Autonomy: Independence from Government

This entry provides an introduction to journalistic autonomy, focusing on independence from government. The entry starts by discussing what is meant by journalistic autonomy, followed by a description of the two main normative traditions which argue for the importance of autonomy: the libertarian tradition and the social responsibility tradition. Governments might guarantee or limit journalistic autonomy in three ways: through the legal environment, through the political environment, or through economic measures. Empirical research focuses on cross‐national differences in autonomy across democracies, authoritarian regimes, and transitional democracies. Research has shown that even when journalists perceive limited political influence from government, news content often strongly reflects the agenda put forward by government. Directions for future research are discussed.