Theories of Media Bias: Libertarian Theory and Authoritarian Theory

Theories of Media Bias
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Libertarian theory
Libertarian theory derives its roots from liberal thought in Europe as advocated for in the 16th century. The thesis describes a kind of government that gives freedom to its citizens to practice media freedom in terms of informing unrestrained freedom from government censorship and control, thus allowing the media to report on all aspects of the society freely. The government exerts no control over the press of which is usually owned by private entities. Media freedom allows the media to entertain, inform, sell, serve as a watchdog and thus ensure that the government remains in check to accomplish citizens' demands. The theory relatively highlights the presence of innate distrust concerning the government and its roles.
The approach relies on the fact that all individuals have a right to access information that affects them in one way or the other. Relatively, the theory acknowledges that humans are rational beings and therefore have a right to decide what is good or bad; thus, there is no need for the press to restrict any news components. Relatively the theory argue on the possibility of harmful content providing information to the general population.
A vital example of a nation that uses the libertarian concept is Finland. This comes with the recent 20111 ranking of the Finnish press as the freest around the world. Relatively the freedom of expression is advocated for within the Finish laws and under article 12. Every individual has a right to have false...