This document discusses the political role of journalists in different media systems. It argues against the view that there is a universal model of journalism, and that the dominant liberal model is facing a crisis. Instead, it suggests that the relationship between politics and news media varies significantly across countries and regions due to factors like media market structure, the role of the state, and the strength of political parties and other groups. The document examines journalism in new democracies, Asia, the Arab world, and post-communist countries, finding models of intense partisanship, state interference, and close ties between politicians, business, and media.

1. The political role of
journalists in different media
systems
Paolo Mancini
(Università di Perugia)

2. Two main assumptions
Journalism does not grow up in a
vacuum
Against a universal view of what
journalism can be

3. The dominant view
The liberal model of journalism
(neutral, detached from power,
separation between news and
commentary, watchdog function, etc)

4. The dominant view
This journalism is in
crisis

5. Partially true
Source: Wan 2013

6. If there is a crisis this has different causes
causescauses
Source: Wan 2013 (AE=Advanced democracies, EDE= Emerging Democracies, LDE= Less
developed democracies)

7. What are we talking about ?
“A tiny handful of countries”
(Curran – Park, 2000)

8. How to interpret the relationship
between politics and news media ?
Politics is not just the “western
politics”

9. Chakravarty (2013)
The idea of political parallelism is based
on:
1) formal constitution of politics;
2) national scale of politics;
3) settled character of politics while in
larger democracies in the world politics
shows different attributes: informal,
multiscalar, flexibile or evolving (351)

10. “A tiny handful of countries”
(Curran – Park, 2000)

11. “media in new democracies, and semi-authoritarian nations of Pacific
Asia are commonly characterized by intense partisanship, persistent
state interference, ambiguous models of ownership and questionable
profitability” (McCargo, 2012)
“the primary mission of Arab journalism, is that of fostering political
and social change in Arab world with a secondary role of defending
the Arab/Muslim people and values against outside interference”
(Pintak – Ginges, 2008)
“business parallelism in CEE countries: There exist a close set of
relations between politicians, businessmen and the media that leads
to a routine interchange between different groups in post-communist
countries ” (Sparks, 2000)

12. The visibility of liberal journalism in pubic discourse contrasted with
the realities of press systems. Its prospects ran against conditions
that differed glaringly from original contexts coupled with
questionable commitment of press barons. It was improbable that a
liberal press would develop in antiliberal capitalist societies,
considering that owners rethorically exalted liberalism but
ceaselessly courted states, supported military interventions an only
(and vociferously) criticized government intrusion that affected
their own political and economic interests” (Waisbord, 2000)
“In societies based on particularism rather than free competition,
however, media outlets are not ordinary business ventures. Rather,
investors, use their channels for blackmail or for trading influence”
(Mungiu Pippidi, 2010)

13. Responding to a culture of overpoliticization and partisanship, most
of the region’s media outlets allow demagoguery, biases, self
interests and even hate to undermine the mission of information,
gathering, reporting and dissemination of various points of view
(Gross, 2003)
“The new generation of journalists is oriented to the role of
entertainer, aiming at a sensationalist media agenda. They perceive
journalism as a type of PR, working for the interests of influential
groups and persons in politics and business” (Pasti, 2005)
Hallin – Mancini three models in Western World: 1) liberal or North
Atlantic model; 2) democratic- corporatist or Central Northern
Europe model; 3) polarized – pluralist or Mediterranean model

14. Which dimensions may affect the
different ways of “being a journalist”
• The structure of the media market (national vs
local; profitable outlets vs not profitable outlets)
• The role of the state (welfare state vs liberal
oriented state; strong vs weak state; consolitated vs
transitional democracies)
• Strong vs weak intermediary organizations
(political parties, religious/ethnical affiliations)
• Rational – legal authority

15. Different types of public sphere
• Internal pluralism (the liberal model of
neutrality, inclusiveness, etc.)
• External pluralism (partisan outlets as in
large part of the history of Western Europe)
• Shifting external pluralism (plurality of
temporary interferences)

16. What with the new media
Abundance
Blurred professional identity
Polarization