role of media in democracy essay pdf

Comparing Mass Media in Established Democracies pp 35–60 Cite as

The Functions of the Media for Democracy

• Lisa Müller  

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Part of the book series: Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century series ((CDC))

Normative standards or roles that define how institutions which hold a specific function in society should operate serve well as benchmarks to evaluate their actual performance (McQuail 1992: 17; Norris and Odugbemi 2010: 12). Hence, this chapter aims to clarify the normative standards of democratic media performance in order to avoid the ‘theoretical vacuum’ of many previous comparative media studies (Hallin and Mancini 2012b: 214). In other words, to carry out a systematic analysis of mass media’s contribution to democracy, it is first of all necessary to identify the functions that media are supposed to fulfill in a democracy. This further requires specifying how the media’s compliance with such functions manifests itself in reality, that is, how their democratic performance can be empirically observed.

• Public Sphere
• Content Level
• Media Outlet
• News Coverage
• Public Forum

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© 2014 Lisa Müller

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Müller, L. (2014). The Functions of the Media for Democracy. In: Comparing Mass Media in Established Democracies. Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137391384_3

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137391384_3

Publisher Name : Palgrave Macmillan, London

Print ISBN : 978-1-349-48293-1

Online ISBN : 978-1-137-39138-4

eBook Packages : Palgrave Political Science Collection Political Science and International Studies (R0)

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Essay on Role of Media in Democracy

Students are often asked to write an essay on Role of Media in Democracy in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Role of Media in Democracy

Introduction.

Media is a pillar of democracy. It informs the public, promotes transparency, and encourages citizen participation.

Media as an Informer

Media informs citizens about the activities of government. It helps people make informed decisions during elections.

Media and Transparency

Media exposes corruption and misuse of power. It holds leaders accountable, ensuring they serve public interest.

Media and Participation

Through debates and discussions, media encourages citizens to participate in democratic processes. It gives voice to the voiceless.

In a democracy, media plays a crucial role. It ensures power remains with the people, upholding democratic values.

250 Words Essay on Role of Media in Democracy

Media, often hailed as the ‘Fourth Pillar’ of democracy, plays a pivotal role in shaping a healthy democracy. It is the backbone of a democracy, as it helps shape public opinion and influence the direction in which a society progresses.

Media as a Watchdog

Media’s primary role in a democracy is to act as a watchdog. It ensures the government’s accountability and transparency, scrutinizing its policies and decisions. By exposing corruption, inefficiency, and injustice, it empowers citizens to demand better governance.

Media as a Platform for Dialogue

Media also facilitates a healthy exchange of ideas, opinions, and criticisms. It provides a platform where different viewpoints can be expressed and heard, fostering a culture of debate and discussion, which is integral to a thriving democracy.

The Role of Media in Elections

Media’s role becomes particularly significant during elections. By providing comprehensive and unbiased information about candidates, their policies, and their performance, media allows voters to make informed choices, strengthening the electoral process.

Challenges and Conclusion

However, the power of media also poses challenges. Issues like fake news, media bias, and sensationalism can undermine its role in a democracy. Thus, it is crucial to promote media literacy, ethics, and regulations to ensure that media continues to serve as a pillar of democracy. Despite these challenges, it is undeniable that media plays a critical role in the functioning and preservation of democracy.

500 Words Essay on Role of Media in Democracy

Media is often referred to as the fourth pillar of democracy, the other three being the legislative, executive, and judiciary. It plays an indispensable role in the functioning of a democratic society by facilitating free speech and promoting transparency.

The Role of Media in Ensuring Transparency

In a democratic setup, media acts as a watchdog, keeping a vigilant eye on the actions of the government and other public figures. It investigates, exposes, and challenges any instances of corruption, malpractice, or abuse of power. By reporting on such issues, the media ensures accountability and transparency, thereby strengthening the democratic fabric of the society.

Media as a Platform for Debate and Discussion

Media also provides a platform for public debate and discussion. It encourages the exchange of ideas, opinions, and perspectives, which is crucial for the democratic process. Through news, talk shows, and panel discussions, media allows diverse viewpoints to be heard, fostering a culture of tolerance and mutual respect.

Media and Voter Awareness

One of the key roles of the media in a democracy is to educate the electorate. The media disseminates information about the policies and performances of political parties, enabling voters to make informed decisions. It also raises awareness about the importance of voting and the electoral process, thereby promoting political participation.

Media and Social Change

Media can also be a powerful tool for social change. By highlighting social issues and injustices, it can mobilize public opinion and spur collective action. Media campaigns on issues like gender discrimination, environmental conservation, and human rights have played a significant role in bringing about societal transformations.

Challenges and the Way Forward

Despite its crucial role, the media in a democracy faces several challenges. These include issues like media bias, sensationalism, and the influence of corporate and political interests. To overcome these challenges, there is a need for stringent regulations to ensure media independence and objectivity. Media literacy should also be promoted to enable the public to critically analyze media content.

In conclusion, the role of media in a democracy is multifaceted and profound. It ensures transparency, facilitates debate, educates the electorate, and drives social change. Despite the challenges it faces, the media remains a vital instrument in upholding the principles of democracy. Through its diligent execution of these roles, the media can help in the creation of a more informed, engaged, and equitable society.

