Political Pluralism in the Media

Abstract

The study of media pluralism indicators presented in this book has sought to develop a methodology for the effective analysis of several domains, including political pluralism in the media (KU Leuven — ICRI et al., ‘EU MPM Study’ 2009). In this chapter we will first place the notions of political and media pluralism in their broader theoretical and historical context. The underlying premise is that political pluralism, including in the media sector, cannot be successfully considered or assessed in isolation. It is a product of the dominant power relations and the economic system in which it occurs, and is therefore influenced by a number of interacting social and economic factors. To be able to monitor it, we must first understand the underpinning structures and then develop the methodology that will take into account the workings of the underlying factors rather than concentrate on its results.

“Every historical period has its godword. There was an Age of Faith, an Age of Reason, an Age of Discovery. Our time has been nominated to be the Age of Information. (…) Unlike “faith” or “reason” or “discovery”, information is touched with a comfortably secure, noncommittal connotation. There is neither drama nor high purpose to it. It is bland to the core and, for that very reason, nicely invulnerable. Information smacks of safe neutrality; it is simple, helping heaping up of unassailable facts. In that innocent guise, it is the perfect starting point for a technocratic political agenda that wants as little exposure for its objectives as possible. After all, what can anyone say against information?” (Roszak 1986, p. 19).