Places and forms of power

Question 1

What is the Power ?

Answer 1

Power is the ability to exercice authority and influence over others. It can be exerted in different spheres : economy, politics, media…

Question 2

what are the 4th power commonly nicknamed for the press ?

Answer 2

The press is commonly nicknamed the 4th power. The three first powers being the executive, the legislative and the judicial powers.

Question 3

Counter power

Answer 3

By extension, the 4th power refers to the various means of communication which can be used as counter powers to limit the three other powers. The media have become so influential that they can be considered as a power in itself.

Question 4

A lobby against political misconducts

Answer 4

Indeed, there is no denying that the freedom of the media is the guarantee of the healthy functioning of a democracy. It can thus be used as a lobby against political misconducts for instance. These scandals are usually referred to by the press as « sleaze ». We can find several examples of secretaries of State who had to resign because of revelations of financial scandals by the press.

Question 5

The tabloid press

Answer 5

• One of them, David Laws has become famous because he only stayed 18 days in service, the case of fraud being fully exposed by the Daily Telegraph right after he was appointed. Some analysts even add that British tabloids use their power to discredit those who cross them.As John Whittingdale, a conservative politician, said : « The tabloid press (…) make or break reputations ».
• Yet, some journalists feel so powerful that they might be tempted to bypass the limits. That is what caused the shutdown of the famous tabloid News of the World in 2011. Some of its reporters hacked into the voicemail of victims of murders. In reaction to that highly immoral behaviour, advertisers decided to boycott the newspaper, which contributed to its closure. That quest for money and fame led by some journalists also shed light on their broad field of action. As a result, we can see that while the press is expected to limit any kind of political dysfunctions, its power is not always wittingly used.

Question 6

Internet

The 5th Power

Answer 6

• What’s more, with the emergence of the internet, the way information are broadcast have evolved. That is what is called the « fifth power ». It can be partly defined as the power of the internet. The major difference with the press lays in the fact that the internet has made information generalized.
• Anyone can have access to it and even contribute through such sites as Wikipedia.
• We may wonder whether it is because of that globalization that Wikileaks has had such an impact. Wikileaks is an on-line organization which releases secret information from anonymous sources. It has revealed secret files and created a real mess in the international scene. It also raises a major issue : what are or what should be the limits to convey information ? Shouldn’t classified elements remain secret ? Indeed, some traditional media have reproached Wikileaks for endangering the lives of those involved in the cases revealed by the organization.

Question 7

Conclusion

Answer 7

We may end up by saying that the media, whether the press or the internet, are necessary in so far as they act as a necessary power to prevent political misbehaviours which are likely to happen. Nevertheless, it appears that giving complete freedom to the media may turn out to be dangerous.