Download or read book The democratic illusion Liberal theory and the public sphere as approaches to understand the media s role in democracy written by and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2003-10-07 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject Communications - Media and Politics, Politic Communications, grade: A-80, University of Canterbury (Department of Mass Communication and Journalism), course: Political Economy of Communication, language: English, abstract: The role of the media in democracies is to connect decision makers and voters. The media should thus fulfil a basic position and serve as a foundation for the democratic process. In Rich Media, Poor Democracy R.W. McChesney argues that the media, far from providing a bedrock for freedom and democracy, have become a significant antidemocratic force in the United States and, to varying degrees, worldwide. The variables that have caused this development are the corporate media explosion and the corresponding implosion of public life and culture. M.C. Miller (2001) even states that “the generated monoculture, endlessly and noisily triumphant, offers, by and large, a lot of nothing, whether packaged as ‘the news’ or ‘entertainment’”. Whereas the major beneficiaries are wealthy investors, advertisers and the few leading media conglomerates, this concentrated corporate control is disastrous for any notion of participatory democracy. The text contrasts the two fundamentally different positions of the media’s role in democracy, which are the media in the desirable position as provider of a public sphere in a Habermasian sense, and the media’s role in a liberal theory understanding. By focussing largely on the US media, the prototype of privatization, section two names the most influential corporate powers and presents the influence they exert. Following the description of their independence from any controlling instances, such as the FCC, the text finally points out alternatives which are basically derived from D.W. Mazzocco.
Download or read book Habermas and the Public Sphere written by Craig Calhoun and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1993-03-02 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, scholars from a wide range of disciplines respond to Habermas's most directly relevant work, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. The relationship between civil society and public life is in the forefront of contemporary discussion. No single scholarly voice informs this discussion more than that of Jürgen Habermas. His contributions have shaped the nature of debates over critical theory, feminism, cultural studies, and democratic politics. In this book, scholars from a wide range of disciplines respond to Habermas's most directly relevant work, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. From political theory to cultural criticism, from ethics to gender studies, from history to media studies, these essays challenge, refine, and extend our understanding of the social foundations and changing character of democracy and public discourse. Contributors Hannah Arendt, Keith Baker, Seyla Benhabib, Harry C. Boyte, Craig Calhoun, Geoff Eley, Nancy Fraser, Nicholas Garnham, Jürgen Habermas, Peter Hohendahl, Lloyd Kramer, Benjamin Lee, Thomas McCarthy, Moishe Postone, Mary P. Ryan, Michael Schudson, Michael Warner, David Zaret
Download or read book Deliberation Democracy and the Media written by Simone Chambers and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2000 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interdisciplinary discussion of the ways in which the media is and can be used in the service of deliberative equality within the public sphere--and of the ways in which the media can function to both facilitate and inhibit deliberative democracy. [back cover].
Download or read book The Media Journalism and Democracy written by Margaret Scammell and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-01-17 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title was first published in 2000. Offering original insights into the relationship between media and democratic theory, this volume brings together a renowned collection of international specialists who examine media and democracy, professional journalism, the anatomy of content and the current issues which concern both institutions. Challenging conventional discourse, this comprehensive collection contains the most incisive and informative articles on this fundamental subject.
