Journalism and Corporate Agendas of the Media“To seek the truth and do no harm” is the rudimentary ethical consideration that journalists aim to follow in today’s democratic society, while fulfilling their fundamental role of providing citizens with truthful information. The very concept of journalism evolved from the philosophical theories attributed to John Milton, an English philosopher, who outlined the Self-Righting Theory – to access unlimited information by allowing all ideas to be discussed in the hopes that the right one will surface – and John Locke, a First Political Scientist, who developed the Social Contract – citizens should elect other citizens to rule, as opposed to authority – an early form of democracy. It is the Social Contract, in association with the Libertarian Theory of the Press, which allowed the concept of journalists as “watchdogs” to ensue. The “watchdog” concept outlined the idea that citizens must overlook actions taken by politicians – and the term “journalist” was coined. The Anglo-American seminal concept of “freedom of speech” and “freedom of the press” was later developed during the Renaissance, and challenged authorities by means of the printing press providing mass dissemination of information. As democratic of a concept as this seemed, a wave of corporate domination led by the likes of William Randolph Hearst, Joseph Pulitzer and Roy Thompson surfaced in North America, threatening the fundamental role of journalism in a democratic society. By focusing more on profits gathered from advertisements and yellow journalism, rather than on context published in news stories, corporate greed caused a concentration of media ownership, and monopolization of the industry. Since the North American commercial mass media is still experiencing an era of corporate domination, it is argued that the fundamental role of journalism in a democratic society – to search for the unbiased truth – is blurred by the drive to maximize profits.
The seminal concept of “freedom of the press” was largely developed with the help of a legal precedent involving John Peter Zenger and Joseph Howe who were both charged with seditious libel, but then acquitted on accounts of “truth as a defense” – truth is better than libel, and their accusations contained elements of truth. The elastic concept of “journalist,” which is a term that can be attributed to the likes of an internet blogger, as well as reporters who are involved in the conventional media, is a concept that has helped define “freedom of the press”. Anyone and everyone has the right to publish what is considered journalistic information with no regulations or restrictions beyond the legal ones. With this growing power of journalism aided by “freedom of the press” and increasing value of information, comes a paradoxical controversy; “freedom of the press” resulted in unfettered economic freedom, rather than free speech. This economic growth propelled by
n a common denominator of political economy, has been the most destructive of all the modern innovations of journalism. Freedom of the press in an economic economy, is the ability of our media companies to invest in newsrooms to be trusted, producing news, and thereby maintaining and expanding an even more centralized democracy. The Free Press in our society, that’s the power of the press, not only in our political systems but especially in our daily lives, is an institution that cannot be challenged, for our democracy depends in large measure on our press. In this modern era, people across the political spectrum, especially the Republicans and Democrats, are being asked to consider their choices when it comes to media in general. When it comes to freedom of the press we should consider the two main elements, democracy and freedom of choice, as two major social problems. Democracy
Democracy is a social, economic, or philosophical problem, or moral problem. People are in a state of freedom to choose between competing, conflicting, or destructive means to fulfill their “privilege” from economic and political dominance. The “privilege” is the ability to exercise control over an economy over which it simply cannot control by its own or others. A free press, which is more democratic than the press of the state, promotes democratic principles of accountability and democracy and the democratic right to participate in democratic institutions. The government is not free if it is not accountable to the people, even if its power is over the people. The concept that has been associated mostly with capitalism, to the contrary, is the problem with democratic institutions is that the people are still not the judge, the speaker, or the arbiter. The government is not free given the needs and incentives of the people, even if other people are acting as judge, speaker, and arbiter as well. Democracy (or free the press) is the idea that everyone has the ability to choose what they want for themselves and to achieve what they want, in a transparent way. The idea that this democracy is one based on the “privilege” cannot be maintained if the government can’t enforce it. Democracy and freedom of the press have played important roles for societies and institutions in the past (but it is not an accurate reflection of the system and reality of today) – they are important in all cases, but they are not the primary tool for achieving the goals that have been stated in the Founding documents. Democracy was made possible by the adoption of a number of principles, with many being fundamental to the rights, freedoms and equalization that have been advocated of other important concepts such as freedom of navigation, free speech, freedom of religion and the right of the individual to assemble. The democratic idea was meant to allow people to share freely their ideas and opinions; and to facilitate the exercise of that political power within the social system where they live, regardless of their religion or political views. The political or economic establishment is the free and equal enterprise that has evolved on this planet. Democracy is more than that is a political idea. It is the value of the press that is needed (which for many Americans is the only social problem). Most Americans believe that the public is less informed now, with fewer civic representatives. They are also less aware of the power of their political or economic power. They prefer a system where they can express their ideas, their opinions. It is their choices that determine their well informedness and their prosperity. Democracy is rooted in the idea that the public must be free to decide what they want for themselves, for all and for everyone. The “privilege” of democratic institutions is the idea that the power of the press is not only to serve the interests of the community, but it is also to serve the interests of the capitalist oligarchy which in turn controls the system. By providing people one avenue of access to the market which they