Do The Mainstream Media in The United States Supports or Undermines American Democracy?

Do The Mainstream Media in The United States Supports or Undermines American Democracy?

The mainstream media has a long history of undermining American democracy. Donald Trump is attacking the media that he calls “fake news,” A large number of news media is attacking Donald Trump. A situation that put democracy in the United States in a dangerous situation. An increased number of Americans are presenting their un-satisfaction with the role the media plays in supporting their democracy and searching for solutions.

What is Democracy? There have been different definitions of democracy since it had first originated in Athens in the 5th century B.C. Mariam Webster online dictionary defines democracy as, “A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.”¹ The term democracy has been originated from the Greek word (demokratia) “rule of the people” which was coined from (demos) “people” and (kratos) “power” or “rule.” Larry Diamond, a lecturer on Stanford University, says: “We can think of Democracy as a system of government with four key elements:

1. A political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections.
2. The active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life.
3. Protection of the human rights of all citizens.
4. A rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens.”³

These four key elements Mr. Diamond stated, coincide with the idea of “a government by the people,”² which is the core idea of Democracy. Without the ability to change the governments by free and fair elections, the government will not be by the people; on the contrary, it may work against their will. Without the participation of the people in politics and civic life, the government powers would be more inclusive in the hands of the powerful elite. Without the insurance of human rights, they may not be given even the right to participate in politics or to express their viewpoints openly and freely. Finally, without a rule of the law where all the laws are applied equally to all citizens (or in other words having their civil rights granted to them), they would be afraid of participating as they may face discrimination.

According to We the people book, Democracy is “a political system that permits citizens to play a significant part in the governmental process, where they are vested with the power to rule themselves, usually through the election of key public officials.”³ This last definition by we the people book is the most accurate because what makes the Democratic systems different from the Aristocratic, authoritarian, or totalitarian systems is the role the ordinary citizens can play in influencing government actions. Hence, Without the General public’s participation in a democratic system, this democratic system loses its real values and converts to be a democratic system just by name (i.e., North Korea). We the people book supported my idea by saying: “Democracy functions best when citizens are informed and have the knowledge needed to participate in political debate.”³

One fundamental way to enhance or undermine Democracy in any society is through media, which takes different ways and forms to deliver information and news. The vital role of the media in a democracy is centered on being “a watchdog over the government,” to make sure the governmental powers are not being abused by an aristocrat, a dictator, or even a small group of politically powerful and influential elite. According to a paper produced by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The information access is essential for a healthy democracy for two reasons. “First, it ensures that citizens make responsible, informed choices rather than acting out of ignorance or misinformation,”⁴ and “Second, information serves a “checking function” by ensuring that elected representatives uphold their oaths of office and carry out the wishes of those who elected them.”⁴ While most Americans believe the media plays an essential role in society. However, according to the survey shown below, “Americans are nearly twice as likely to say the media support our democracy “very poorly” or “poorly” (43%) as to say they support it “very well” or “well” (28%).”

Figure (1)⁸ shows that most Americans believe the media is negatively affecting their democracy despite admitting its criticality to their democracy. These poll results raise questions about how well the media fulfill its role and show the broad dissatisfaction between Americans of the media’s performance.

Kevin Bowe has stated in his documentary “Democracy through the Looking Glass, “⁵ spotted the light on multiple media failures. One of which is their disconnect from the public. Carly Fiorina the former Republican presidential candidate when she was asked about what is wrong with the media (when she was running the race in the Republican Party’s primary elections), said:

The disconnect that I feel between the questions I get asked particularly from the national media and the questions that voters asked me, it is a golf. The national media tends to ask questions about the horse race, or the headlines and voters tend to ask questions about their lives.⁵

Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Journalism have identified “a lack of diversity among journalists’ sources as a potential cause for the disconnect between the media journalists and the public.” Along with “The lack of staffing and the emphasis on fast reporting.”⁶ Tim Vos one of the researchers said, “Many journalists said the pressure of being first to break a story, as well as less support staff to help with reporting, has led them to reuse the same sources many times.”⁶ Professor Vos presented the increment of the resources for journalists as a way to improve this lack of source diversity significantly. And regain the connection between the media and the Americans.

Kevin Bowe has mentioned the heroin and opioid crisis that he has accused the mainstream media and politicians of having ignored; this is despite its increasing mortality rate between 1999-2016 according to the centers for disease control and prevention (CDC), as illustrated through the figure (2).

Figure (2)⁹ shows the accelerating increase in the death rates among both males and females.