Download or read book Deliberative Democracy and Beyond Liberals Critics Contestations written by Katherine van Wormer and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2000-04-20 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this ground-breaking study, John Dryzek argues that democratic theory is now dominated by a deliberative approach. As one of those responsible for this turn, John Dryzek now takes issue with the direction it has taken. Discussing the models of democracy advocated by both friends and critics of the deliberative approach, Dryzek shows that democracy should be critical of established power, transitional in extending beyond national boundaries, and dynamic in its openness to changing constraints upon and opportunities for democratization. - ;The past few years have seen a remarkable ferment in the theory of democracy. Deliberative Democracy and Beyond builds on a critical tour through recent democratic theory by one of the leading political theorists in the field. It examines the deliberative turn in democratic theory, which argues that the essence of democratic legitimacy is to be found in authentic deliberations on the part of those affected by a collective decision. The deliberative turn began as a challenge to established institutions and models of democracy, but it has now been largely assimilated by these same institutions and models. Drawing a distinction between liberal constitutionalist deliberative democracy and discursive democracy, the author criticizes the former and advocates the latter. He argues that a defensible theory of democracy should be critical of established power, pluralistic, reflexive in its questioning orientation to established traditions, transnational in its capacity to extend across state boundaries, ecological, and dynamic in its openness to ever-changing constraints upon and opportunities for democratization. Dryzek's reinvigorated approach enables deliberative democracy to respond more effectively to the criticisms that have been leveled against it. - ;Remarkable book ... Dryzek's discussions are unfailingly lucid, and his critical assessments of the literature remain comprehensive and illuminating ... Readers will find much to ponder in what he has to say. - Ethics;The most remarkable and subtle part of Dryzek's argument is his attempt to construct green theory of democratic communication, which takes account of agency and communication in the non-human natural world ... The argument is a bit like crossing a ravine on a bridge of eggshells, and is conducted with considerable intellectual excitement ... Dryzek's discussion is throughout careful, rigorous, detailed, and in dealing with views from which he distinguishes his own position, scrupulously sympathetic. - Democratizaton;This clear and imaginative presentation of recent attempts to make democracy more inclusive than traditional liberal models bounded by the institutions of the state is highly recommended for collections serving upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers. - Choice;Dryzek is a sharp and authoritative critic, and this will be an influential work ... even the sceptical will do well to engage closely with Dryzek's provocative vision. - Political Studies
Download or read book A Private Sphere written by Zizi A. Papacharissi and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-04-23 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Online technologies excite the public imagination with narratives of democratization. The Internet is a political medium, borne of democracy, but is it democratizing? Late modern democracies are characterized by civic apathy, public skepticism, disillusionment with politics, and general disinterest in conventional political process. And yet, public interest in blogging, online news, net-based activism, collaborative news filtering, and online networking reveal an electorate that is not disinterested, but rather, fatigued with political conventions of the mainstream. This book examines how online digital media shape and are shaped by contemporary democracies, by addressing the following issues: How do online technologies remake how we function as citizens in contemporary democracies? What happens to our understanding of public and private as digitalized democracies converge technologies, spaces and practices? How do citizens of today understand and practice their civic responsibilities, and how do they compare to citizens of the past? How do discourses of globalization, commercialization and convergence inform audience/producer, citizen/consumer, personal/political, public/private roles individuals must take on? Are resulting political behaviors atomized or collective? Is there a public sphere anymore, and if not, what model of civic engagement expresses current tendencies and tensions best? Students and scholars of media studies, political science, and critical theory will find this to be a fresh engagement with some of the most important questions facing democracies today.
Download or read book Normative Theories of the Media written by Clifford G Christians and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2010-10-01 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, five leading scholars of media and communication take on the difficult but important task of explicating the role of journalism in democratic societies. Using Fred S. Siebert, Theodore Peterson, and Wilbur Schramm's classic Four Theories of the Press as their point of departure, the authors explore the philosophical underpinnings and the political realities that inform a normative approach to questions about the relationship between journalism and democracy, investigating not just what journalism is but what it ought to be. The authors identify four distinct yet overlapping roles for the media: the monitorial role of a vigilant informer collecting and publishing information of potential interest to the public; the facilitative role that not only reports on but also seeks to support and strengthen civil society; the radical role that challenges authority and voices support for reform; and the collaborative role that creates partnerships between journalists and centers of power in society, notably the state, to advance mutually acceptable interests. Demonstrating the value of a reconsideration of media roles, Normative Theories of the Media provides a sturdy foundation for subsequent discussions of the changing media landscape and what it portends for democratic ideals.
