Abstract
Today, the permanent and instantaneous flow of information pass through a wide range of channels, called 'the media'. There are two types of channels: print media (e.g. newspapers) and broadcast media (e.g. television, radio). It is precisely the capacity to create information, that is at the very heart of the issue of power of the media. What is the exact political role of the news media? The media is an instrument of major importance for the citizens who must control their government and grant it legitimacy. Therefore, the existence of the media is constituent of a free and democratic society. However, the media is not only a sum of mediums, it is also a political actor. The way a topic is chosen, treated and presented to the audience implies a lot of political choices, when there are at the same time a painful war where civilians are dying and a terrible economic crisis, choosing one of these events to be in the headlines of a newspaper is indeed a choice. That is why newspapers, and more generally the media, are called the 'fourth estate', or, more unequivocally, the 'fourth power'. But is the media really a power in the sense that it could make an event happen or prevail over an individual despite his or her resistance? If it is, who is deciding the use of this power, and over whom is this power exercised?
