Four Theories of the Press Page 1 of 22 PRINTED FROM the OXFORD RESEARCH ENCYCLOPEDIA, COMMUNICATION (communication.oxfordre.com). (c) Oxford University Press USA, 2016. All Rights Reserved. Personal use only; commercial use is strictly prohibited (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: OUP-Reference Gratis Access; date: 07 September 2018 Summary and Keywords Siebert, Peterson, and Schramm’s Four Theories of the Press has been a powerful influence on scholarship on comparative press systems and normative press theories in the years since its publication in 1956. Its appeal comes from the way it combined a history of Western development with a normative schema that is simple and teachable. Critics have pointed out the shortcomings of both its historical accounts and its theoretical structure, charging that the book expressed a Cold War mentality, elided non- Western and nonliberal theories and practices, and neglected the complicating dimensions of race, class, gender, and ethnicity. Critics also note that actual press systems are usually governed by hybrid norms, and that press systems are increasingly interconnected, overlapping, and global. Yet, Four Theories of the Press retains significant influence despite these criticisms. One reason is that no real replacement has appeared and it is unlikely that a new map of normative theories will win acceptance. The work emerged at a unique moment of Western liberal global hegemony and a successor would require a similar hegemonic moment. Keywords: press freedom, social responsibility theory, public sphere, comparative media systems, marketplace of ideas, objectivity, media roles, journalism studies Four Theories of the Press: The Authoritarian, Libertarian, Social Responsibility, and Soviet Communist Concepts of What the Press Should Be and Do, by Frederick S. Siebert, Theodore Peterson, and Wilbur Schramm, has continued to influence journalism studies and journalism education since its publication in 1956. Its success, its authors maintained, was unforeseen and largely accidental. Its critics have also struggled both to explain its durability and to replace it. The strength and longevity of Four Theories spring from two characteristics that critics underestimate. The first is the way it combines an apparently empirical map of media systems with a morally charged history. While seeming to simply describe the main categories of the world’s media systems, the authors continually reference a Whiggish history in which authoritarian control yields to freedom of the press. Critics, myself Four Theories of the Press John Nerone Subject: Journalism Studies Online Publication Date: Aug 2018 DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.815 Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication