The idea of 'The Fourth Estate' can be traced back to Thomas Carlyle in the 1800s. Its a hugely important idea that seeks to establish the press at the centre of a democracy. Its also in recent years been thrown into question with the increase in audience interaction and production of their own. Does the press still hold huge influence over the masses and does it still create the hegemonic structure that Adorno and Gramsci said it did?
"The earliest use in this sense described by Thomas Carlyle in his book On Heroes and Hero Worship: "Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters' Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all."[3] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Estate)
"The idea of the press as the “fourth estate” is usually traced to English historian Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881.) Here he is, writing at a time when journalists were newly arrived on the political stage:
Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important than they all. It is not a figure of speech, or a witty saying; it is a literal fact. Printing, which comes necessarily out of Writing, I say often, is equivalent to Democracy: invent Writing, Democracy is inevitable. Whoever can speak, speaking now to the whole nation, becomes a power, a branch of government, with inalienable weight in law-making, in all acts of authority. It matters not what rank he has, what revenues or garnitures: the requisite thing is that he have a tongue which others will listen to; this and nothing more is requisite."
(Source: http://pressthink.org/2013/08/when-youre-in-a-fourth-estate-situation/)
The Fourth Estate is an important concept and its clearly important if not crucial in creating hegemony in our society. The power of the press and its manipulation and use to coerce people to a particular 'status quo' or mode of thinking is a concept that has been debated and analysed for hundreds of years.
There are numerous calls for a change to the current model of press ownership and much of the legislation in general. There are many excellent online resources and campaigns asking for a change to enable greater democracy and freedom for both journalists and audiences:
Another excellent resource for examining the bias of Public funded institutions such as the BBC is this excellent blog :
https://realfare.wordpress.com/2014/07/02/media-bias-and-the-bbc/
Murdoch's influence:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/feb/20/murdochs-politics-david-mcknight-review
“As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, the the powerful can do as they please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the outcome.”
Noam Chomsky
(source: http://realmedia.press/media-item/manufacturing-consent/)
Media ownership and the problems we face in the UK:
http://www.mediareform.org.uk/
In recent years we have had huge whistleblowing stories such as those released by Wikileaks and most recently the Edward Snowden release of NSA files and information. These stories have had a huge effect on the press in numerous ways to huge to explore in real depth here. However the impact of them has cast a huge shadow on mainstream press practices and asked the question 'what is the fourth estate in the digital age?'
The award winning documentary citizen four is an excellent watch , that isn't specifically about press freedom more democracy in general.
https://thoughtmaybe.com/citizenfour/
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/magazine/laura-poitras-snowden.html?_r=0
Personally I have been most interested in how the UK press has portrayed and represented the new leader of the labour party in the wake of his successful leadership campaign.
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n20/paul-myerscough/corbyn-in-the-media
Finally an interesting discussion from 2010 as guardian editor Alan Rusbridger discusses the impact of 'social media' on the fourth estate:
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