Download or read book Democracy Inc written by David S. Allen and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2010-10-01 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Democracy, Inc., David S. Allen exposes the vested interests behind the U.S. slide toward conflating corporate values with public and democratic values. He argues that rather than being institutional protectors of democratic principles, the press and law perversely contribute to the destruction of public discourse in the United States today. Allen utilizes historical, philosophical, sociological, and legal sources to trace America's gradual embrace of corporate values. He argues that such values, including winning, efficiency, and profitability actually limit democratic involvement by devaluing discursive principles, creating an informed yet inactive public. Through an examination of professionalization in both the press and the law, corporate free speech rights, and free speech as property, Democracy, Inc. demonstrates that today's democracy is more about trying to control and manage citizens than giving them the freedom to participate. Allen not only calls on institutions to reform the way they understand and promote citizenship but also asks citizens to adopt a new ethic of public discourse that values understanding rather than winning.
Download or read book Democracy and Illusion written by John Petrov Plamenatz and published by [London] : Longman. This book was released on 1973 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Remaking Media written by Robert Hackett and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-07-29 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Remaking Media is a unique and timely reading of the contemporary struggle to democratize communication. With a focus on activism directed towards challenging and changing media content, practices and structures, the book explores the burning question: What is the political significance and potential of democratic media activism in the western world today? Taking an innovative approach, Robert Hackett and William Carroll pay attention to an emerging social movement that appears at the cutting edge of cultural and political contention, and ground their work in three scholarly traditions that provide interpretive resources for the study of democratic media activism: political theories of democracy critical media scholarship the sociology of social movements. Remaking Media examines the democratization of the media and the efforts to transform the machinery of representation. Such an examination will prove invaluable not only to media and communication studies students, but also to students of political science.
Download or read book As Democracy Goes So Does Journalism written by Seong Jae Min and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2018-06-18 with total page 127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As Democracy Goes, So Does Journalism: Evolution of Journalism in Liberal, Deliberative, and Participatory Democracy explores the symbiotic relationship between democracy and journalism in an engaging historical narrative. From a liberal to a deliberative and to a participatory model, theories and practices of democracy are constantly looking for better governance. How is journalism evolving to match the vibrant changes in its democratic counterpart? This book suggests that the dominant trustee model of journalism that flourished in liberal democracy has waned; the civic-minded public journalism in deliberative democracy has had ups and downs; and the free-wheeling citizen journalism in participatory democracy is now under the spotlight, whether for its brilliance or ill repute. This book attempts to answer the vital questions facing journalism today, namely its identities, functions, and relationship to democracy and the good life. Scholars and students of journalism as well as the public interested in the past, present, and future of journalism will find this book valuable.
Download or read book The Paradox of Democracy written by Zac Gershberg and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2022-06-16 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A thought-provoking history of communications that challenges ideas about freedom of speech and democracy. At the heart of democracy lies a contradiction that cannot be resolved, one that has affected free societies since their advent: Though freedom of speech and media has always been a necessary condition of democracy, that very freedom is also its greatest threat. When new forms of communication arrive, they often bolster the practices of democratic politics. But the more accessible the media of a society, the more susceptible that society is to demagoguery, distraction, and spectacle. Tracing the history of media disruption and the various responses to it over time, Zac Gershberg and Sean Illing reveal how these changes have challenged democracy—often with unsettling effects. The Paradox of Democracy captures the deep connection between communication and political culture, from the ancient art of rhetoric and the revolutionary role of newspapers to liberal broadcast media and the toxic misinformation of the digital public sphere. With clear-eyed analysis, Gershberg and Illing show that our contemporary debates over media, populism, and cancel culture are not too different from the democratic cultural experiences of the past. As we grapple with a fast-changing, hyper-digital world, they prove democracy is always perched precipitously on a razor’s edge, now as ever before.
Download or read book The Media and the Public Sphere written by Thomas Häussler and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-12-01 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the heart of modern democracy lies the public sphere, which is most centrally shaped by those actors that integrate it discursively: the mass media. The media draw together the different strands of political debates; they grant access to some actors and arguments while excluding others and thus decisively mould the political process. In this book, Thomas Häussler examines how the media reflect and react to the wider context in which they are embedded. More specifically, he focuses on whether their discourse demonstrates systematic differences with regard to the two main public sphere types that they co-constitute, according to deliberative theory, focussing in particular on the work of Jürgen Habermas. The Media and the Public Sphere promotes a deeper and more detailed understanding of the political process by foregrounding the complex relationships between the media and the public discourse they constitute. It examines how the media co-create relationships of power, analyses the structure of these discursive networks and illuminates the effects that different deliberative coalition types have on political debates.
