Media Regulations & Furthering Democracy, Research Paper Example

Introduction

In his text “Media and Regulations” author Clive Hollick notes“Contrary to the general view, regulation can be the defender of free speech and the forces of the marketplace the chief threat to a plurality of view. But new technologies demand new forms of regulation and government intervention may be the best way of ensuring the plurality of voice on which democracy depends” (Hollick, 54). One of the prime examples of this can be seen with the ever-growing impact social media and digital media have imposed on society. Information is becoming more accessible by the public than ever before and it’s forcing governments to be more transparent in their policy making and it’s motivating individuals to play a more hands on role in the governance of the state. This has also spawned new conflicts globally as countries attempt to censor the public’s access to the internet and information, and monopoly control over media outlets a gets challenged with the influx of alternative media and grass roots outlets for news and information. As social media outlets like Fascebook, Twitter, and Youtube make public world issues that might have gone unnoticed decades prior, third world countries attempt to reduce this influence by intentionally not adapting to new technological expansion and sustaining the digital divide for political motives. The following will assess the relationship media regulations have in furthering democracy.

In an article on the Arab Springs movement, specifically the state of  the interaction between Twitter and the Middle East, Jon Stewart was quoted as saying, “if two speeches and a social media site is all we needed to spread democracy then why did we invade Iraq, why didn’t we just, I don’t know, poke them,” Jon Stewart quipped on last night’s “Daily Show” (Popkins, 1). Stewart takes a shot at all of those individuals who feel they have performed an act of political protest just through liking a Facebook Fan Page. In reality, the media grabbing hold of stories like Arab Spring, plays a significant impact on influencing democracy in those countries. Certain political events gain attention that might not otherwise have been put in the spotlight. It also influences how much participation citizens play in the the governance of their countries. The author further notes that the influence of Twitter significantly  protestors to get out and be active. Major political issues that generations prior would have gone unchallenged without support garner global awareness and support through social media sites like Twitter and Facebook (Boykoff & Boykoff). Wall Street Journal noted that,  “on Friday afternoon, Wael Ghonim, the Google GOOG-0.12% executive who has become the face of Egypt’s so-called Revolution 2.0, tweeted it was time at last for President Hosni Mubarak to resign. A few hours later, the largest country in the Arab world—after just 18 days of protests—learned Mr. Mubarak, in power for three decades, had done just that” (Rhodes, 1). The impact social media has in overthrowing regimes is not as basic as one Tweet, but this effect of Arab Spring shows it does have the ability to for the first time regimes in the middle east have been faced with active protests of this magnitude and they credit the size and effectiveness of these movements to the organization and structure provided by social media. Mubarak was in power for over 30 years and his regime was over thrown in a matter of weeks as a result of globally

Alford and Friedland argue that only the efforts of “visual players” gets recognition within the political arena. They define visual players as the individuals that make themselves known on the public stage. These are the individuals that actually get attention when putting forth public policy. The authors further note however that even these individuals are only cogs in a limited and enclosed system. They are reduced solely to influencing surface politics in policy making and the real underlying actions of government are masked. The authors note that, “this surface of politics glitters with issues and conflicts over who will be elected, who will be appointed, who will decide, who will resign or be fired, who gets arrested, tried, and convicted. The headlines portray these events with a heavy emphasis on the ever-changing cast of characters in the spectacle, or, to chance the metaphor, the shifting players in the political game” (Alford & Friedland, 19). Here they define the relationship between the public and democracy as it’s impacted by the media. The relationship they define is one that is not genuine or functional and incongruent with the core tenants of governmental structure. They state that government is actually driven by external forces that are not visible to the public eye. This concept of dysfunctional or corrupt democracy is further reaffirmed with phrases like ‘surface of politics glitters with issues’ or ‘spectacle’ or ‘players in the political game.’ This underlying notion  that democratic government and policy making is a trivial pursuit contributes to the modern understanding of the word bureaucracy.

