So I would like to build off one of the early posts that I had done on civic media. I had talked a little about the use of media and what I perceived civic media to be. I am going to try and refine that idea and expand a little bit on it.
So just to start of I really think that civic media's main purpose is to help inspire democratic ideals. Democracy requires an educated group of people so that they can make decisions that will benefit the society. So that is what civic media tries to do. It gives power to the people in the form of education. I think Thomas Jefferson summed it up best when he said, "I know of no safe repository of the ultimate power of society but the people. And if we think them not enlightened enough, the remedy is not to take power from them, but to inform them by education." That is the purpose of civic media to give power to the people.
However, there are many different ways that this is carried out. Some advocate a total break away from large media conglomerates, some merely suggest using the media sources already available to us in a more productive manner. I would say that really both approaches are incorrect and that some type of hybrid between the two would be best for the general public.
One of the things that I have found that I really detest about large news corporations is that they seem to dramatize news instead presenting unbiased information to the public. I see this mostly with news on TV. It brings up the point as to what is good journalism. There seems to be a rising concern that with the rise of digital media and the huge influx of competition in media that news corporations are sensationalizing the news they report so they can get more viewers and hence make more money.
It has been said before that the media is the forth branch of government. It helps balance the literal branches namely the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. James Madison explains the need for checks and balances in The Federalist #51. So what do we lose if the media does not fulfill this crucial role? With newspapers dying who will step in and do what they have been to keep the government in check?
Fortunately, just because the old media sources are changing there are many new digital media sources taking their place. We just need to make sure that media is used to help educate us so that we become better citizens. Along with that we need to learn how to process media so that we can best use it to benefit society. Henry Jenkins, the Director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at MIT, wrote a paper about how education should be used to better prepare students to participate in our democratic system. It is very in depth but check out this course outline done for younger students if you would like a summary.
So just to give a quick summary. Civic media places power in the people's hands by giving them the skills and education they need to be responsible citizens in a democratic system.
Knowledge is Power.
2 comments:
How much does digital literacy relate to democracy in our day? Is someone effectively disenfranchised if they can't get online? If they are ignorant of how to participate meaningfully online? What are the core things that citizens most know to be meaningful participants in their society? today?
I was also intrigued by this idea about media being a fourth branch of government. Could that be broken down even further? I mean, do certain aspects of media now accomplish different sorts of checks (and upon different aspects of government?).
Well, speaking as someone who spent the first 18 out of 20 years of her life without consistent access to the internet, I might say yes and no to your question, Dr. Burton, of if someone is effectively disenfranchised if they can't get online. There are multiple ways to get political information, but I feel like people are relying more and more on the internet as their primary source, and because of that politicians are focusing a lot of effort towards that audience. The internet seems to be one of the most convenient ways to find the information you want/need in order to vote and participate in other political activities.
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