Media Organizations as Social Institutions

Regarding normative theory, we need to ask what the collective end or ends of the media ought to be; that is, what collective goods do they produce? The print and electronic media have an important institutional purpose as the Fourth Estate. That is, public communication in the public interest involves at least the following subsidiary collective ends and associated roles: (1) The media provide a public forum enabling communication to the public at large, (2) the media have the task of unearthing and disseminating information of importance to the public, and (3) the media function as public communicators. If a particular media organization is not discharging these obligations as an institution, then arguably there is no great cause for concern if it does not survive; it is simply another failed business venture.