Four Theories of the Press: 60 Years and Counting

The links between distinctive political regimes and media systems are undeniable. As Siebert, Peterson and Schramm wrote (1956: 1) 60 years ago: ''the press always takes on the form and coloration of the social and political structures within which it operates''. Nevertheless, today''s world and politics are completely different from the bipolar era that inspired the ground breaking Four Theories of the Press. What are the main changes and continuities that have driven the study of politics and the media in the last decades? How to approach this interaction in the light of the challenges that democracy is facing or the continuing technological revolution that at times hampers the media?

This provocative book explores the main premises that have guided the study of politics and the media in the last decades. In so doing, it gives the reader key analytical tools to question the sustainability of past categorizations that no longer match up with current developments of both, political regimes and the media. In searching for clarification about current discrepancies between democracies and media''s distinctive structures or purposes, Four Theories of the Press: 60 Years and Counting puts forward an alternative premise: the political-media complex.

Maira T. Vaca-Baqueiro is an associate professor at the Communications Department of Universidad Iberoamericana, in Mexico City, where she teaches courses on media and democracy, public opinion, political communication, and her real passion, research design and methods. She holds a PhD in Media and Communications from the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom, and a MA in International Relations from Syracuse University in the U.S. As seen in this book, her current research focuses on the relationship between political regimes and media systems beyond traditional paradigms.