COMPARATIVE MEDIA SYSTEM

COMPARATIVE MEDIA SYSTEMS
The political and cultural system of a country usually determines the exact relationship between the media, the government, and the people. Examples of several press theory systems follow.
Theories of the Press
Scholars have long tried to describe the relationship between the government and the media; over the years several theories have emerged, but all fall between the two “isms” that reflect polar opposites in the control governments exerts over the media: authoritarianism and libertarianism.
Authoritarian Theory
Product of the 16th century. Belief was that the ruling elite should guide the masses. Truth (read “power”) flowed from the top down. It was a system founded on the principles of Divine Right and fostered a paternalistic attitude toward the masses. Dissent and government criticism was simply not permitted, and the ruling powers kept it that way with such techniques as licensing, censorship, prior restraint, and, as usual in authoritarian regimes, swift and severe punishment for those who deviated from the approved path.
Libertarian Theory
Directly opposite authoritarian beliefs, this system assumes people are intelligent creatures who are perfectly capable of making up their own minds about their affairs given accurate and complete accounts of the news. Government exists to serve the individual, and government, they say, serves best when it regulates least. Citizens should have a right to hear all sides of an argument in order to distinguish truth from falsehood.
Social Responsibility Theory
A free press theory that worked well in the early days of the Republic, but didn’t serve the public well enough as the industrial revolution and emergence of large corporations developed. The Social Responsibility theory, modeled on the Libertarian theory, added that the press has a right to criticize government and other institutions, but it also has a responsibility to preserve democracy by properly informing the public and by responding to society’s needs and interests. The government, under this system, may involve itself in media operations by issuing regulations if the public interest is not being adequately served. The United States, Japan, and many European nations operate under these principles.
The Communist Theory
Now essentially limited to the People’s Republic of China, Cuba, and North Korea, this theory is a spin-off of authoritarianism. The communist theory holds that the media are actually owned by the people and operated through the state. Their purpose is to support the Marxist system and to achieve the goals of the state as expressed through the Communist party. This system works best in a closed and tightly controlled media environment.
The Developmental Theory
Leaning towards authoritarianism, developmentalism is a relatively new theory that suggests the government can mobilize the media to serve national goals in times of economic and social development needs. Some of the goals the media are expected to help achieve include political integration, literacy, economic self-sufficiency, and the eradication of disease. Information is considered a scarce resource and must be carefully managed by the state in order to achieve national goals. Yet as more democracies replace would-be dictatorship throughout the world, the Developmental Theory, closely associated with government censorship, has fallen on hard times as newly emerging democracies endorse the Social Responsibility theory instead.
Examples of Foreign Media Systems
The media systems in the following three example countries illustrate the varying influences that economics, culture, geography, and politics have on the development of mass communication. Because of these and other factors, each nation will create a media system that is best suited to its needs, and not necessarily one that adheres to the principles we’ve grown up with in the U.S.
Japan
Some127 million people live in Japan. Education is highly valued here, which is reflected in a literacy rate that nears 100 percent. As such, they have a strong print tradition. Some 98 percent of Japanese households subscribe to a daily newspaper, and Japan has 15 papers with daily circulations exceeding 1,000,000; the U.S., by contrast, has only three. The Yomiuri Shimbun (shimbun is the Japanese word for newspaper) has a daily circulation of some 14 million, making it the world’s largest newspaper; USA Today, our country’s largest daily, is only 1.4 million.
Comic books, deeply rooted in Japanese culture and bearing only surface similarities to U.S. versions, sell over one billion copies per year.
Broadcasting in Japan started in the 1920s, and was modeled after the British version of a non-commercial system headed by a public corporation. After the American occupation from WW II, however, commercial networks started and soon became Japan’s most viewed stations. NHK, the state-owned network and patterned after the BBS, gets over $1 billion a year--all from license fees imposed on individual TV sets ($50 for a color set, $30 for a black and white set). Five commercial networks and two satellite networks compete with the three NHK channels, and the most watched continue to be the commercial channels.
Some 20 percent of Japanese homes have cable, 85 percent have VCRs, and the videocassette business is booming. Because of its mountainous terrain, Japan pioneered the development of a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) system. It also pioneered HDTV, but unfortunately it was an analog system, which has now been surpassed (and since adapted by the Japanese) with a U.S. like digital version. While cell phone use is high (2 of 3 citizens) and PC ownership is modest (1 in 3 homes), Japan’s Internet access stands at only 20 percent.
Mexico
Mexico is a good example of a typical country facing stiff economic challenges and at the same time striving to form an indigenous media system. Mexico’s media, like other developing nations, has been influenced by politics, economics, and geography. Some 97 million people live in Mexico where the literacy rate runs about 75 percent. Mexico is a country in contrast in terms of rich vs. poor, high literacy rates vs. low, and a history of political administrations with strong authoritarian attitudes toward the media vs. others with a much more lenient view. A recent change in national parties has since resulted in a more liberal shift towards the government’s relationship and role with the media.
Modeled after USA Today, the government publishes its own newspaper, El Nacional, and the Excelsior, of Mexico City, with its 150,000 daily circulation is Mexico’s equivalent to the New York Times as a “newspaper of record.”
Freedom of the press has a checkered history in Mexico. The government and the ruling party have the power to deflect criticism of the government since the government controls the national supply of newsprint. If a paper or magazine prints something that offends the government, the publication may find its paper supply cut off. The government also has the power to withdraw broadcast permits, a fact which prompts TV and radio stations to be careful about airing critical reports. Government bribes for favorable stories to low paid journalists are also not uncommon.
But again, recent radical changes in Mexico’s government and philosophy may well turn this attitude around to something closer to the social responsibility method of press operations.
Broadcasting in Mexico is modeled after the U.S. system, though significant differences exist. The government, for example, mandates that a certain amount of time (12.5 % of the broadcast day) be set aside (free) for government-produced programs. Two major commercial networks dominate: Televisa (reaching 95 % of all homes and controlling 70 % of Mexico’s 120 TV stations) and TV Azteca, a distant second. TV Azteca, considered a “younger crowd’s system,” is known for running steamy soap operas, called telenovelas, also immensely popular throughout Latin America.
With Mexican immigration continuing to rise in the United States, a good deal of Mexico’s media is being imported to the U.S. where it’s finding welcoming audiences.
China
The past decade or so, with some exceptions, has seen a trend toward less government control and a more diverse media landscape. This trend is due in part to China’s move toward a free-market economy and a greater dependence on advertising to support the media. As a result, the marketplace rather than the Communist Party is now the major influence on the content of Chinese media.
The once dominant Chinese newspaper, the People’s Daily, owned and operated as a mouthpiece for the communist party, has steadily declined in circulation over the past few years from seven million to only two million. Most of the news in it—as well as the other Chinese papers—comes
from the state run wire service, the Xinhua (New China) News Agency. The agency has 80 overseas bureaus and transmits 50,000 words daily to the Chinese media.
Mirroring the relaxation of direct governmental supervision in the print media, television in China has grown tremendously in the past two decades. China Central Television (CCTV), still under the control of the State Ministry of Radio and Television, operates seven national TV channels. Commercial TV advertising, once nonexistent, now amounts to a $10 billion annual industry.
While some foreign media content is allowed (up to 15 percent in prime time), no foreign news sources are permitted unless sanctioned by the government. Foreign controlled media is illegal, outside-the-country news sources are sometimes jammed, and satellite dishes that can pick up foreign channels are banned, though these practices are not always strictly enforced. Chinese Internet use is limited (one percent of the country), and users must still register with the police.
The single exception to these practices is China’s recently acquired province of Hong Kong, a former British colony, and one with a long and deeply held tradition of press freedom. For the time being, China seems content to keep a generally hands-off attitude with Hong Kong media.