Assignment Topic

MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY

Subject

POLITICAL SCIENCE II

Assigned By

Khadija Faiz , Iqra Rafiq

Assigned To

Maam Narjis

Date

May 2, 2020
MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY

What is Media?

Media is the fourth pillar of democracy. Not only does it have to be transparent and
unbiased but it also bears the responsibility of educating the masses and
propagating reform in public opinion. It is also a platform for public discussion and
exchange of opinions. It has the power to control and influence a nation’s political
discourse. Thus, media plays an important part in our lives by shaping our opinions
and by guiding us in understanding the various discourses and events that take
place.

Need for Strong Media

It is known that the media is not free from biases and offences. When in the wrong
hands, media has been often abused to further agendas, to fuel hatred and to sway
public opinion through misinformation and tactful reporting. This can be
dangerous because people are easily influenced into thinking in a specific way.
What the media shows us may only be the half truth. Thus, there is a need for a
strong media which can resist corruption and provide access to the masses.

What is Media Democracy?

Media democracy is the group of ideas that believes in reforming mass media by
means such as improving public service broadcasting, participating in various
forms of media and journalism, offering various platforms for public discussion
and expression of opinions.

Goal of Media Democracy

The main goal of media democracy is to establish a strong democracy which is

transparent, accessible to all, empowers society and contributes to democracy and
its values. It relies on information technology to reach out to people and to
empower them by encouraging them to participate more in media and journalism.
Since media democracy advocates democratic values, it has to distance itself from
both private ownership and state intervention so as to avoid corruption and
unnecessary influence by both.

Propagates of Free and Strong Media

Media democracy propagates that private ownership and commercialization would
influence media in a negative way. It would lead to a narrow, biased and watered-
down version of the media which would limit public knowledge and opinion.
Hence, there should be an equal distribution of economic, social, cultural and
information capital which would lead to a higher level of awareness in the public
about the political discourse.

Ideas, Ideologies and notions of Media

Media today advocates various ideas and notions and follows certain ideologies
that they have a strong hold on. Some of them are

 Replacing the current media model with one that is democratic and
transparent

 Improving public service broadcasting

 Spreading the use of alternative media in the mainstream media

 Increasing the influence and role of citizen journalism

 Making more people participate in the wider discourse

 To promote democratic ideals and values

Media democracy also embraces ideologies such as feminism, critical theories,

positivism, socialism etc. This goes in conjunction with its aim of embracing
diversity and representing a balanced view, free from prejudices. The media
democracy movement in the United States and Canada emerged from this notion.
The convergence of media ownership along with a lack of diversity in
representation and opinion led to the birth of the movement. It seeks to address
critical issues in society such as racism, gender discrimination, poverty, economic
gap, rise of capitalism etc.

Methodology

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the role of Pakistani media in
strengthening democracy. It aimed to look at Pakistani media from two aspects,
firstly, how does media through its content support and enhance democratic
traditions and secondly, how democratic media institutions themselves are. In this
study qualitative in-depth interviews and quantitative survey techniques were
employed to validate the hypotheses and research questions. .The basic purpose of
the interviews was to gather the opinion of the experts on the role of Pakistani
media in democracy. To evaluate role of media in strengthening democracy the
questions asked in questionnaire were composed of the following factors

Media as an agenda Through its role as an agenda setter media makes people
setter concern, a government concern and vice versa. Media as
a civic forum: Through its role as a civic forum, media
takes up the important issues of public, bring them in
limelight, and apprise government so that they can take
the appropriate action
Media as a source of This is one of the basic roles of media that is to inform
information the public and to keep them aware of the happenings
around.
Media as a watchdog Journalists through their camera lens keep everything
transparent. Media is ubiquitous and omnipotent.
Journalists and reporters investigate and probe into
issues.
Governance Governance is the performance of government whether it
is addressing or serving people or not.

Human development Human development refers to creating an environment in

which human can develop to their full potential and can
lead productive and progressive lives. Human
development, in contemporary sense is more than the
level of income. It is vast notion which entails equity,
security and etc.
Participation Participation refers to the inclusion of people’s opinion
and their say.

