Rich Media, Poor Democracy

Abstract

Virtually all defenses of the commercial media system for the privileges they receive are based on the notion that the media play an important, perhaps a central, role in providing the institutional basis for having an informed and participating citizenry. The wealthier and more powerful the corporate media giants have become, the poorer the prospects for participatory democracy. Some media firms and sectors are faltering and will falter during this turbulent era. The media system is linked ever more closely to the capitalist system, both through ownership and through its reliance upon advertising, a function dominated by the largest firms in the economy. Capitalism benefits from having a formally democratic system, but capitalism works best when elites make most fundamental decisions and the bulk of the population is depoliticized.