Media Theory Analysis

By way of examining the western society through the lens of media and the press, several perspectives persist in regard to the media and culture. Specifically, Libertarian, Social Responsibility, and Political Economic Theories are the main mass media perspectives that frame the modern press, which in turn dictated how the information was integrated by the press and whom it is reported by. Although the Social Responsibility Theory is an outgrowth of Libertarian Theory, there exist undeniable contrasts due to the press' change in restrictions on explicit material, in keeping with the Political Economic Theory, which is highly controlled by the government and thus different from the public speech (unlike the Lib and Social Theories).

Libertarian Theory appeared when democracy also arose. This theory's perspective is highly favoured because, according to Desmond Lamptey, an on air personality on Radio XYZ, stated, "Its purpose is to inform, entertain, sell, as well as discover truth and check on government." The Libertarian theorists maintain that people should be able to express themselves and not worry about the consequence of the government, and to publicize what they think deserves to be exposed in the media. However, this theory was not the preferred perspective for long. Even though libertarians claim the rights to publish and to free expression are fundamental to citizenship and must not be tampered with, the public has realized that some censorship in the news should be applied on images like pornography, dead bodies, and inappropriate messages for the protection of people's privacy and rights. The Social Responsibility Theory differs because people decided they wanted the media to "regulate their freedom" as the result of it going too far. Moreover, The Social Responsibility Theory is the one adopted in Canada.

A theory which is overwhelmingly similar yet somehow different is the Responsibility Theory, where it was created when Hutchin’s Committee was formed in 1949 to examine the media work. Based on their findings, they proclaimed that "the media should be free but they should have a self-imposed responsibility." Therefore, not all information would be published if it was inappropriate, and if it would be made public, it would get censored. In Canada, this concept is well accepted: there are no formal laws stipulating the exact role of the media in Canadian society, but it is censored for the benefit of the people.

The final theory which is highly popularized in capitalist countries is the Political Economic Theory. In the early- to mid-nineteenth century, in capitalist industries it was expected for capitalists (a small group of people) who own properties (factories) and have money to sufficiently exploit and take advantage of the workers (a majority of people), and so the system of production would mostly incline towards the capitalists rather than the workers. The government wanted the media to advertise certain goods and services to support the capitalist system. This structure differs from Libertarian and Social Responsibility Theories because the entertainment programming should entail that this economic system is best and if there are any issues such as poverty or unemployment, these arise solely as being the result of the individual's fault, not the government's. Therefore, the media would be the main supporter of the economic system.

The Libertarian and Social Responsibility Theories of the press argue that the media should be independent from the government and political society, but the political economic theory states that the media are the main source of the publication and advocating of capitalism. However, the theory that best operates in our society would be the Social Responsibility Theory as it is censored, but does not derive from a specific purpose or authority by the government.