KJB102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Walter Lippmann
WEEK 6 LECTURE - The fourth estate and public sphere
The Fourth Estate
- The belief that the central role of the media (esp. journalism) is to act a watchdog on
behalf of society and monitor the activities of powerful institutions and individuals
- E.g. defend/give citizens information necessary to hold who is responsible, exposing
corruption
- It is the job of journalism to report abuses of this power, defend the rights of citizens
and give citizens the information necessary to hold those responsible to account
What are the other estates? (Journalism is the fourth estate)
- Clergy
- Nobility
- Townsmen
- First three estates
- Print media has led journalism to the fourth estate
- Allows citizens to understand what is going on
The Fourth Estate: Central to the ideologies of journalism
- Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without
being lost
- There can be no higher law in journalism than to tell the truth and to shame the devil
– Walter Lippmann
- News is something someone wants suppressed. Everything else is just advertising –
Lord Northcliff
Challenges for the modern Fourth Estate
- Market-driven journalism
- Trivialisation of news -> TMZ employs many of the same techniques as investigate
journalists do, but not for the same reason
- Growth of PR/media advisors
- User-generated content/pro-am collaboration
The Public Sphere
- Deliered fro aciet Greek cocept of the Agora or arketplace here
philosophers would gather to discuss important ideas
- Moved to the coffee houses and salons of 18/19th century Europe
- Now exists primarily in the media
You were excluded from the public sphere if (back then)
- Did’t o property
- Were a woman
- Were not an adult
- Were a slave
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Week 6 lecture - the fourth estate and public sphere. The belief that the central role of the media (esp. journalism) is to act a watchdog on behalf of society and monitor the activities of powerful institutions and individuals. E. g. defend/give citizens information necessary to hold who is responsible, exposing corruption. It is the job of journalism to report abuses of this power, defend the rights of citizens and give citizens the information necessary to hold those responsible to account. What are the other estates? (journalism is the fourth estate) Print media has led journalism to the fourth estate. Allows citizens to understand what is going on. The fourth estate: central to the ideologies of journalism. Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost. There can be no higher law in journalism than to tell the truth and to shame the devil.
