Media Systems: A Comparative Analysis of Britain, the United States, Canada and France

Abstract

Much has been said about the roles of the mass media in the society and the enormity of their influences as derived from their functions in the society. On the other hand, experts are in constant debate of how the society in which the media operate shapes their structures and operations. As a sub-system in the entire societal system, other institutions have a bearing on the operations of the media. Government is a major institution whose roles in dictating media structure and performances cannot be overlooked. One way of considering the interrelationship between the media and the government of a particular society at a particular time is the analysis of the country’s media system. Given that the political ideology of country would shape the philosophy of its media a comparative study of media systems of different countries would assist to understand the different colourations of the media based on the corresponding variations in political milieus. This paper explores the media systems in Britain, the United States, Canada and France 'with a view to comparing them on the basis of general operational models which determines ownership, control, policy regulation and normative philosophies. The paper establishes a share difference between France and the other countries: the former being a polarised pluralist and others, liberal models. Among the liberal models, the United States system exhibits the highest level of liberalism and this accounts for the system's global acclamation of the freest media. Government control of the media is most pronounced in the French system through subsidies: strong in the British media through government ownership of broadcasting; moderated by the Canadian government concerns about national identity, which calls for state control on foreign media products.

Keywords: media system, political ideology, philosophy.