ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a characterization and an overview of a particular tradition of media research that has been concerned with the assessment of the quality of mass media “performance” according to a number of normative standards relating to different conceptions and perceptions of the “public interest.” Typical features of the research, which has often been related to considerations of media policy and is broadly in line with “social responsibility” media theory, include a positivistic approach, a preference for objective (generally quantitative) methods, and a focus on media content as the main object of research. A general framework for assessing media performance is constructed in which the main normative criteria deployed are those of independence, diversity, objectivity, solidarity, and cultural quality. These concepts are discussed and alternative possibilities for operationalizing them in empirical research are proposed and evaluated. Aside from reviewing a research tradition, the aim of this chapter is to help solve problems of applying normative ideas in objective assessment procedures. A second, no less important, aim is to contribute to clarity of thought about some normative concepts that are commonly evoked in respect to key roles the mass media play in the public sphere of society.
