Authoritarian Theory

Authoritarian Theory

Long before the democratic societies could think of matters pertaining to freedom of speech, there
existed a thought that the emergence of media should not challenge the writ of the government which were
more in dictatorial form and less they looked like democracies. The media was forced to remain under state
control. It had following features which, in non democratic governments still rule on media.
• Direct governmental control of the media.
• Typical to pre-democratic societies, where the government consists of a very limited and small
ruling-class.
• No printing that could undermine the established authority
• No offense to existing political set up
• The government may punish anyone who questions the state's ideology.
• Media professionals are not allowed to have any independence within the media organization.
• Registration of the media by the state.
This approach is designed to protect the established social order, setting clear limits to media freedom and
ensure that it is not the media which must talk about people and their problems in any manner.