Page 274 - Comparing Media Systems THREE MODELS OF MEDIA AND POLITICS

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TheFutureofthe ThreeModels

professionalism around the world. The principal aim of the “free press
crusade” was to reestablish democracy in European countries that had
experienced fascism and to further the policy of containment against the
political model of the Soviet bloc. One important manifestation was
the influence exercised by the allies on the media systems of Germany,
Austria, and Italy during the occupation. At the same time, the cru-
sade reinforced the sphere of influence and market of American news
agencies and mass media generally. The crusade Blanchard describes
largely focused on international agencies – the United Nations and
UNESCO – and in formal terms enjoyed limited success, in the sense that
American proposals were often rejected. Nevertheless it contributed to
the dissemination of liberal media principles that were indeed becoming
increasingly hegemonic.
If the “free press crusade” of the 1940s and 1950s was connected with
the political goals of the struggle against fascism and then the Cold War,
other initiatives and associations were the result of the growing global-
ization of media industries. Markets had to be penetrated and expanded
and there was a need for information on those markets, coordination of
initiatives to develop them, and promotion of the conditions, including
political and cultural conditions, suitable for their development. One as-
sociation that pursued these ends was the World Association of Newspa-
pers (WAN), which was founded in 1948 and now includes seventy-one
national newspaper associations as members, and describes its goals as:

1. Defending and promoting press freedom and the economic inde-
pendence of newspapers as an essential condition for that freedom.
2. Contributing to the development of newspaper publishing by fos-
tering communications and contacts between newspaper execu-
tives from different regions and cultures.
3. Promoting cooperation between its member organizations,
whether national, regional, or worldwide.
WAN pursues these objectives through training programs, confer-
ences, publications, and lobbying with international organizations and
governments.Its“CodeofNewspaperPractices”approvedin1981clearly
reflects the influence of the Liberal conception of press freedom and pro-
fessionalism, Point 1 reaffirming the basic principle of press freedom;
Point 2 the need for impartiality; Point 3 the separation of news from
commentary; down to Point 11 that reaffirms independence of the press
from every outside pressure “whether by government, political parties,
commercial interests or private individuals.” The symbiosis between

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