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  • Essay / How Mass Media Promotes Democracy - 1495

    Ebony Booth 4726601Explain the function of mass media in promoting democracy. How successful do you think the media are in fulfilling this function? Give TWO reasons for your view. The conditions contributing to democracy have evolved considerably since the idea's formation in ancient Greece, when only a limited number of citizens participated. Today, millions of people are involved in the democratic processes of their countries and, as a result, the processes surrounding democracy have also changed. The sustainability of modern democracy requires that the media connect those in power and the people. It is assumed that the function of the media is to promote democracy. Thinkers have divergent views on how the media supports democracy. This essay explores the failure of the media to promote democracy. Different interpretations of the function that the media play in promoting democracy become problematic when evaluating the success of these functions. Jacob Rowbottom identifies the functions as: acting as a public watchdog while providing various information and ideas (2010, pp. 609). According to Strömbäck, there are three functions: preserving the flow of information, providing a forum for discussion of diverse and contradictory political ideas; and act as a public watchdog against abuse of power (2005, pp. 332). Trappe & Maniglio formulate functions from the democratic principles of freedom, equality, control and inclusion of Stromback's ideas. The flow of information develops from the principles of freedom, public forum of diverse ideas and mediation of interests; arises from notions of equality and public surveillance against abuse of power arises from the control and transparency desired in democracy (2009, pp. 177-178). Two predominant functions in all the definitions presented are the role of the media, which acts as public watchdogs and provides diverse and translucent information. The public oversight body “…performs its democratic function in governing government and other publics. A study by Trappe & Maniglio in developed countries found that media commercialization has a negative impact on support for democracy “…the media, mainly driven by consumerist approaches, have gradually abandoned the public service mission of journalism. (2009 p. 197). The public service model sees the role of media as providing different viewpoints to a wide audience, allowing citizens to interact with information they were previously unaware of or might disagree with (Rowbottom 2010, pp. 614). The public service model promotes diversity of views, as has already been recognized, this function is essential to support democratic ideas. Abandoning the public service model of journalism allows certain ideas to become dominant in mass media in order to increase profits, but this can be disastrous for democracy. This can be demonstrated in Lithuania where “…the influence of powerful institutions is comparably high…” (Trappe & Maniglio, 2009 pp.197). Therefore, Lithuania achieved the lowest score in equality and interest mediation, at only 60% in Trappe & Maniglio's study on media monitoring (2009 p. 197). Another change in mass media identified by Trappe & Maniglio is that the countries Lithuania and Portugal suffer from a lack of investment in resources for investigative reporting (Trappe & Maniglio, 2009 pp.197). The consequences of the lack of