to policymakers and emphasizes the importance of developing policy-relevant theories. It offers three major contributions to case study methodology: an emphasis on the importance of within-case analysis, a detailed discussion of process tracing, and development of the concept of typological theories. Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences will be particularly useful to graduate students and scholars in social science methodology and the philosophy of science, as well as to those designing new research projects, and will contribute greatly to the broader debate about scientific methods.