ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that to simplify conceptualization of the argument, politics and the mass media are treated here as two distinct entities despite their entanglement in everyday life. Starting with this premise, three conceptual models or archetypes, each based on a specific type of relation maintained between the two entities, are presented. The first model, the political control model, entails political control of the media. The second model, the market or regulatory model, is diametric in its disposition. The third model, the mixed model, represents an intermediate case: The political system does not control the media but does determine the scope of their content and the general rules guiding their operation. The chapter presents the conceptual framework underlying the movement between the three models and the attendant variations in transmission of security-related information by the mass media. It demonstrates that the postulated 'travelling' of trends in information transmission with several examples.
