Normative Theory
A
normative media theory explains how a media system should
operate in order to conform to or
realize a set of ideal social values.
what
is real or knowable about a media system is real or knowable only for the
specific social system in which that system exists. Its epistemology, how
knowledge is developed and advanced, is based in comparative analysis—we
can only judge (and therefore understand) the worth of a given media system in
comparison to the ideal espoused by the particular social system in which it
operates.
Finally,
normative theory’s axiology is, by definition, value-laden.
Study of a media system or parts of a media
system is undertaken in the explicit belief that there is an ideal mode of
operation based in the values of the social system. Theorists interested in the
press’s role in a democracy would most likely employ normative theory.
Source: Baron and Davis
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