10 - The mass media

Summary

The role of the mass media in modern democracy is one of the most controversial topics in politics. Politicians are usually locked in a ‘love–hate’ relationship with the political media, and the media seem to play an ever-larger part in political life. Political scientists dispute whether the mass media are powerful or not, and whether their impact on politics is good or bad for democracy:

• On the one hand, the mass media are supposed to play a crucial role in supplying citizens with a full and fair account of the news and a wide range of political opinion about it.

• On the other hand, the media are often criticised for being systematically biased politically, and for their growing but unaccountable power.

In theory, a free press and television should be the watchdogs of democratic politics; in practice, some analysts believe they are as much a threat to democratic government as a protector of it.

The dilemmas posed by the modern media raise all sorts of political problems. What is the proper role of the media in democracy, and do they perform in the appropriate manner? Given their political importance, how should they be organised? They should certainly not come under the control of government because that would be undemocratic, and this leaves two main alternatives:

• They could come under the regulation of public bodies not controlled by the government, to keep them accountable and responsible to the general public

• Or they could be constrained only by the economic forces of the market.

To what extent are the mass media pluralist – in the hands of many owners who communicate a wide range of political opinion – or are they increasingly under the control of a few conservative media moguls and MNCs?