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The Role of Social Media in Shaping Political Discourse and Propaganda

2023, Science For All Publications

The essay discusses the increasing use of social media by politicians, political parties, and governments to connect with constituents and influence public opinion. While social media provides advantages like greater political engagement and direct communication, it also raises concerns about the dissemination of misinformation, hate speech, and propaganda. The spread of false information and biased narratives on social media has led to division and mistrust in political discourse. To address these challenges, the essay suggests implementing best practices, such as promoting media literacy, supporting fact-checking organizations, encouraging diverse voices, and holding social media companies accountable. By working together, regulators and social media platforms can ensure that social media remains a positive force in shaping democratic processes.

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Devan Saraf

Since the US elections in 2008 the close connection between Social Media and political communication has been brought to the fore. The effective role that Social Media has been made to play once again in the 2012 US elections and its conscious or unconscious replication in the 2014 Indian elections reaffirmed its significance in contemporary political communication. Scholars have confirmed that political candidates are increasingly turning to Social Network Sites (SNS) to persuade voters and that these sites have become prominent sources of political information. Political Communication as a field of study has been about the role of communication in the political process. This paper would like to focus entirely on Social Media as a tool in the political process. Political communication has its beginnings during and between the World Wars. There are various types of political communication and political media. Among the political media the Social Media seems to be the most widely used in contemporary political process. The three main elements of political communication are: ideology, propaganda and persuasion. The deployment of Social Media in putting forth one's or party's ideology, propagating one's or party's agenda, and persuading the voter is widespread as never before. Many scholars including Walter Lippmann doubted the efficacy of media in public enlightenment that democracy requires. For, they thought that media cannot tell the truth objectively. Harold Lasswell too took note of the tendency of media propaganda to dupe and degrade the voters. His work expressed the fear of propaganda. This view was partly based on the direct effects theories of media. Similar fear about the Social Media is lurking in the minds of many today. To camouflage such fear political spin doctors might employ political Public Relations. Political spin doctors are press agents or publicists employed to promote favourable interpretations to journalists. They also weave reports of factual events into palatable stories. The case for political public relations is that it enables paternalism, pluralism, and pragmatism. But there is also a case against it in that it leads to news management and spin, corporatism in politics, and 'enlightened self-interest'. The increasing availability of internet even in remote parts of the world has made Social Media a virtual public sphere enabling e-democracy. This has enabled people to read into the official messages (media text/content) that are being sent, interpret them, and draw conclusions for themselves. This is a limitation of media in general, which applies also to the Social Media. From this some scholars argue for the limited impact of the media. In this connection a fundamental question that is being raised is about the validity and sustainability of social networks as a campaign tool: How much do users trust the information they find there? Besides, although accessibility to internet has been on the increase worldwide still there is the 'digital divide'. This tends to limit the effectiveness of Social Media 2 as a tool of political communication among the digital have-nots. Besides, most political communication is directed to and received by men. Thus there is a gender divide too as far as political communication is concerned.

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Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology

Dr. Kaja J . Fietkiewicz

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The last two election years, (2008 and 2012), in the United States (US), social media has played an important role in the presidential elections. Social media experts have marveled at the extent to which President Obama and his campaign team used social media to promote and generate interest among young students and adults alike during the 2008 and 2012 election campaigns. The social media activities of the Obama team transformed politics into a whole new category and changed the dynamics of politics challenging the status quo. In the 2008 and 2012 US presidential elections, we realized that traditional campaigns in the form of rallies and town hall meetings were no longer enough to win elections. In order to win elections, garner support and spread information, politicians will now need to combine new media as well as some of the traditional campaign tactics to win elections. This paper will look at the role social media played in the US presidential elections in 2008 and 2012 and still playing in politics. The paper will also look at the role and effects of social media in the near future on politics and elections as a whole.

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Gunn Enli , Hallvard Moe

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Yılmaz DAŞLI

The gradual development of technology at first introduced us to the internet and then social media networks. Social networks have shown that while they were used for socializing and entertainment purposes, as they first appeared, it can be used in different subjects, especially in politics anymore. When compared to traditional mass media, it is obvious that social media has positive and negative aspects. The most positive aspect that can be said here is that it can gather large masses in a short time. Benefitting from the advantages of the Internet, social media provides people with unlimited freedom. Of course, such a limitless freedom can sometimes be limited by censorship. As individuals have various applications in social media networks, their self-confidence starts to rise to a high level. Because this area provides an environment to prove themselves. The use of social media by many people including politicians can no longer lead to the elimination of traditional media. Politicians demanding to reach young audiences and ensure their confidence makes both sides to become closer to using social media. The use of internet and social media in every branch of politics is attractive in terms of the opportunities it offers and increases its attractiveness day by day. It can be said that to reach hundreds or even thousands of people by means of a single message to make propaganda, for politicians it is a unique place where time and space is not limited. The same condition is true for the other group, which itself has the right to speak on social networks, to make comments, and to get ideas about the politicians as voters who will vote for them, increases the use of social media.

Sebastián Valenzuela

This course will cover current research, theory and methodology in the area of social media and politics, with particular emphasis on individual-level effects. We will adopt an international perspective, including research published in English conducted both in the Global North and South. We will discuss research from communication, political science, social psychology and computer science to address questions such as: Do social media influence what people know and think about politics? What are the affordances of different social media that matter for political engagement? How does misinformation and conspiracies spread online and influence our political beliefs? What are the effects of informal political conversations held on Facebook and Twitter? Do social media promote cross-cutting exposure or self-reinforcing echo chambers? In which ways governments are reacting to citizens’ activities on social media? When addressing these questions, we will pay particular attention to new theoretical concepts, the variety of methods employed to study social media and politics, and cross-national differences and similarities in published findings.

Political Communication in the Republic of Ireland

Martin G Molony

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