Media and the public sphere

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Among the institutions that contribute to the make-up of a public sphere in
society, the media perhaps perform the most critical function. In the
transactions in the public sphere, the media are not a neutral participant
or an impassioned chronicler. Instead they are either a legitimiser of the
status quo or an innovator of the existing social equilibrium. The conflict
or collaboration of the media with forces that attempt to colonise the
public sphere materialises in this context. The mutual relationship between
the state and the media, either as oppositional or as complementary, is
influenced, among others, by the nature of intervention of the state in the
public sphere. The former goes back to the 18th century when the Bengal
Gazette trained its guns on the British administration and was mauled in the
process. Since then, the endeavour of the press to imbue the public space
with a critical culture has been consistently curtailed by the state, both
by legislative interventions and by administrative interference.

Source:
http://www.hindu.com/2004/01/12/stories/2004011201571000.htm