David Harvey: The Rationale for Media Regulation

This article is to be read alongside a detailed examination I conducted of the advice given to the Minister surrounding the disestablishment of the BSA. In this article I tease out the fundamental underpinning for media regulation and the ethereal nature of the “public interest”.

The basic justification for State involvement in media regulation is the public interest.

The argument follows this path. Media – especially mainstream media – are not just a business. They perform a democratic function as the Fourth Estate. Thus society has a stake in how media behaves.

There are a number of linked or associated arguments.