The Media and Liberal Democracy - Report Example

The Media & Liberal democracy The modern media, which includes television, newspapers, radio and the internet, has evolved dramatically in the past quarter century and has also radically transformed the ways in which the news is reported. Accordingly in the United Kingdom, televisions and computers are nearly ubiquitous in the average British household. While less than a century ago most received their news from the radio waves of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), today televisions and computers have altered the ways in which information is disseminated. In spite of the tremendous entertainment value of television, the internet, and other forms of mass media, there is a direct relationship between a strong and unencumbered media and the strength of liberal democracy. Accordingly, news organisations such as the BBC, The Guardian and The Times of London are just some of the organisations which keep checks and balances on the authority of elected officials. In a liberal democracy, access to a plurality, as well as a divergence, of opinions is essential for the system to function. While television and the internet have dramatically superseded the importance of other forms of media such as newspapers and the radio in the 21st century, each aspect of the free media contributes to the proper functioning of the democratic system of governance. According to Brian McNair, "the gradual extension since the early 19th century of voting rights to wider and wider sections of the population, combined with the emergence of media of mass communication, has fundamentally transformed the nature of the political process” (2004, p. xiiii). What is the relationship between democracy and the media? Seeking to understand the inherent role that the media plays in stimulating democratic forms of governance, Marie Scammell, in an article in Media Politics, explored the media’s relationship to democracy. According to this writer, the media plays a central role in the proper functioning of democracy. Furthermore, "the existence of a free, robust and accurate press is essential for a democratic society (2005, p. 1). Following this perspective, the watchdog function of the media is an essential attribute of the media but not its sole function. According to the ideas behind representative democracy, the medias roles are multiple. They include the "1) provision of accurate and important information, a 2) watchdog over the state/government, and 3) representation of the spectrum of public opinion." (Scammell, 2005). This assignment now turns to an overview of the media as a watchdog and the important roles that the media plays is its watchdog role as part of the democratic political process. In a liberal democracy, the media plays the important role of watchdog. For example, the American invasion of Iraq was largely justified on the grounds that Saddam Hussein had provided support to the terrorists who had participated in the horrendous attacks of September 11th 2001 and that Iraq was also harboring weapons of mass destruction. One cannot easily forget American Secretary of State Colin Powell’s presentation to the United Nations’ Security Council justifying the American invasion of that country on the grounds that weapons of mass destruction were being warehoused in rural Iraq. With seemingly irrefutable evidence, Colin Powell told the world that Saddam Hussein represented a serious threat to US interests and that the threat emanating from Baghdad was real and apparent. Decisive action was needed and American Secretary of State Powell showed the world exactly what the Iraqi leader was supposedly hiding from inspectors with giant blowup of the aerial evidence showing Saddam Husseins illegal weapons cache. Of course we now know that such evidence or “proof” of Saddam Husseins weapons cache was false and that Iraq in fact did not have any weapons of mass distraction. At the time however, many people in the United States as well as around the world believed their political leaders and adamantly felt that weapons of mass destruction were being warehoused in Iraq. According to the BBC in 2003, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was “certain over Iraq weapons” and Foreign Minister Jack Straw stated that there was “unquestionable evidence” for the existence of weapons of mass distraction in Iraq. According to a survey again conducted by the British Broadcasting Corporation that year, 63% of those who were polled felt that British Prime Minister Tony Blair misled the public and a further 43% felt that the war in Iraq was not justified (Blair certain over, 2003). As we all know today, weapons of mass destruction were never found in Iraq and what was arguably the most important impetus for the invasion in 2003 turned out to be false. How do we now know that weapons of mass destruction did not in fact exist? Thanks to the media and the important role that it played ensuring that our political leaders are accountable for their actions, we now know the truth. Additionally, the media acted as watchdog and ensured that political actors, in this case the American and British governments were responsible to their respective electorates. This scandal was one of the most embarrassing moments of the George W. Bush administration and forever tarnished