The fourth estate
Fiji Times or others
THE Fiji Times (FT) editor-in-chief Fred Wesley reiterated his earlier editorial at the FT 150 anniversary celebrations at GPH on Friday night last week, “We are not anti-government and we are not progovernment ... we would rather be seen as a newspaper that takes no side; simply a newspaper of integrity” (FT, 9th Oct, 2010) rather, “we are very pro-Fiji ... (that) will continue to strive for fair, balanced and credible news with emphasis on integrity” (FT, September 4, 2019).
In a similar vein, FT board chairman Kirit P. Patel stated “we have no party interest to serve and are open upon all occasions for free discussion, subject only to the usual restrictions of a free press” (FT, 4th Sept 2019); analogously, Christine Lyons, FT general manager, referred to FT making efforts to “ensure that the public will have a free media, well equipped to successfully plan for many years ahead” (FT, 4th Sept 2019).
This article focuses on the debate around the role of the press termed as the fourth estate as “guardian of veritas”/democracy and defenders of the public interest.
Media as the fourth estate
Democratic countries have three pillars of power consisting of the legislature, executive and judiciary.
The media is symbolised as the fourth estate that is associated with the unofficial role of watchdog, acting on behalf of the public as an instrument of accountability in a vibrant democracy.
Thomas Carlyle, a 19th century historian, in the book “Heroes and Hero-Worship in
History” (1841) attributed the origin of the term to Edmund Burke, British politician, who said “there were three estates in Parliament, but in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a fourth estate more important far than them all” that is referred to press in the medieval era before the coming of other forms of media, e.g. television and radio.
The fourth estate has been a flexible concept that has changed over the discourse in history.
In the context of Australian journalism, J. Schultz’ book Reviving the Fourth Estate
(1998) stated “the fourth estate remains the ideal of most journalists, but the reality has been impaired by the increasing concentration of media ownership and by political, ethical and occupational interests.
“While Australian journalism has become bolder and more investigative, increasing commercialism and decreasing ethical standards have left the public skeptical. Schultz argues for a revival of the fourth estate based on journalistic independence and political autonomy, together with increased accountability and responsiveness.”
Mass media plays a pivotal role in the formation of the notion of national identity. Thus, it is pertinent to highlight the powerful idea of Benedict Anderson’ Imagined Communities (1983), defined nation as an imagined community because “the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion” (Anderson, 1983).
Thus, nation is a socially constructed community, imagined by the people who think of themselves as a part of the group.
Similarly, a newspaper creates a sense of national consciousness among its readers in a nation, where the readers may not acquaint with each other.
David Robie gave a notion of ‘Four Worlds’ news values that cover “indigenous minorities in dominated/imperialist nation-states that stand for indigenous rights, independent (political) voice, language, culture, education and solidarity” (2001 & 2016).
With the coming up of globalisation, the media’s role as a watchdog has intensified. Shailendra Singh posits responsible conflict reporting framework, that incorporates “insights drawn from communication development, peace-building, peace journalism and normative media…(it should be) as the regular, sustained, informed, in-depth, preemptive and proactive coverage of conflicts, encompassing their structural causes a risk factors, with the aim of avoiding destructive escalation so as to facilitate progressive developments” (Singh, 2013).
The responsible fourth estate has become vulnerable to the destructive impact of unregulated market forces, as Robert Hackett (2013) advocates “critical selectivity over wholesale adoption of western media models (and democracy) in the South Pacific to avoid some entrenched shortcomings of dominant western media” (Singh, 2013), that indicates to reporting in South Pacific need different traits and understanding.
The growing competition among media houses, readers expect an accurate, fair and balanced news coverage with awareness of local conditions. The Fiji Times has witnessed several changes in ownership in 150 years of their existence from the founder George Littleton Griffith, Sir Alport Barker, Robert William Robson, Sir Leonard Gray Usher, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp to current owner Motibhai Group of Companies.
The sale of the FT to the local trading company Motibhai was due to a decree that restricted foreign ownership to 10 per cent (Robie, 2013). Robie highlights the transition in journalism from radical or revolutionary journalism towards development journalism and further towards peace journalism (Robie, 2013) that is even criticised, so Singh states “responsible conflicts was proposed to, among other things, sensitise journalists to conflicts by making them more aware of their root and structural causes and their devastating impact on Pacific societies” (Singh, 2013). Overall, some basic media ethics need to be taken into consideration for the constructive development of a nation.
Conclusion
Time will define its own discourse on the claims of FT that they are firmly “committed to continue giving news that is fair, just, balanced and honest … building the credible, reliable, trusted and respected newspaper” (Patel, FT, 9th Sept, 2019).
Robie’s (2013) suggestions seem worthwhile of “South Pacific news media management need a fundamental re-think on their approach to journalism education and training… rather than replicating western models alone”.
Overall, paradox remains between ‘fourth estate’ or ‘the guardian of the public sphere’ to be converted into profit-driven industries versus the social responsibility; therefore, from readers’ prospective FT needs to continue to implement the ‘vision’ of their chairman and editor-in-chief in order to lay another milestone with its 200th anniversary on September 4, 2069.