Freedom of the Press: an Empirical Analysis of One Aspect of the Concept

Abstract

A selected sub-set of variables for which data were collected in Lowen stein's PICA project was factor analyzed to assess unidimensionality. The sub-set included those variables relating to the theoretically unidimensional concept of government pressures on the press. Included in this category were 15 of the original 23 variables. A one-factor solution was obtained, with 70 per cent of the total variance account ed for by this one factor. Loadings ranged from -.70 to -.94. This indicates that all of the variables included in the analysis are strongly related to the underlying dimension of government pressures on the press. Factor scores were computed for the 94 countries. These scores agreed closely in rank with an intuitive judgment of degree of government pressures on the press in these countries. This result provides additional confirmation for the validity of the factor analysis solution. These press freedom scores could prove useful in comparative studies of the genesis and effects of variations in press freedom They might also have special value in the study of a number of topics in comparative government and in social development. Further research is necessary to determine the generality of the findings in terms of variables included, countries included, and time period in which data are collected. A number of other suggestions for research are given.

An Evaluation of Press Freedom Indicators

“…The resultant classification of the media was found to match closely those of Nixon's earlier surveys. Kent (1972) analyzed the PICA measures and found them to measure a single dimension of press freedom. Nam and Oh (1973), using Nixon's (1965) Press Freedom Index, found that freedom of the press is a function of subsystem autonomy in the overall political system.…”

Press Freedom and Religion: Measuring the Association Between Press Freedom and Religious Composition

“…He argued that political system can be used to predict press freedom. Kent (1972) examined factors related to government control of the press as measures of overall press freedom. These included such variables as libel laws, subsidies, advertising, and licensing.…”

“…Although some scholars use press freedom as a measure used to predict coverage or flow of news (Shoemaker, Danielian, & Brendlinger, 1991;Van Belle, 2000), other scholars have focused on those measures used to predict levels of press freedom (Kent 1972;Lowenstein, 1970).…”

Understandings and practices of freedom of expression and press freedom in Pakistan: ethnography of Karachi journalistic environment

“…Some prior studies of press freedom emphasised the professional approach to journalism while analysing the importance of press freedom in the journalists' codes of ethics worldwide (Laitila, 1995;Hafez, 2002;Himelboim and Limor, 2008). Many other past studies into conceptualisations and measures of press freedom focused on the institutional perspective of journalism, when addressed the impact of environmental constraints on the journalists' work and press freedom in different contexts (Nixon, 1960(Nixon, , 1965Stein, 1966;Lowenstein, 1970;Kent, 1972;Nam and Oh', 1973;Weaver, 1977Weaver, , 1985Hachten, 1985;Price, 2002;Rozumilowicz, 2002;Becker et al, 2004Becker et al, , 2007Popeseu, 2010).…”

“…freedom emphasised the environmental constraints (Nixon, 1960(Nixon, , 1965Stein, 1966;Lowenstein, 1970;Kent, 1972;Weaver, 1977Weaver, , 1985Ali, 1997;Jabbar, 1997;Price, 2002;Rozumilowicz, 2002;Riaz, 2007;Amin, 2010;Popeseu, 2010). However, a comparatively less emphasis was given to analyse the journalists' personal understandings of freedom of expression and press freedom in pluralistic societies like Pakistan.…”