The United States President Donald Trump has prevented multiple journalists and reporters from asking or even presenting their opinion through many debates, sometimes calling them “fake news,” “phony,” or even “disgusting news.” These actions lift us with two probabilities. The first is that Donald Trump is correct accusing the media of generally promoting fake news or the second that the media is typically trustworthy, and the president is falsely attacking the press. What makes this situation dangerous is in both probabilities; this is considered destruction for democracy in the United States. If the first probability is correct (that Donald Trump is right accusing the media) so we are In front of major dishonest and delusive media. And if the second probability is exact (that Donald trump is falsely accusing the media) so we are In front of a president do declares his war on democracy.

There are many proofs that we are living in a fake news era. In 1996, the Telecommunications Act was enacted, which opened the way for additional consolidation in the media industry, and a wave of mergers and consolidations has further reduced the field of independent media across the country. The consolidation of the media industry is an imminent danger in any democratic society, as it leads to the presentation of the views and opinions of only the small group of owners of the media corporations and companies. Ben Bagdikian, the former dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley, said:

With the country’s widest disseminators of news, commentary and ideas firmly entrenched among a small number of the world’s wealthiest corporations, it may not be surprising that their news and commentary is limited to an unrepresentative narrow spectrum of politics.⁷

“We the people” book states that the media ownership in the United States is concentrated in the hands of a small number of corporations by saying,

A small number of giant corporations control a wide swath of media holdings, including television networks, movie studios, record companies, cable channels and local cable providers, book publishers, magazines, newspapers, and increasingly online and digital media outlets.³

We the people book Continues in another part and says, “As major newspapers, television stations, and radio networks fall into fewer hands, the risk increases that politicians and citizens who express less popular or minority viewpoints will have difficulty finding a public forum.”³ This media consolidation has induced the disconnect between the media and the people.

To better support the media in advancing democracy in America, few solutions could be done. First, there must be more space of liberty given to journalists, news reporters, whistleblowers, and ordinary citizens to express their thoughts, ideas, and beliefs freely, this is because the freedom of speech and expression is one of the core civil liberties that should be granted to each citizen under a democratic system, and to protect their civil rights from being discriminated against. Second, create acts and laws that shall be strong and firm to prevent the creation of media monopolies. These solutions will need cooperation from both levels of governments (State and National governments) and each branch of the national government. For instance, the executive branch should veto any law that could unfairly limit the freedom of speech and encourage the application and enforcement of the rules, which ensures the civil liberties of the citizens, and the judiciary branch should declare any law that may prevent any person from saying what is real and right unconstitutional. A third possible solution is to search and find sources of receiving news and information from other than the traditional Television, Radio, or press. This could be through the internet despite the increasing regulations and surveillance imposed on the internet. However, the internet is still considered more open and free to get information from (For example, many WikiLeaks documents were first presented through the internet, not by any Television channel or radio).

Works Cited

1. “Democratic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democratic. Accessed 30 Jun. 2020.
2. Diamond, Larry. “What Is Democracy?” What Is Democracy? | Larry Diamond, Hilla University for Humanistic Studies, 21 Jan. 2004, diamond-democracy.stanford.edu/speaking/lectures/what-democracy.
3. Ginsberg, Benjamin, et al. WE THE PEOPLE. 12th ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2018.
4. Development, US Agency for International. “The Role of Media in Democracy: A Strategic Approach.” GSDRC, 1 Jan. 1999, gsdrc.org/document-library/the-role-of-media-in-democracy-a-strategic-approach/.
5. Bowe, Kevin. “Democracy Through the Looking Glass: Media and Politics in the Post-Truth Era.” Vimeo, 7 June, 2020, vimeo.com/ondemand/democracy.
6. Hurst, Nathan. “New Study Identifies ‘Disconnect’ between Media and Public.” New Study Identifies “Disconnect” between Media and Public | News Bureau, University of Missouri, News Bureau, University of Missouri, 27 Feb. 2017, munewsarchives.missouri.edu/news-releases/2017/0227-new-study-identifies-disconnect-between-media-and-public/.
7. Gorzycki, Meg. DASTARDLY DISCOURSE Rescuing Rhetorical Capital from Indecency and Incivility; Rescuing Rhetorical Capital from Indecency and Incivility. RESOURCE PUBLICATIONS, 2020.
8. Ritter, Zacc, and Jeffrey M. Jones. “Media Seen as Key to Democracy but Not Supporting It Well.” Gallup.com, Gallup, 8 Apr. 2020, news.gallup.com/poll/225470/media-seen-key-democracy-not-supporting.aspx.
9. Hedegaard, Holly, et al. “Products – Data Briefs – Number 294 – December 2017.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21 Dec. 2017, www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db294.htm.