News Media And Bureaucracy

It is widely know that the role of the news media can economically and politically productive, particularly in terms of civil society reinforcement regarding bureaucratic issues. Despite regular media contact with the bureaucracy, news stories rarely seem to be presented to the public. Do the news media understand the significance of the bureaucracy? Is there a lack of exposure among media practitioners to bureaucratic issues? Are bureaucratic issues less attractive for the news media?

Worse, during the democratic consolidation stage, news media content is largely influenced by commercialism or manipulated by the new political regime through ownership or public opinion engineering.

The news media perceive bureaucracy as merely a technical instrument to maintain government policy. Consequently, the news media emphasise the relationship with the bureaucracy just as a second layer source after the president or parliament. The news media believe that, as an integral part of government, the bureaucracy as a source is in fact a moutpiece of government, reluctant to provide information, and will not accept outsider views. The media often does not seem to realize that the bureaucracy also engages with broader social relations. Instead, the media tend to assume that bureaucracy does what the government tells it to do. In most cases this is a misperception, and indicates that the news media do not fully understand the social or political role of bureaucracy.


"... journalists, as the author clearly shows through his individual and focus group interviews, have little sensitivity to the complexities of reporting on bureaucracies. Instead, like the mass public, they tend to take a generally hostile view of bureaucratic behaviour instead of a constructively critical one"