Democracy in the Contemporary World: The Role of Media - Essay Sample

Introduction

Many sovereign countries exercise democracy around the contemporary world. Democracy can be described as a government system where voting is the main form of exercising power from the citizens. Citizens can directly vote and have their say on a particular issue, or they can subsequently vote in representatives that are expected to communicate the needs and beliefs of the citizens that elected them. The mainstream media is very critical and significant in ensuring that democracy is maintained in a nation. Due to this reason, the mainstream media under the First Amendment was given special protection, that excluded it from control by other external bodies (Coronel, Pg. 32). However, the media in the United States of America nowadays has been condemned for omissions, inaccuracy, bias and distortion of news, which altogether undermine the role that mainstream media plays in maintaining a free society. In light of this, this paper aims at discussing how mainstream media in the United States of America undermines democracy and how it has become an "enemy of the people", as President Trump dubbed it.

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How Media Undermines Democracy in the U.S

Heated controversial debates have occurred over this issue of media and its impact on democracy. Mainstream media for instance, in established democratic countries, base their operations on market principles, a factor that usually makes the media platforms disregard their democratic duties. As a result, this affects democracy in the United States of America by leading to apathy, ignorance, and cynicism concerning citizens. The media malaise theory is a crucial theory that explains further this limitation of media, in its role of ensuring it maintains a free society. In the United States of America, the media always discuss scandals, drama, and conflicts which are meant to attract the attention of the viewer. There is the absence of the fair coverage of news around the country (Schuck, Pg. 1). Due to their aim of maximizing the wealth of its shareholders, which is the primary goal of any business, the media usually omits fair news coverage and covers "bad" news that would attract viewership hence leading to improved profits for the media company. As a result of specific news coverage, news that involves scandals, citizens of the United States of America are always left in a state of confusion. The good things are untold by media platforms. Therefore, instead of the media preaching the good intention that would maintain democracy in the country, they champion bad deeds in their news coverage that spur cruel intentions amongst the citizens, a factor that disrupts the free society.

The second factor that makes mainstream media in the United States of America to undermine democracy is mediacracy. Mediacracy is a concept that explains the dependence that exists between the journalists, or rather the media platforms, and the politicians, for example. In a democratic society, citizens require free media to report to them on the activities of the politician to grade their competencies. Most journalists are therefore required to link to the politicians, a factor that usually leads to biased news (Jebril, Stetka, and Loveless, Pg. 25). The journalists on the hand require the politicians to build up their curriculum vitae and enable them to gather the attention of many citizens. As a result of this mediacracy, false information can be made between the journalist and the politician that would at times mislead the citizens of the United States of America. Therefore, mediacracy can be explained to suppress and oppress the plain reality that should be viewed by citizens interested in the line of news covered by a certain journalist. There is also hindering of vital aspects of information that could help the viewers have sound judgments regarding particular matters in society. When the judgment of citizens is clouded by wrong information, wrong decisions can be made that would be regretted later. The latter hence affects the democratic rights of the citizens.

Opposing Opinions

Some who oppose the arguments covered in this paper base their discussions on the mobilization perspective. Mobilization theorists have explained that media malaise imposes high expectations on the media and the citizens. However, the mobilization theorists think that the media is crucial in the information they give to the citizens that help them evaluate the democratic position of the country. Civic engagement is therefore discussed to be realized when the media is informing the citizens. Mobilization theorists also discuss how media inform the citizens on instances when their rights are in danger, or even when their rights have been infringed on (Coronel, Pg. 32). As a result, these theorists explain that the media is vital in maintaining a free society.

On the contrary, it has been discussed of how media provides false information to the citizens, provided profits are generated for their shareholders at the end of the day. It is therefore difficult to know when the media is providing information that is true or false. Citizens need to be literate to ensure that they understand the media operations and can classify for themselves what news is valid and what news is invalid.

Recommendations for Democracy Maintenance in the U.S

Education is the main key to democracy maintenance in the United States of America. Education would make the citizens literate, and this would help them analyze the truth or falseness of news presented in different media platforms (Corrales, Pg. 53). Literate people would also foster for actions to be taken against any media platforms that provide false information to the citizens. This would keep the mainstream media platforms on toes, and they would give accurate information, that would inform the citizens and help them make informed judgements and decisions. As a result, the press would be responsible for the maintenance of a free society.

Secondly, a regulatory body should be set to evaluate the authenticity of the news that mainstream media reports. The press has been free from any external body, and they might be using their independence to their advantage as they are not accountable to anybody. However, if a regulatory body is established, media companies would be responsible for what they report, and they would be keen not to mislead the citizens of the country (Jebril, Stetka, and Loveless, Pg. 40). In doing this, democracy would be realized as media organizations would be keen on ensuring they are informing the citizens instead of misleading them.

Conclusion

It is evident that the media has become an "enemy of the people" in recent times due to inaccurate news and misinforming the citizens of the United States of America. The media was made free from external organizations to make sure that they inform the citizens without intimidation and maintain a democratic society. However, the media is using this to its advantage to spread wrong news with the aim of increased viewership that increases the profits of the organization. To mitigate this, a regulatory body should be set in place as mentioned in the previous section of the essay. In doing this, the media would be keen on their reports and would help maintain the democratic rights of the people of America.

Works Cited

Coronel, Sheila S. "The Role of the Media in Deepening Democracy ." Attacks on the Press (2011): 23.

Corrales, Javier. "undermining Democracy." Freedom House (2009): 94.

Jebril, Nael, Vaclav Stetka, and Matthew Loveless. "Media and Democratisation: What is Known about the Role of Mass Media in Transitions to Democracy." University of Oxford (2013): 53.

Schuck, Andreas R. T. "Media Malaise and Political Cynicism." Annual Review of Political Science (2017): 21.