Democracy and the Press: A
Comparative Analysis of
Pluralism in the International
Print Media
2,172 articles from the 10 largest
newspapers in each country,
published in the first months after the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks,
is used to evaluate the level of press
pluralism. Previous studies have
offered conflicting views on the
relationship between democracy and
press pluralism. Although this study
finds mixed results, the general
tendency, which is based on 10
major news issues surrounding the
events of 9/11, supports the
perspective that democracy is not
always positively associated with
press pluralism. Much of the debate
over 9/11 in countries ranked as
highly
democratic
was
less
pluralistic than in countries with
weaker democratic institutions.
Joshua Woods, Dept. of Sociology,
Michigan State University, The
Social Science Journal, Vol. 44,
Issue 2, 2007, 213-230.
Abstract
The relationship between democracy
and press pluralism is assessed in
seven countries: China, Colombia,
Egypt, Germany, India, Lithuania,
and Russia. The term “pluralism” is
defined as the extent to which diverse
and competing views appear in the
content of the mainstream press on a
given news topic. Content analysis of
centralized, authoritarian society on one
side (the “authoritarian” model), and a
free libertarian one on the other side (the
“libertarian” model) of the continuum.
Countries closer to the libertarian model,
they argue, would exhibit greater press
pluralism than those nearer to the
authoritarian model. “Press pluralism”
can be defined as newspaper content that
contains an array of opposing viewpoints.
3. Since the publication of Four Theories,
media scholars have criticized the work
from all directions. Some see it as nothing
more than a Cold War artifact, an
international media theory based solely
on the ideologized models that existed in
the Soviet Union and the United States at
mid-century. However, in spite of its
rhetorical and normative character, Four
Theories remains influential as a broad
framework for understanding the
differences between media systems
around the world
1. “Why does the press serve different
purposes and appear in widely different
forms in different countries?” This
question first appeared in the influential
book Four Theories of the Press by
Siebert, Peterson & Schramm, 1956. A
half-century later, the same question set
the agenda in Hallin and Mancini's
Comparing Media Systems (2004, 1).
Both sets of authors offer models for
comparing the differences between media
systems across the globe. This article
begins with a similar, if more specific
inquiry: How are the political and
economic forces in society related to the
level of pluralism in the opinion-leading
print media of each country? My research
question involves at least three aspects of
the press and society: the political
establishment, the economic system and
the level of pluralism in press content.
The goal here is to define these variables,
see how they are causally related, and
design an empirical study for testing these
assumptions.
4. Interest in the relationship between
democracy and media pluralism increased
in the late 1990s during the political
upheavals in Communist countries. Many
authors have suggested that citizens in the
democratizing nations of Central and
Eastern Europe gained unprecedented
access to new media outlets and
increasingly diverse views of the world.
Millard (1998), for instance, discussed
how this process took place in Poland,
where a free media ensured a diversity of
1. Freedom, democracy and media
2. Researchers have long understood that
the political and economic forces in
society greatly influence the quality of
mass media content. According to Siebert
et al.(1956), media content is ultimately
determined by where the given country
falls on a political continuum. The
authors begin by positioning a
1
viewpoints in the press. Similar studies
have considered the relationship between
democratic transformation and various
elements of media quality and
performance in Russia and Tartarstan,
Hungary, Romania, Chile, Taiwan, Mali
and other countries.
5. Many of these studies demonstrate that
the relationship between democracy and
press pluralism is both positive and
reciprocal. In other words, while the laws
and principles of democracy are thought
to be essential for free and diverse voices
to emerge in the mass media, these same
voices also safeguard and improve the
conditions for democracy. A free press
facilitates the flow of information about
public events to citizens, exposes
politicians and governments to public
scrutiny, clarifies choices during elections
and urges people to participate in the
political process.
objectivity and fairness would likely be
higher in the case of 9/11 coverage.
8. While state-owned media outlets
depend on a handful of high officials for
their survival, private media depend on
advertisers, which are the second factor
that limits the media. Media content may
be influenced directly by the particular
demands of large corporate advertisers
and, or indirectly by the general notion
that media content must create a “buying
mood”
among
consumers.
The
advertising dollars of large multinationals
or foreign corporations with important
ties to the U.S. market certainly have the
potential to influence media coverage of
9/11. Moreover, according to some
authors, media firms avoid controversial
materials that may disturb or distract the
audience from the advertisements. Both
the need for advertising revenue and the
forces of ideology may reduce the level
of press pluralism.