Download or read book Deliberative Democracy and Beyond written by John S. Dryzek and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Around 1990 democratic theory took a strong deliberative turn. In its wake, the essence of democracy is now widely understood to be the ability of all those affected by a collective decision to participate in deliberation about the decision. The deliberative turn began as a challenge toestablished institutions and models of democracy, but it has now been largely assimilated by these same institutions and models. Drawing a distinction between liberal constitutionalist deliberative democracy and discursive democracy, the author criticizes the former and advocates the latter. Heargues that a defensible theory of democracy should be critical in its orientation to established power, pluralistic in embracing the necessity to communicate across difference without erasing difference, reflexive in its questioning orientation to established traditions (including the tradition ofdeliberative democracy itself), transnational in its capacity to extend across state boundaries, ecological in terms of openness to communication with non-human nature, and dynamic in its openness to ever-changing constraints upon and opportunities for democratization. Refusing confinement to theconstitutional surface of the liberal state, this re-invigorated approach enables deliberative democracy to respond more effectively to the criticisms that have been leveled against it. Through encounters with these critics and their own models of democracy, Dryzek develops an account thatemphasizes the contestation of discourses in networks in the public sphere, and shows how such contestation can influence and constitute collective decisions.
Download or read book Can the Media Serve Democracy written by S. Coleman and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-12-05 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This landmark collection brings leading scholars in the field of political communication to debate one of the most important questions of our age: Can the media serve democracy? For the media to be democratic, they must enter into a positive relationship with their readers, viewers and listeners as citizens rather than consumers who buy things, audiences who gaze upon spectacles or isolated egos, obsessed with themselves. The media's first task is to remind people that they are inhabitants of a world in which they can make a difference. By enabling citizens to encounter and make sense of events, relationships and cultures of which they have no direct experience, the media constitute a public arena in which members of the public come together as more than passing strangers.
Download or read book Media Democracy written by Thomas Meyer and published by Polity. This book was released on 2002-11-08 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his controversial new book, Thomas Meyer argues that the media are transforming traditional party democracy into 'media democracy'. Political elites submit to the mass media's formulas in the hope of salvaging some influence over their public images. The media thus colonize politics, and the politicans' self-interest turns them into accomplices. Politics and the media have formed a partnership to conduct their main business: adopting well-tested formulas from the theatre to media productions. The public begins to respond to politics as an aesthetic phenomenon, losing sight of the principles that make political action unique and sustain autonomy and democracy. Real power in the media is wielded by an iron triangle committed to the media's logic of up-to-the-minute reportage: media-savvy political elites, pollsters and media executives. Democratic politics with its slow-paced processes has traditionally relied on parties, intermediary actors and the institutions of representative government, but all have been banished to the periphery today. Meyer shows how media democracy has replaced deliberation - once the lifeblood of democratic public life - with pseudo-plebiscites. Nevertheless, deliberative procedures could regain some influence through local civic participation and a thorough reform of the communicative culture of the mass media. Meyer argues that the culture of the media should be transformed in ways that would serve democracy, enabling citizens to deepen their understanding of political realities. This powerful critique of media democracy will be of great interest to students of politics and the media and to anyone concerned with the impact of the media on public life.
Download or read book The Press and the Decline of Democracy written by Robert Picard and published by Praeger. This book was released on 1985-12-06 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author discusses the role of economic concentration in limiting public access to information and reducing opportunities for public discourse. Picard examines the government policies that have contributed to the erosion of democratic participation and have permitted the growth of large commercial press entities, unobstructed by anti-trust provisions. He relates recent public policy responses to this problem to democratic socialist ideology and develops a social-democratic theory of the press which draws upon ideas and policies found throughout the Western world. Picard provides a democratic framework for understanding the changing nature of media economics and state-press relations and offers proposals for achieving both a democratically functioning press and broader popular participation.
