Page 215 - Comparing Media Systems THREE MODELS OF MEDIA AND POLITICS

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The North/Central European Model

that political parallelism and journalistic professionalism should not be
collapsed into a single conceptual dimension, that high levels of both
can in fact coexist; or to put it a bit differently, the experience of the
Democratic Corporatist countries suggests that other forms of journal-
istic professionalism can exist, apart from the Liberal Model of neutral
professionalism.
The Democratic Corporatist countries, finally, are characterized by
early and strong development of liberal institutions and strong develop-
ment of civil society. State power has historically been limited, and this
fact has been reflected in early development of press freedom and other
elements of an open public sphere, including strong rights of access to
government information. At the same time, the democratic corporatist
bargain institutionalized a strong welfare state; and the Democratic Cor-
poratist countries tend to be “social states” characterized by an ideology
of collective responsibility for the welfare and participation of all groups
and citizens. This is reflected in the media field by a strong consensus that
the state must play a positive role as the guarantor of equal opportunities
of communication for all the organized social voices in pursuit of the
“common good.”

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