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The Fourth Estate
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This is notes explaining the role of the fourth estate in the world of journalism
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What is the fourth estate? The fourth estate is the media.
Where did the term come from?
It came from French history, and is in conjunction with the representation of
parliament: the first estate is made up of nobility (the clergy), the second estate is the
Church, the third estate is the commoners and the fourth estate is another group which
had unofficial but great influence on public affairs.
Examples of fourth estate journalism
Anything in the papers about politics. A lot of papers have a political bias, like The
Guardian, The Daily Mail all have a bias when they write about politics, for instance
there is often a lot of coverage when it comes to political votings or elections.
Does it still exist?
I believe that it still exists, the political bias that is present allows for diversity and
conservation in the media. The fourth estate essentially controls our public and gives
them the information they have the right to, especially in terms of politics. The idea
that bad news sells is very common when discussing politics.
Do media organisations ensure that the fourth estate does not exist?
No, I think that media organisations thrive on having control over the general public,
especially when it comes to being able to withhold or spread information. The media
are the only access the general public have into knowing and understanding things
they don't have direct access to so the media uses that in order to sell stories.
What is the fifth estate?
The fifth estate preaches and practices equality, social justice, independence, and
solidarity. Equality is the result of social cooperation. Mostly associated with bloggers
and media journalists that publish in non mainstream media outlets and social media.
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