This is where the concept of public interest sets foot. What sparks mass media consumer's interest is under mass media proprietors's shadow. Mass media affects person's beliefs and ideologies, while remaining accountable for the responsible or irresponsible convergence of opinion and information. The fundamental obligation of mass media is to serve the public and while it is true that mass media are not the same with any business or industry; it must play its significant roles for the cultural and political lives of denizens.
How mass media system must be arranged is suggested by the formulation of theories of the press or normative mass media analyses that chart out roles for the mass media to perform and that serve as yardsticks in evaluating mass media performance. Formulated by Denis McQuail, mass media theories project clear statements on values, conditions, and aspirations of developing countries and calls for normative orientations. Libertarian theory, authoritarian theory, developmental theory, and the democratic-participant theory have general applicability on matter with the third world communication.
These theoretical formulations demonstrate the importance of the public sphere to mass media in the name of national unity. We find the applicability of these normative mass media theories in different contexts from socio-political to socio-economic conditions. Critical normative mass media analyses emphasize freedom of the press and public interests. Likewise, these orientations suggest that mass media resources must be directed and be harnessed towards national development.
Mass media performances have produced numerous codes of journalistic practices and principles (Nordenstreng and Topuz: 1989) and have introduced gradual regulations and normative discourses internationally. Mass media frameworks were formulated from primitive ideologies that mass media mainly provide political information. With the changing time and technology, there too, is a corresponding rise in mass media in terms of internal diversity.
However, some aspects have not changed fundamentally. In the political front, there are existing conflict between the mass media and those who exercise economic or political acumen. There are variations in the quality of what the mass media do, and still, there are first, second, and third class mass media consumers, both nationally and internationally.
Telenovelas, for instance, are rising to atmospheric heights for viewers of the middle class and the second class brackets. Most households are attuned to episodes daily and never get tired of lengthy commercials and frustrating plots. Their empowerment, however, has not appealed to the higher crowd. Elites would go for more “Westernized” models, often departing from local drama. Nevertheless, despite differences in personal interests, mass media's function as educator, mobilizer, and propagator of virtues are still apparent and are not disregarded.
The diversity of human interests and opinions provides effective theories for mass media to move beyond its stagnation. In many, if not most countries, mass media no longer compose single system, but constitute separate, overlapping, and theoretically inconsistent elements. The structure and operation of mass media is rooted in the core values of modern societies: freedom, equality, and order (McQuail: 1987).
We now wonder why televiewers get hooked on telenovelas, especially with GMA-7's Betty La Fea whose popularity has reached 80 million viewers around the world. So successful that there are more than 30 000 links to various websites on Betty, the ugly and insecure office worker defying the odds. Shows like this received laudable claims all over the world because of its particular mass media conditions - one of it is freedom.
Freedom is a condition, rather than a criterion, of performance. It refers to the rights to free expression and to free formation of opinion. Because of freedom, television shows are largely dependent on confidence given by mass media consumers. It offers a wide range of voices, which at the same time, responds to a wide-ranging demand. Mass media independence is therefore associated with diversity, creativity, originality, reliability, and personal satisfaction. Mass media independence is also associated with openness to novel ideas and liberal understanding of controversial views. These benefits bring unique appeal to news, drama, comedy, and mystery that suit the everyday needs of various social organizations.
The second basic principle, equality, hinders special favors given to mass media gate keepers. Access to mass media is given on fair basis, and the absence of discrimination is practiced. In general, mass media consumers appear to understand the principle of objective performance that helps increase mass media credibility.
The third basic principle, order, projects a wider social harmony in governing mass media consumers. The collective and interdependence of community lives derive from communication processes that call for communicative expressions of identity and uniqueness (McQuail: 1987). The integration of order is magnified in social domains that apply to community and other established structures of relations and cultural domains that apply to customs, traditions, among others of the community.
In conclusion, the basic principles of freedom, equality, and order ignite public interests and drives mass media consumers to extremes, often seeking for opinion and information in a higher degree. Mass media in the public interest is reaching a higher level of constancy, and with its growing impact, it is not impossible that in time, millions of people will begin living their lives in the post-Betty era.
