According to this social responsibility theory, the press has a moral obligation to consider the overall needs of society when making journalistic decisions in order to produce the greatest good.
Though there had been journalism "codes of ethics" for decades, the commission's report was considered landmark by some scholars; they believed it was a pivotal reassertion of modern media's role in a democratic society.
Critics contended that the media had monopolistic tendencies, that corporate owners were not concerned with the rights or interests of those unlike themselves, and that commercialization produced a debased culture as well as dangerously selfish politics.
Social-responsibility theory thus proposes that the media take it upon themselves to elevate society's standards, providing citizens with the information they need to govern themselves.
[5] Some scholars (among them John C. Nerone) have speculated whether journalistic fairness and balance already existed prior to the Commission's report.