9. The third influence on the press, which
overlaps with the previous two, is media
ownership concentration. The individual
owners of large media companies may
influence content directly by demanding
that it become more advertiser-friendly,
or more in line with the owner's personal
beliefs or values. While there are several
famous cases of deliberate manipulation
of media content by individual owners,
the effects of ownership concentration are
more often thought to be indirect. For
instance, media ownership concentration
may blur the line between the editorial
side and the business side of news
organizations, particularly when revenues
are in decline. Commercial considerations
rise in importance as media empires
expand. High-level corporate managers
become less in tune with the editorial
concerns of media workers, and more
concerned about increasing revenues,
resulting in homogenized content that
reflects the needs of advertisers and
corporate executives to produce a culture
of consumerism at the expense of the
informational and knowledge needs of
audiences which would foster diverse and
competing viewpoints.
2. The limits of democracy: ideology,
advertisers, ownership and structure
6. Although much has been written in
support of the relationship discussed
above, some authors have challenged the
idea that the development of free-market
democracy results necessarily in diverse
and competing views in the mass media.
In this section, we briefly discuss four
closely related factors that may limit the
level of press pluralism and other aspects
of media quality: ideology, advertisers,
ownership and organizational structure.
7. Whether media are controlled by state
institutions or private firms, media
content is seen as both expressing the
power of elites or propertied classes,
which constitute an ideology that
influences the media. Ideological forces
may play an especially important role in
the international coverage of the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and
the war in Afghanistan, because much of
the debate over these issues falls along
ideological lines, often comparing the
interests and values of Western countries
with those of the Arab and Islamic
civilization. If a country's press coverage
is shaped largely by its geopolitical
interests and its support (or rejection) of
Western values, the tension between
ideological forces and the demand for
10. The organizational structure of the
media is the fourth factor that limits press
pluralism. All members of media
organizations, from front-line employees
2
to top-level managers, perform a
particular role or set of functions. The
roles people play in media organizations
largely determine their views and shape
their orientations toward day-to-day
routines, including those related to
journalistic standards. If the structure of
any two media organizations differs, the
practices of media workers may also
differ. The present study compares
several newspaper organizations within
the given country, and makes crossnational
comparisons.
Differences
between
countries
in
terms
of
organizational structure, therefore, may
account for differences in the level of
press pluralism. Nowhere is this issue
more conspicuous than in the case of
China, where the structure of media
organizations is controlled by the Chinese
authorities and government censors.
the world's attention like few other 1-day
events in recent history.
13. Second, the issues surrounding 9/11
are ideal because they provoked a broad
range of viewpoints in the international
community. Who carried out the attacks?
Why did the attacks occur in the first
place? What should be done in response?
How should the underlying global
conflict be framed or described? As this
study shows, the press in each of the
project countries offered widely diverging
answers to these and several other
pertinent issues associated with 9/11.
More importantly, the scope of the debate
– that is, the level of press pluralism –
also varied greatly between these nations.
14. Third, the events of 9/11 represent a
decisive moment in contemporary
history. September 11, 2001 marked the
beginning of a new and more assertive
U.S. foreign policy. In addition, each
nation's reaction to the attacks played a
role in its future relations with the U.S.
President George W. Bush's famous
assertion that countries are either “with us
or against us” in the war on terrorism
only intensified the social and political
significance
of
foreign
press
representations of 9/11 and the war in
Afghanistan.
3. The comparative approach and the
issue of 9/11
11. While the relationship between press
pluralism and democracy rests on
contested ground, much of the
controversy is based on studies of
Western media systems. In an effort to
broaden the debate, the present study
focuses on countries from other regions
of the world, including India, China,
Colombia, Russia, Lithuania, Egypt and
Germany. The political and economic
circumstances in these nations are varied,
providing a fruitful opportunity for
comparative
analysis
and
theory
development. Comparing the level of
press pluralism in nations with high and
low levels of democratic development
will help us clarify the meaning of this
concept and explain why it appears in
different forms in different countries.
12. One of the big challenges of using the
comparative approach in media studies,
however, is finding press material for
which meaningful comparisons can be
made. Our study is centered on
international press coverage of the United
States and the war in Afghanistan
following the terrorist attacks on
September 11, 2001. We believe that the
issues surrounding 9/11 are especially
appropriate for comparative analysis of
press pluralism for at least three reasons.
First, the magnitude of the attacks and the
anticipation of the U.S. response captured
4. Method
15. This study is based on an international
research project that measured the
opinion-leading print media's reaction to
9/11 in China, Colombia, Egypt,
Germany, India, Lithuania, and Russia.
All of the articles were published during
three brief periods in the first months
after the attacks. The group of countries
selected for the project reflects a
purposive sample based on several
criteria,
including
geopolitical
significance, nuclear capability, as well as
the interest in particular cultural,
economic, and political differences
between these nations.
