Freedom of the Press: an Empirical Analysis of One Aspect of the Concept

Abstract

A selected sub-set of variables for which data were collected in Lowen stein's PICA project was factor analyzed to assess unidimensionality. The sub-set included those variables relating to the theoretically unidimensional concept of government pressures on the press. Included in this category were 15 of the original 23 variables. A one-factor solution was obtained, with 70 per cent of the total variance account ed for by this one factor. Loadings ranged from -.70 to -.94. This indicates that all of the variables included in the analysis are strongly related to the underlying dimension of government pressures on the press. Factor scores were computed for the 94 countries. These scores agreed closely in rank with an intuitive judgment of degree of government pressures on the press in these countries. This result provides additional confirmation for the validity of the factor analysis solution. These press freedom scores could prove useful in comparative studies of the genesis and effects of variations in press freedom They might also have special value in the study of a number of topics in comparative government and in social development. Further research is necessary to determine the generality of the findings in terms of variables included, countries included, and time period in which data are collected. A number of other suggestions for research are given.