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The role of the news media has changed, constitutionally speaking, in the last three periods of the state.10 In the era of the state-nation the constitutional role of the press was foremost to transmit the political leadership's views. This often amounted to functioning as an organ to shape public opinion. Napoleon's bulletins provide a good example.* So do the Federalist Papers, first published as essentially op-ed pieces, and the journalism that powered the French Revolution. In the nation-state period, to this role was added the function of informing leaders about the public reaction as the public spoke back to government through the media. William Randolph Hearst's famous remark (“You provide the pictures, I'll provide the war”) showed a shrewd appreciation of this. The pivotal role played by the New York Times in opposing the War in Viet Nam that it had so heartily supported and the Washington Post's crucial exposure of Watergate felonies both showed the press not only leading the public but also constantly reporting trends in public opinion on the same issues. Editorial opinion and its counterparts in the electronic media eventually stood for public opinion. When the CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite turned against the Viet Nam War, President Johnson is reported to have concluded that his war policies no longer had the confidence of the public.11

In the market-state, the media have begun to act in direct competition with the government of the day. The media are well situated to succeed in this competition because they are trained to work in the marketplace, are more nimble than bureaucrats hampered by procedural rules, are quick to spot public trends, can call on huge capitalizations, can rely on sophisticated managers and technocrats, and are the most capable users—far outpacing politicians—of the contemporary techniques of advertising and public relations. Finally the media, protected in many countries by statutes and constitutional amendments, are free of many of the legal and political restraints that bind government officials.

The changing role of the media as it enters the era of the market-state is felt in many quarters. David Anderson, a law professor and former journal-iist, has observed that the constitutional protections surrounding libel defendants have been transformed from protection for the lonely, vilified civil libertarian to an insurance policy for media multinationals.12 To take another example, one aspect of President Clinton's difficulties in persuading the public that the campaign of vilification directed against him came from a “right-wing conspiracy” is that some of its most avid adherents were liberal journalists. They were not conspirators—at least not of the right-wing variety—so much as soldiers in an historic struggle to wrest power from the presidency, and to gain even greater control over the electoral process than the media now enjoys.

Indeed the competitive, critical function of the media in the market-state is similar to that of the political parties of the Left in the nation-state: the Left was always a critical organ in government, reproving, harassing, questioning the status quo; it sought a governing role even though whenever Left parties held office, they quickly moved to the center, co-opting (or being co-opted by) the Right. Now with the discrediting of the Left in the market-state, this competitive critical function has been taken up by the media.*

The media are completely untrained in this task—ethically or politically. Much the same can be said for the leadership of the great multinational corporations (of whom the media empires form a subset). Nor can these institutions expect much guidance from the political class that has so enslaved itself to the market via its reliance on campaign contributions.

Relations between the media and the other organs of government are further exacerbated by the fact that in the market-state the public's attitude toward what can be accomplished by government changes (and thus also changes with respect to the scope of personal responsibility). Now it is up to the individual to avoid problems, not up to the state to fix them. If there are unsafe areas of town, the citizen is best advised not to go there, rather than expect the police to ensure a safe environment. If a person becomes a politician or seeks fame, he will get little sympathy if he is badly treated thereafter: he sought the role, and therefore he bought into a bargain that includes loss of privacy, jeopardy to reputation, loss of earnings. The market is inherently unpredictable, so persons become more fatalistic; the nation-state, based on the operations of law rather than the market, gave a sense, perhaps illusory, that expectations would be fulfilled through policy.

In the transition, the nation-state will appear to be doing even worse than it is. Popular appreciation will plummet because the public has been persuaded that the government cannot accomplish anything positive of note. This is partly due to the switch in roles by the media, which retain the credibility of reportage but now also have the mission of opposition. Business activities—and the activities of business leaders—are replacing politics as the central source of news about the welfare of the people.

Absent the threat of war, it is very difficult to believe that the publics will be eager to follow the urgings of their political leaderships to make the sacrifices that states often require. This development will strain the political structures of the great powers to their utmost, making them vulnerable to delegitimation in a crisis. Political leaders may find they are able to inspire a sense of mission only through the shrewd manipulation of the media, a short-lived tactic that ultimately must invite contempt. At the same time, some sectors of the public will become more credulous, more willing to believe preposterous stories about government cover-ups.