5. Findings
16. The level of pluralism varied between
countries, as well as across the 10
different issues listed below. The highest
level of pluralism was found in
descriptions of the United States (Issues 9
and 10). In China, for instance, 52% of
3
the press response portrayed the U.S. with
positive words and phrases, such as
“united,” “adaptable,” “economically
strong,” and “technologically advanced,”
while 48% used negative terms, such as
“harsh,” “arrogant” and “materialistic” to
characterize America. A similar split was
found in Colombia (53% positive, 47%
negative) and India (35% positive, 65%
negative). Egypt and Russia were less
pluralistic on this issue. The press in these
countries leaned decisively toward
negative images of the United States.
Lithuania and Germany were equally
biased in the opposite direction, offering
predominantly positive descriptions of
America. The relatively low ratings (issue
9) in Germany, Lithuania, Russia and
Egypt contrasted somewhat with the
higher scores found in China, Colombia
and India. In comparison to other issues,
however, the project countries generally
offered diverse and competing views
when it came to describing and evaluating
America and its policies.
The 10 Major issues related to 9/11
(1) How should the U.S. respond to 9/11?
(2) How should <given country> respond
to 9/11?
“wrong.” Some authors used what we
considered “neutral” terms to describe the
perpetrators,
including
“educated,”
“intelligent,” and “well organized.”
President Bush never used neutral or
positive terms in his depictions of the
attacks or the attackers. The Egyptian
press was a clear leader in offering a
neutral portrayal of 9/11. At the same
time, very few authors in any country
openly praised or complimented the
attacks or the attackers for their deeds.
With the exceptions of the press in India
and Egypt, the level of pluralism on Issue
4 was quite low in all the countries –
China, Lithuania, Russia, Colombia and
Germany – especially when compared to
Issue 9, the portrayals of the United
States.
18. Although the level of pluralism varied
across the different issues, some countries
consistently offered greater levels of
pluralism than others. Based on an
average, China, Germany and Lithuania
offered the lowest levels of press
pluralism on the 10 issues surrounding
9/11. Colombia and Russia took
intermediate positions. The press in Egypt
and India exhibited the highest levels of
pluralism.
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
19. Correlation analysis was used to
assess the associations between the level
of democracy in each country and the
level of press pluralism. We initially
assumed a positive correlation between
these two variables. This assumption,
however, was supported on only three of
the 10 issues. Countries with high
democracy scores tended to offer higher
levels of pluralism on Issue 1 (“How
should the U.S. respond to 9/11?”), Issue
2 (“How should the <given country>
respond to 9/11?”), and Issue 5 (“What
caused 9/11?”) than countries with low
democracy scores. There was no
correlation between democracy and
pluralism scores on Issue 4 (“How should
9/11 be described?”). Democracy was
negatively correlated with press pluralism
on six of the 10 issues (Issues 3, 6, 7, 8, 9
and 10). On these six issues, countries
with higher democracy scores offered
narrower, less balanced interpretations in
the press than countries with lower
democracy scores.
Who is the prime suspect of 9/11?
How should 9/11 be described?
What caused 9/11?
How should the global conflict of
9/11 be described?
(7) Why did the U.S. carry out military
actions in Afghanistan?
(8) How should the U.S.-led war in
Afghanistan be evaluated?
(9) What terms should be used to
describe the U.S.?
(10) Coder’s “subjective” assessment of
the article’s view of U.S.
17. On the other side of the spectrum, the
lowest level of pluralism was found in
articles that described the 9/11 attacks
(Issue 4). Few authors strayed from
decisively negative portrayals of the
perpetrators and the act itself. In China,
Colombia, Germany, Lithuania, India and
Russia, 80% or more of the press
responses contained clearly unfavorable
terms, such as “terrible,” “horrible” and
6. Conclusion
4
20. One of the central assumptions in
many studies on democratization is that
countries
with
highly
developed
democratic institutions generally present
strong agreements on important topics in
the mainstream press. In our study of the
debates surrounding 9/11, we found only
partial support for this conventional
wisdom. The press in nations known for
their healthy democracies did indeed
provide a diverse discussion on some of
the issues surrounding 9/11, particularly
on the issue of using military force in
response to the terrorist attacks. On other
issues, however, these nations offered
less diverse interpretations of the 9/11
events than in countries with meager
democratic reputations. Media in
democratic nations were less likely to
question the immediate assertions made
by U.S. officials that Osama bin Laden
(or “Islamic radicals”) had orchestrated
the 9/11 attacks. These media offered a
less critical exploration of how the events
of 9/11 may have been stimulated by past
and present U.S. foreign policies.
Discussions of the war in Afghanistan
and the broader global conflict brought to
light by 9/11 were narrower than in lessdemocratic nations. The democratic press
was also less likely to offer a mixed
portrayal of the United States and its
policies than the non-democratic press.