the reputation of all who were involved in this political charade. The global media, from the British Broadcasting Corporation to CNN and the Globe and Mail, played an important, and oft-neglected, role in ensuring the accountability of elected officials and bringing both the Bush and Blair administrations to account (BBC, 2003). Accountability is the most important way in which the media acts as a political watchdog. Through a variety of accountability mechanisms, the media can ensure that politicians follow through on their promises. An example of this, again from the United States, would be George Bush seniors election promise not to raise taxes and his decision while in office to renege on that promise and raise taxes the following year. One of the most prominent sound bites from the 1998 Republican Convention was when the elder Bush’s stated “read my lips, no new taxes”. He later broke this promise while in office and this may have cost him a reelection in 1992. The media helped bring him to account and played the important role as political watchdog. Interestingly, the man whom he lost to in the 1992 federal election, an American southerner from Arkansas named Bill Clinton, faced a series of personal challenges as a result of the media keeping him in check while in office. Although additional examples are not needed, Bill Clinton’s infidelities while in office were brought to the attention of the world through an active media playing the role of watchdog. Similarly, Tony Blair’s legacy in the wake of his support of the invasion of Iraq is currently being analysed through the media’s lens (Darman, 1996, p. 232). Concluding Remarks The media plays an important and often times neglected role in the promotion of democracy. In Media Politics, Marie Scammell emphatically argued that the media plays an essential, though often-neglected role, in the promotion of democratic governance in the 21st century. Accordingly, liberal democracy cannot exist without a free and unfettered media and the two often go hand-in-hand. Liberal democracy is seen by many as the ideal political system and it has its roots in each in Greek political tradition. While other systems of government exists such as totalitarian states and dictatorships, liberal democracy is based on the notion that power rests with the people and that political leaders are subservient to the interests of the electorate. Characterized by free and fair elections, the peaceful transfer of political power, universal suffrage and an active and open media liberal democracy has ensured a political stability through much of the Western world. By giving everyone a voice within the political process, there is the belief that the political regime power will be perceived as legitimate and the result will be political stability. Liberal democracy can help explain the worldwide spread of modern democracies and liberal democracy as an entrenched value of the Western world. Accordingly, the media plays many important roles in the establishment of liberal democratic governance and while the watchdog function that it plays is important, it is but one of many aspects which contribute to the promotion of liberal democracy. Liberal democracy is far more than a political system and the values that it espouses include free and fair elections, an active media and impartial judiciary. By enshrining the right of political rule in the people themselves, liberal democracy represents what is perhaps the most advanced form of governance on the planet. Political legitimacy is derived from the people and thus is responsive to them. The media plays an essential role in ensuring this responsiveness as well as the accountability of political actors to the electorate. The media is also an important actor in the political realm. Aiming to explore the role of the media as an independent actor, the following provides an overview of the diverse roles of the media plays in the promotion of liberal democracy. An essential attribute of the media in a democratic society is the fact that the media exists within a wider political setting in which openness and a plurality of opinion is respected. With this in mind, the freedom of the press is essential to the proper functioning of a democratic system of government. Liberal democracies rely on the freedom of the press and in turn this freedom, although irritating to politicians at times, serves to promote the basis for democratic political governance (Street, 2001, 145-162). REFERENCEs Blair certain over Iraq weapons. BBC.com, 1 June, 2003, viewed April 22, 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/2953296.stm Carey, JW, ‘The Mass Media and Democracy: Between the Modern and the Postmodern’. Journal of International Affairs, vol. 47, 1993, pp. 115-132. Darman, R, Whos in Control? Polar Politics and the Sensible Center. Simon & Schuster, New York, 1996. McNair, B, An Introduction to Political Communication. Routledge, London, 2004. Scammell, M., ‘Rethinking the Media’s Duties to Democracy.’ In Media Politics.com, 2001, viewed April 22, 2010. http://www.media-politics.com/Scammell%20Media%20&%20Democ%20new%20version.pdf Street, J, Mass Media, Politics and Democracy, Palgrave: London, 2001. Wolfsfeld, G, Media and Political Conflict: News from the Middle East. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Read More