What is the Fourth Estate and some of its ideals? Is it relevant in today’s society?
Today, the “fourth estate” is a term that is usually referred to as the press or the media that comprises journalists, photographers, radio announcers, television broadcasters and whoever that is responsible for the political and societal power they wield throughout mainstream media.
The hallmark of the fourth estate is that it scrutinises the actions of public officials and political institutions in the interest of the public, serving as a watchdog that holds the other three estates (the legislation, the executive and the judiciary) accountable for their actions (Schultz, 1998, p. 23).
With reference to the press, the fourth estate functions as a branch of the government and it plays an important role in the process of democracy considering that the responsibility that has been thrusted to the fourth estate, it is paramount for every journalist to possess strong investigative reporting skills and a distinctive level of literacy which is critical to maintain the questionable concept of democracy in this day and age.
Ultimately, the primary purpose of journalism is to provide information that serves the public’s interest as well as to facilitate the steady flow of public discourse through the balancing act of truth and fairness, so as to ensure that the public is not misinformed through the dissemination of news which the press undertakes.
Essentially, the fourth estate has to uncover the truth behind the reporting of events and it has to undergo a justifiable and morally ethical way to “fix any leaks” in the supply of information. (Kovach and Rosenstiel, 2007, p.35)
On the end of the spectrum in its most ideal and raw form, one should note that one of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S.Constitution is the freedom from prior restraint, which is derived from the English Common Law that the rule against prior restraint prohibits the government from banning the expression of ideas prior to their publication and that the rule against prior restraint is based on the principle that the “Freedom of Press” is essential to a free society. (Schultz, 1998, p. 23)
In the words of Sir William Blackstone however, he stated that:
“The liberty of the press is indeed essential to the nature of a free state: but this consists in laying no previous restraints upon publications, and not in freedom from censure for criminal matter when published. Every freeman has an undoubted right to lay what sentiments he pleases before the public: to forbid this, is to destroy the freedom of the press: but if he publishes what is improper, mischievous, or illegal, he must take the consequence of his own temerity.”
In a book entitled Public Opinion authored by Lippmann, he indicated that democracy was fundamentally flawed and that he argued that the public’s perception about the world is mostly known indirectly because they largely receive and translate mental images through the media and that even if the truth was to reach the public, the public’s ability to comprehend the truth is diminished by human bias, stereotype, inattentiveness and ignorance.(Kovachand Rosenstiel, 2007, p.36)
On a more optimistic note, Dewey stated that democracy was the natural outgrowth of the human interaction if people were to communicate freely with one another and that the real purpose of democracy was human freedom, where the solution to democracy’s problems was not to give up on it but to try and improve the skills of the press and the education of the public. (Kovach and Rosenstiel, 2007, p.37)
As such, it is also important to reflect on why the press serves different purposes and appears in widely different forms within different countries. For example, why does the press of North Korea appear to be different in contrast to the press in Great Britain?
Hence, the way to understanding how the fourth estate remains relevant in today’s society is by scrutinising the four theories of the press which is the Authoritarian model, Libertarian model, Social Responsibility model and the Soviet Totalitarian model.
- The authoritarian model supports and advance the political agenda of the government in power and to service the state.
2. The libertarian model informs, entertains and sells but helps to discover truth and perform government checks.
3. The social responsibility model informs, entertains and sells but raises conflict for the purpose of discussion.
4. Finally, the Soviet totalitarian model contributes to the success and continuance of the Soviet social system, especially to the dictatorship in party. (Siebert, Peterson and Schramm, 1974, p. 7)
Today, most media systems in most western states appear to be converging towards the liberal model because the journalistic system has been adapted to suit the local, political, cultural, geographical and historical context. (Errington & Miragliotta, 2007, pg. 7)
But of course, the different media forms are often subjected to the varying levels of governmental regulation and intervention in the interest of defamation, national security and media ownership in a liberal society. (Errington &Miragliotta, 2007, pg. 12)
With that being said, is freedom of expression and the press a commodity to be compromised? Freedom of Expression means speaking without censorship or limitations and Freedom of the Press, an extension of Freedom of Expression in which case the media is independent from external forces and regulates itself (Errington & Miragliotta, 2007, p. 9).
Taking a look at a recent case where the Australian Senate passed the biggest changes to the power of the nation’s intelligence agencies in 35 years despite the concerns over “draconian” provisions limiting press freedom, the Abbott’s government’s first national security bill creates a new offence that punishes anyone that discloses or publishes information about “special intelligence operations” as an matter of national security.
Consider another case which discusses Singaporean activist and blogger Roy Ngerng who is set for a court battle over a defamation suit filed by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong that focuses on Singapore’s Central ProvidentFund (CPF) also known as Singapore’s state pension fund and how the funds were channelled into investments in the Government of Singapore InvestmentCorporation Pte Ltd. (GIC), one of Singapore’s two sovereign wealth funds.
Both cases illustrate a similar underlying message which is the limitation of press freedom and to conclude, the ideals of the fourth estate are limited by censorship laws and political bias to limit the press despite the fourth estate standing out for the ideals of democracy in its existing form.
To conclude, the fourth estate struggles to be relevant in society because of the modern practices that have blurred the lines on whether the fourth estate has been able to uphold its ideals against what is happening in reality today.