21. Deep controversies and conflicts in
society, though widely perceived as
undesirable, are important for the
maintenance of democracy. As Tichenor
wrote, “intense controversies may lead to
greater realization of a general
democratic ideal”. While it may seem
reasonable for the press in democratic
countries to converge and homogenize in
a time of war and crisis, it is precisely
these times when a vigilant press is
needed most.
debate over terrorist activities and the
U.S. response to it changed over time.
Future studies are needed for testing not
only how the level of press pluralism
varies across different issues, but also
across different time periods.
7. Limitations and future studies
22. This study has several limitations.
First, our findings cannot be generalized
to the level of press pluralism on all news
issues. There is a need for further
research into the level of press pluralism
on other important topics. It may be
interesting, for instance, to measure the
level of pluralism in regard to domestic
politics, environmental concerns, human
rights issues, international trade and
migration. We suspect that there are
many issues on which the democratic
press consistently offers greater levels of
pluralism than the non-democratic
press—for instance, on the descriptions of
leaders.
23. Second, the findings discussed here
represent a historical snapshot of
international press coverage (September–
December 2001). It is quite likely that the
24. Finally, although we hope to have
contributed to the understanding of the
international press, we did not consider
how the press affects public opinion; nor
did we compare the press representation
of 9/11 to the views of the leadership and
political elites in each nation. Future
studies should contrast the level of
pluralism in the press with the views of
the public and the statements of high
officials. Such a study would provide
interesting and important data on the
dynamic relationship between the views
of the ruling class, the press and the
public.
(3,010 words)
5
Democracy and the Press Print Media
Vocabulary + comprehension exercise
Find a synonym for these words in the text (pp.1-7)
1. evaluate (ab.)
2. world (par. 1)
3. purpose (par. 1)
4. assume (par. 1)
5. varied (par. 3)
6. important (par. 5+13)
7. take part (par. 5)
8. clarify (par. 5)
9. doubt (par. 7)
10. rely (par. 8)
11. specific (par. 8)
12. income (par. 9)
13. powerful (par. 12)
14. claim (par. 14)
15. disadvantages (par. 15)
16. foresee (par. 15)
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
Fill in the blanks with the correct conjugation of the word.
1. The __________ principle in Bible studies maintains that the Bible should be read
____________ (comparatively, comparative, comparison)
2. __________ warming is quite a controversial issue which is discussed across the
__________ without much resolution. (globe, globally, global)
3. People's first language is mainly ____________ by their parents and early
environment, while teachers have more ___________ on people's second language.
(influence, influential, influenced)
4. The president's ___________ seemed apparent to anyone __________ enough to
get tickets to the event. (determination, detrimental, determined)
5. The view points of environmentalists and free-trade supporters are not as
_____________ as one might assume. (dichotomy, dichotomous)
6. ____________ is a key component of any good relationship, since ___________
interactions ensure that both sides of the equation are content. (reciprocal,
reciprocated, reciprocity)
7. If you wish to pass the __________ of the committee members, you must begin by
__________ yourself in order to detect problems beforehand. (scrutinizing,
scrutizingly, scrutiny)
6
8. In all ___________, it is unfathomable for a convicted felon to be a good public
official, since he/she may not be expected to behave in an honest and ___________
manner. (fairly, fairness, fair)
9. The 9/11 media ____________ has been unprecedented due to the enormity of the
event ___________. (cover, covered, coverage)
10. The only ______________ part of English weather is its ________________.
(prediction, predictable, unpredictability)
Comprehension questions
1. What is the paradox presented in the abstract? (quote or explain)
2.
According to the authors' initial premise, an authoritarian society would exhibit
________________________ than a _____________ society.
3. What does the example of Poland (p. 4) illustrate?
4. Name 2 advantages to free press:
5. In "The limits of democracy:…", what is the relationship referred to?
5a. What is the purpose of this section?
6. What does the example of China (p.10) illustrate?
7. According to section 3, what is required for the furtherance of the discussion
regarding press pluralism?
7
7a. What are two challenges to this discussion presented in this section?
8. Name the three reasons for approaching the discussion through the 9/11 example.
8a. Name one of the disadvantages to this choice.
9. What are "coders"?
10. Circle the correct answer:
According to the authors, the existing indexes of democracy are sufficient.
True / False
Justify your answer by quoting from the text.
11. The authors' assumption that a positive correlation exists between
______________ and the level of _______________ was ______________
(p.19)
12. According to the conclusion, _____________
are essential, despite the
difficulty they present (use no more than 3 words)
13. Name two recommendations for future actions presented in the article.
8