Pluralism It refers to the environment in which all kind of

dissenting voices are heard and are embraced.
Social cohesion It refers to the environment in which people despite of
their social, ethnic, religious or other differences, have a
sense of belonging to one community and that
community or nation is their most valued and preferred
identity.
Human rights Human rights are rights endowed by United Nations
Declaration of Human Right which should be the
preamble of every constitution.
Rule of law Rule of law makes sure that there is nobody above the
law and that there is law and order in the society.

Free and fair elections Free and fair elections means elections which are free
from the intrusion of government or any political party
and are transparent.
Finances Finances of media refers to the funding of media to keep
the system running like from advertisements,
sponsorships etc.

Ownership Ownership refers to the people who own the media

enterprise, could be a family or group

Journalists’ working It implies to the environment in which journalist work,

conditions their wages, if they face any intimidation from
government or nonstate agencies, the risks factor is also
involved.

ROLE OF MEDIA IN PAKISTAN

Media is a vital element in building a state. It is considered to be the fourth pillar

of a state; but this esteemed position is linked with great responsibility. The
media’s role should not be restricted to providing entertainment, it should also
provide a platform to all sections of society so that they can openly discuss their
issues, problems and put forth their demands. The media should provide a voice to
those whose voice is not heard. Not only this but media is also required to play the
role of a guide - an honest guide – that shapes public opinion in a most positive
way with respect to development of society and promotion of democracy.
Libertarianism stresses upon equal voice to every segment of the society in order to
promote democracy and to realize every individuals potential to grow as a
productive human being. “Classical liberal theories suggest that the free press
serves to strengthen the process of democratization and human development in the
watchdog role.”1 But owing to commercialization of media, not all voices are
heard in the media. “There is a growing gap between the number of voices in
society and the number heard in the media.” 2 Media’s role in democracy should
be that of a platform where people can have their say. It is said that democracy is a
government of the people and by the people. If it is so, the opinion of people
should matter the most, it should be essential in a democratic environment. Public
opinion should be encouraged and respected in democracy so that the government
remains answerable to people. If it is working against the will of people, it should
be replaced, but only through the vote of people. It must be acknowledged that
power to people is conferred upon them by democracy, and it is media’s
responsibility to inform people what they are eligible to do. But if some sections
are not heard or are depicted in a negative frame, it would undermine democracy.
There is no gainsaying that marginalization of any segment of society is note
useful practice because it amounts to suppressing a huge potential of societal
growth. “It is rationally absurd that an intelligent, self governing community
should be helpless victim of the caprice of newspapers managed solely for
individual profits.” 3 It is established that media holds the power to affect public
opinion; thus, media should perform its role with utmost caution and care. In the
matter of governance ina democratic polity, its role assumes extra significance.
“The fourth estate has been traditionally regarded as one of the classic checks and
balances in the division of power.” 4 As a watchdog, it is media’s foremost
obligation to keep people informed about all the developments at the national and
the international levels, so that people know what is happening around them. But,
more crucially, as an agent of social balance, it is supposed to be unbiased and fair
when dealing with different components of a democratic society. This raises
concern because in a democracy, media is supposed to provide information to
people in an impartial manner, letting them decide what is in their interest; it must
not manipulate news or follow agenda of those at the helm. Surely, democracy
prospers when people are given an unfettered space to express their views,
articulate their demands and freely cast their votes to elect their representatives.
Media is a broad platform with wide wings and tools to pave the way for
sustainable and true democracy. It is the watchdog that halts the malfunctioning of
democracy.

How could democracy be promoted?

Of course, it can only be done if the media, following pluralism, gives equal voice
to every segment of society, in the true spirit of the theory of libertarianism. It is
particularly true for a developing country like Pakistan that local communities and
their organizations commonly known as civil society are heard in the media.
“While media are a central part of local communication, local publics echo voices
that primarily communicate through media”.