FRAMING THE DEBATE: INFLUENCES ON MEDIA CONTENT AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE

 

Ms. Moza Abdullah Said Al-Rawahi

    

A journalism Lecturer at Nizwa College of Applied Sciences, Oman

Currently: a PhD Candidate of philosophy (Journalism Studies)

Cardiff School of Journalism, Media & Cult'l Stud, UK

Email: ibtisama2010@hotmail.com

 

Abstract

Unfettered access to information; including on politics, terrorism, social problems, corruption, and any other sensitive issues that have a significant influence on people’s lives is considered a central pillar of democracy and human development. This study advocates that the press plays a crucial role in the public sphere for example, journalists not only disseminate information. They functions to discover truth (Milton 1904), educate public and enable understanding. Also, they help in maintaining and achieving the balance between stability and change (Emerson 1970: 7), provide different views to make intelligent political choices (Emerson 1962-1963: 881), encourage citizens to participate in the discussion of public issues (Habermas 1989) and therefore ensuring social benefits (Mill 1989: 36).

 

This study also focuses on a theoretical background that discusses and analyses the forces that shape media content as well as the messages that constitute the symbolic environment outside the media organisations. Nerone (1995) argues, “A truly free press would be free not just of state intervention but also of market forces and ownership ties and a host of other material bonds” (p.22).  Media theorists argue that journalists “have to make decisions at the centre of a field of different constraints, demands or attempted uses of power or influence” (McQuail 2000: 249). To understand what affects media representation, this paper is going to give an in-depth explanation about the role of state, government, media owners and economic in controlling media content.

Keywords: democracy, representation, ideology, public sphere