ABSTRACT
To inform, to discuss, to mirror, to bind, to campaign, to challenge, to entertain and to judge-these are the important functions of the media in any free country. The purpose of public policy should be to enable the media to perform them more effectively. Yet historically, very different traditions of promoting these ideals or indeed pursuing no ideals at all have developed in relation to different media. Traditionally, press policy has taken the form of having no policy, and the functioning of newspapers has been left largely to market forces. By contrast, television and radio have been required to pursue objectives set by Parliament, and have been subject to extensive regulation.
