societies would remain in the darkness of ignorance. Moreover, a free press and democracy are complementary to each other. The media helps to preserve and promote democracy by safeguarding the independence of its institutions and ensuring their accountability as well as by facilitating the communication of ideas and policies. A free press performs three essential features for a democracy: a role, the provision of knowledge and information, and the facilitation of public discussion “watchdog” (Baker 2003). The press must be able to expose failures of and abuses by government and government officials–with this capacity providing probably the greatest democratic safeguard against both malfeasance and misfeasance by government (Blasi, 1977). Democratic development absolutely depends on the press being permitted to perform this “checking” function effectively; the aim of preventing the press playing this role may be the single biggest reason for governments’ censoring the press or abridging its freedom. The acts of omission and commission, of corruption, waste, inefficiency and negligence on the part of the authorities, can be exposed by it. Through investigative journalism, scams and scandals can be unearthed, anti-social activities exposed and implementation of the policies and programmes monitored and pursued. It is the accountability of those in power that distinguishes democracy from other political systems, and to the extent that the press acts as an instrument to ensure day-to-day accountability, it helps to make democracy real and effective. Of course, as stated, this condition sounds so ideal that in reality even the most democratic country will not fully live up to it. Further, advocates of a free press always feel that government has a tendency to manipulate the media and cannot be trusted because of the power it holds. However, a free press does not mean free only from the Freedom of The Press in The Public Sphere overt restrictions of the government, which is a narrow conception of the freedom of the press, but also from other overt and covert influences; externally (i.e. from foreign powers and ownerships) and internally (i.e. the ownership of individuals who are close to the government and editorial censorship). The legitimate influence to the press is when the press is openly allowed diverse opinions from diverse sources to be debated and discuss as long as the opinions are not to be used to trigger disharmony situation. The illegitimate influence to the press is surely when all or almost all the media
societies would remain in the darkness of ignorance. Moreover, a free press and democracy are complementary to each other. The media helps to preserve and promote democracy by safeguarding the independence of its institutions and ensuring their accountability as well as by facilitating the communication of ideas and policies. A free press performs three essential features for a democracy: a “watchdog” role, the provision of knowledge and information, and the facilitation of public discussion (Baker 2003). The press must be able to expose failures of and abuses by government and government officials–with this capacity providing probably the greatest democratic safeguard against both malfeasance and misfeasance by government (Blasi, 1977). Democratic development absolutely depends on the press being permitted to perform this “checking” function effectively; the aim of preventing the press playing this role may be the single biggest reason for governments’ censoring the press or abridging its freedom. The acts of omission and commission, of corruption, waste, inefficiency and negligence on the part of the authorities, can be exposed by it. Through investigative journalism, scams and scandals can be unearthed, anti-social activities exposed and implementation of the policies and programmes monitored and pursued. It is the accountability of those in power that distinguishes democracy from other political systems, and to the extent that the press acts as an instrument to ensure day-to-day accountability, it helps to make democracy real and effective. Of course, as stated, this condition sounds so ideal that in reality even the most democratic country will not fully live up to it. Further, advocates of a free press always feel that government has a tendency to manipulate the media and cannot be trusted because of the power it holds. However, a free press does not mean free only from the Freedom of The Press in The Public Sphere overt restrictions of the government, which is a narrow conception of the freedom of the press, but also from other overt and covert influences; externally (i.e. from foreign powers and ownerships) and internally (i.e. the ownership of individuals who are close to the government and editorial censorship). The legitimate influence to the press is when the press is openly allowed diverse opinions from diverse sources to be debated and discuss as long as the opinions are not to be used to trigger disharmony situation. The illegitimate influence to the press is surely when all or almost all the media
2012%20Study%20Guide%20ACOM232.docx