State media

State media or state-owned media is media for mass communication which is "controlled financially and editorially by the state." These news outlets may be the sole media outlet or may exist in competition with corporate and non-corporate media.

State media is not to be confused with public-sector media, which is "funded directly or indirectly by the state, but over which the state does not have tight editorial control."

Overview

The term state media is primarily understood in contrast to corporate media, and occasionally non-corporate independent news, which has no direct control from any political party. Its content, according to some sources, is usually more prescriptive, telling the audience what to think, particularly as it is under no pressure to attract high ratings or generate advertising revenue and therefore may cater to the forces in control of the state as opposed to the forces in control of the corporation, as described in the propaganda model of the mass media. In more controlled regions, the state may censor content which it deems illegal, immoral or unfavourable to the government and likewise regulate any programming related to the media; therefore, it is not independent of the governing party. In this type of environment, journalists may be required to be members or affiliated with the ruling party, such as in the former Soviet Union or North Korea. Within countries that have high levels of government interference in the media, it may use the state press for propaganda purposes: