Selçuk İletişim (Feb 2013)
AN ANALYSIS OF THE MEDIA AND GOVERNMENT RELATIONSHIP
Abstract
This article analyzed the relationship between the media and government. Understanding the dynamics of this relationship is essential as it has implications on the information public gets and strong democracy. For this purpose, different media systems, theories and approaches (cascade model, indexing approach, propaganda theory and hegemonic perspective) were discussed in terms of the media-government relationship. It is clear that the degree of commercialization, political parallelism, and norms of journalistic professionalism in different media systems influence the degree and nature of this relationship. By taking into account these factors, scholars have suggested different theories and models to explain this relationship. Although each theory or model constitutes a unique map for making sense some of the important factors in this relationship, cascade model provides a more comprehensive picture. As suggested in this model, political actors, the media and the public mutually influence and interact with each other at different levels and under certain conditions. Specifically, the interaction of four different variables (cultural congruence, power, strategy, and motivation) influences the government’s capacity of setting agenda, the circulation of the preferred frames and attention and support of the public. All these variables and how they are used in news management and political rhetoric were discussed and exemplified in this article
