Siebert Fred, Peterson Theodore, Schramm Wilbur. Four Theories of the Press: The Authoritarian, Libertarian, Social Responsibility and Soviet Communist Concepts of What the Press Should Be and Do

Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1963. — 161 p. — ISBN 0-252-72421-6The thesis of this volume is that the press always takes on the form and coloration of the social and political structures within which it operates. Especially, it reflects the system of social control whereby the relations of individuals and institutions are adjusted. We believe that an understanding of these aspects of society is basic to any systematic understanding of the press.To see the differences between press systems in fullperspecti ve, then, one must look at the social systems in which the press functions. To see the social systems in their true relationship to the press, one has to look at certain basic beliefs and assumptions which the society holds: the nature of man, the nature of society and the state, the relation of man to the state, and the nature of knowledge and truth. Thus, in the last analysis the difference between press systems is one of philosophy, and this book is about the philosophical and political rationales or theories which lie behind the different kinds of press we have in the world today.The Authoritarian Theory. Fred S. Siebert
The Libertarian Theory. Fred S. Siebert
The Social Responsibility Theory. Theodore Peterson
The Soviet Communist Theory. Wilbur Schramm