The genuine development of working democracy is contingent on the validity of institutions and the sincerity of their objectives in order to be effective in providing needed community resources in the state building process. Chandler & Tambakaki note “with the deficits of democracy apparent in the Euro-zone crisis, especially as it affects Greece and Italy; with democracy increasingly understand as a process of social empowerment and equalization, blurring the lines of division between formal and informal spheres” (Chandler & Tambakaki, 23). The authors feel the demand for Democracy to be readdpated is growing. They atleast believe the public wants government to be restructured in a ways that account for marginalized individuals. The most effective way to achieve this goal is to require the utilization of effective agencies. Institutions like  the Office of Food for Peace (FFP), the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA), Human Rights and Governance (DRG),  the Center of Excellence on Democracy, and the Office of Civilian Response (OCR), are examples of sound institutions  that have a track record of supporting democratic action and sustaining and expanding its interests in the wake of global uncertainty. As globalization expands the economic and political interests of countries and corporations world-wide in retaining control over democratic process and censoring media, social media can actually play a pivotal role in keeping sound institutions intact and keeping government actions transparent. This is the actual act of regulating media plays such a significant role, as the power of social media could potentially be undermined through censorship and unjust regulations.

In respect to the process of actually regulating media itself, Lynch notes that “while the youth have been benefiting from the new media platforms, policy makers have been faced with a major challenge in keeping up with the breath taking pace, overlapping nature and the volume of the data in the social media”(Lynch, 47). As Arab Spring has demonstrated, and as Lynch further reaffirms, social media has gone beyond the point of regulation through policy. The author notes that in the U.S. While policy makers attempt to control the rapid expansion, reach and growth of social media and its impact on the international relations and policy making, the dye has already been cast and the movement is out of the control of congress. This impact can largely be attributed to media convergence. In his text,  “Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide,” Henry Jenkins talks about the complex relationship between old media and new media, “In the world of media convergence, every important story gets told, every brand gets sold, and every consumer gets courted across multiple media platforms” (Jenkins, 6). In essence Jenkins is touching on the reason why media can’t be limited by  government through regulation now that the digital revolution is in full throttle. Any form of media regulation that might be imposed on today risks much of the backlash that occurred during Arab Spring. Likewise,  Traditional media has always played a significant part in influencing the political process, but it was controlled on the short leash of corporate interests, as major news providers were driven by ratings, and owned by a select group of gatekeepers with their own set of political interests. As Jenkins points out media today is unleashed and on a grass roots level it’s driven by the people for the people, which in itself sustains one of the main core tenants of Democracy, the right of free speech. There are also global economic advantages as Social Networking provides US and other countries with more economic opportunity and allows smaller corporations the chance to be competitive in business industry all over the world. As world economics improves countries are gaining purchasing power on the Internet. In addition, research like this can analyze the true impact of Twitter and Facebook on the democratic process throughout the world. In this regard, Democracy and social media in many ways have the same objective to serve the people.

Conclusion

In sum, one of the key fundamental forces that empower the growth and sustainability of Democracy is strong institutions that can be utilized for state building. Media can play an important role in keeping these institutions transparent and informing the public about their necessity and need for support. Through government funded programs as well as non-profit programs that provide the public with education, healthcare and other resources necessary for economic and social growth, institutions can retain the tenants of Democracy. Programs that keep elections from being manipulated by corporations, or that prevent police and legal system from abusing its power over the people are further enhanced through the support of media. Regulations that prevent monopoly control over media outlets is essential, as well as regulations that protect the right of free speech. It is through policies like these that democracy can be retained and nurtured to servers its constituency effectively.

Work Cited

Chandler, D. . “International statebuilding: The rise of post-liberal governance”. (2010) London: Routledge.

Chandler & Tambakaki. Routledge Advances in Democratic Theory. (2013) Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. NYU Press, 2008. 336. Print.

Hollick, Clive. “Media regulation and democracy.” Index on Censorship 23.4-5 (1994): 54-58.