Functionalist (mode of media analysis)A B C D E F G H IJKL M N O P R S T U VXYZWempowered to say ‘No’, though in many straight-
forward cases the service is free.
The Act also created the role of Freedom
of Information Commissioner but drew back
from granting him or her independent powers,
subjecting the Commissioner’s actions to the
will of government ministers. A notable case
of ongoing censorship and resistence to open
government was New Labour’s refusal through
2004 and 2005 to make public the advice off ered
to Cabinet by Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney
General, on the legality or otherwise of the inva-
sion and occupation of Iraq in 2003. See human
rights act (uk), 2000; icelandic modern
media initiative (immi); regulation of
investigatory powers act (ripa)(uk), 2000;
surveillance; terrorism: anti-terrorism,
crime and security act (uk), 2001. See also
topic guide under media: freedom, censor-
ship.
Frequency In a non-technical sense, and as used
in relation to the media, frequency is the degree
of repetition of topics of news or information in
the press, on radio or TV. Th e more frequently
a topic inhabits news headlines and news stories,
the more likely it is to continue to do so; to be
defi ned and accepted as ‘important’, and to have
media impact.
Negative frequency operates when stories are
overlooked, or edged to the margins of attention.
Consequently they rarely have the chance either
to improve their status as news or impart the full
weight of their argument. Th e term may also be
used to refer to the way in which news items fi t
the frequency – the time scale – of the mode of
communication. See consistency; effects
of the mass media; immediacy; intensity;
news values.
Front See self-presentation.
Front region, back region See impression
management.
Functionalist (mode of media analysis)
Interprets social behaviour in terms of its
contribution to the assumed overall goals of
society, recognizing a consensus within soci-
ety of common norms and values. Th e main
focus of functionalist analysis is upon the ways
in which social systems maintain equilibrium.
A functionalist would consider any social or
cultural element in relation to its contribution
to the survival, integration or stability of society.
Th e communication process features as a major
component in the ‘servicing’ of equilibrium.
Structural functionalism, a mode of analysis
developed by US sociologist Talcott Parsons,
identifies common features of a complexaudience: active audience; cultivation;
cultural apparatus; dominant discourse.
See also topic guide under communication
theory.
▶Rolf Wiggershaus, Th e Frankfurt School: Its History,
Theories and Political Significance (Polity Press,
paperback edition, 1995).
Freedom of Information Act (UK), 2005 Th e
right of access by citizens to information of
public interest is enshrined in legislation in many
countries, in particular the United States. In the
UK in 1994 the Conservative government under
John Major took a tentative step towards creat-
ing a degree of open government with its Code of
Practice on Access to Government Information.
In opposition, the Labour government made no
secret of its intention to end secret government,
the future Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair
promising that a Freedom of Information Act,
should Labour be elected, would ‘signal a new
relationship between government and people; a
relationship which sees the public as legitimate
stakeholders in the running of the country’. Th e
basis of this relationship was to be freedom of
information.
Once elected, the New Labour government
delayed implementing FOI (Freedom of Infor-
mation) legislation, eventually producing an
Act which a UK Guardian leader of 31 Decem-
ber 2004, described as ‘a pale shadow of the
1997 white paper’, Your Right to Know. Th e Act,
which became law at midnight on 31 December
2004, gives the public rights of access to parlia-
ment, government departments, local authori-
ties, the National Health Service and education,
but not the security services or the courts.
Coming into force at the same time as the Act
were Environmental Information Regulations
(EIRs), implementing an EU directive freeing-
up previously closely guarded information
about the environment and increased rights of
access under the data protection act (uk),
1984.
A welcome step towards more open govern-
ment, the Act nevertheless is cluttered with
exemptions. Th e provision of information can be
denied if it is likely to prejudice interests such as
international relations, defence, the enforcement
of the law, economic and commercial interests.
As the Guardian leader points out, ‘about 75
of the disclosures in the Hutton and Butler
enquiries ... would not be permitted under the
new law’. See hutton report (uk), 2004.
Freedom of information does not come
cheaply. If the cost of finding and extracting
information exceeds set limits, the authority is