A Guard Dog Perspective on the Role of Media

Abstract

A guard dog perspective is offered as a way to better understand the functioning of the mass media as an important set of communication agencies in the social system. mis perspective takes into account the varying roleperformances by mass media in reporting on majorpublic issues. m e guard dog metaphor suggests that media perform as a sentry not for the community as a whole, but for groups having sufficient power and injluence to create and control their own security systems. mis conception is delineated from otherperspectives, which include (aj the traditional fourth estate role of watchdog media, (b) the lapdog view of submissive media, and (c) the view of media aspart of a power oligarchy. Several hypotheses that may be derived for testing the utility of the guard dog perspective are suggested and discussed in light of various bodies of evidence available.The role of mass media as an independent and powerful force in society is an enduring and controversial issue (Dennis & Merrill, 1991). The literature contains a wide range of views about the existence and degree of media power and its autonomy from other powers in the system. The purpose of this paper is to offer a guard dog perspective of the social role of mass media, and to delineate this role from other perspectives, which include: (a) the traditional fourth estate role of independently powerful watchdog media; (b) the lapdog view of media as largely submissive to status quo political and economic authority, and (c) a view of media as neither watchdogs nor lapdogs but as part of a power oligarchy in the system.The guard dog conception takes into account the varying role performances by mass media in reporting on major public issues. Furthermore, it is a perspective from which several hypotheses can be derived for testing its utility in explaining media behavior.George A. Donohue is a professor emeritus of Sociology, Phillip J. Tichenor is a professor emeritus of Journalism and Mass Communication, and Clarice N. Olien is a professor emeritus of Extension and Rural Sociology, all at the University of Minnesota.

Dimensions of Political News Cultures: Sound Bite and Image Bite News in France, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States

“…We expect the use of candidates' image bites in news programs to be extensive, and increasing, because visuals allow for more personalized, captivating, and entertaining reports Steele and Barnhurst 1996). The use of powerful images also allows journalists to impose a specific tone in their reports: Discrediting pictures may reflect a skeptical attack-dog attitude toward politicians, whereas flattering pictures may reflect a more sacerdotal lapdog or guard-dog attitude (Donohue,Tichenor, and Olien 1995 Hanitzsch (2007) sees interventionism, power distance, and market orientation as forming a common attitudinal dimension of journalism culture. He conceptualized culture as a shared occupational ideology that expresses itself in three ways: ideas (journalistic attitudes, worldviews, and role perceptions), practices (reporting methods and routines of news production), and artifacts (media products, news stories).Whereas research into "journalistic culture" is usually survey-based and focuses on ideas and their relevance for practices, research into "news culture" is content-based and concentrates on the manifestations of these ideas and practices in artifacts.…”

Mixed Signals: Democratization and the Myanmar Media

“…50 Ties to financial and business interests have restricted what Myanmar's journalists can report about economics as well as politics. Traditionally, the watchdog role of the media is defined as behavior that reveals abuses in the exercise of state power and ignores the role of the press as a defense against exploitation in the private sphere-most notably with regard to the economy (Chomsky & Herman, 1988;Donohue, 1995). Clearly, the media should act as a source of redress against the abuse of all forms of power.…”

Judgmental Heuristics and News Reporting

“…Thus, the mass media typically characterize their societal role as that of serving as society's watchdog. That they honor this role more in the breach than in daily practice (see, e.g., Donohue, Tichenor, & Olien, 1995) does not detract from its importance as an occupational or cultural norm.…”