Reinterpreting the Democratic Roles of the Media

Abstract

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) transmitted an undercover documentary, The Secret Policeman, which exposed racism in the British police force. A hidden camera showed, among other things, a police recruit wearing a Klu Klu Klan hood simulating -for pleasure -the beating up of an Asian. The programme was watched by 5 million people, resulted in six police offi cers resigning, and led to major reviews of police training and recruitment procedures.Both the government and the police had attacked the programme before it went out, with the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, declaring it a 'stunt' intended "to create, not report, a story" Gates. However, the three police offi cers involved in Rodney King' s beating were subsequently acquitted.Less celebrated but in some ways more impressive was Peter Karl' s investigation of the Chicago police in 1983. This took six months to research, aided by three journalism students, and resulted in the fi ve-part series, Beating Justice, transmitted on the Chicago NBC affi liate, Channel 5. It revealed shocking instances of police violence, including the use of an electric cattle iron on a suspect' s genitals and down his throat, and the transformation of a once healthy 21-year old man into a quadraplegic, following a ride in a police wagon4. These abuses were committed by a small group of offi cers, mostly on black people. They were being in eff ect hushed up, according to Karl, through large out of court settlements paid over a number of years.The series reached 526.000 people, and became a major debating point in a local primary election. The local police chief resigned, and the Offi ce of Professional Standards overseeing the police was reformed REINTERPRETING THE DEMOCRATIC ROLES OF THE MEDIA Traditional TheoryAll these inspiring examples of investigative journalism conform to the traditional theory of the democratic role of the media, and help to explain its continuing hold on our imagination. This theory proclaims that the fi rst democratic function of the media is to monitor the state, and shield citizens from the tyrannical abuse of its power. 'The Press may be judged …as the chief agency for instructing the public on the main issues of the day…. The democratic form of society demands of its members an active and intelligent participation in the aff airs of their community, whether local or national. It assumes that they are suffi ciently well informed about the issues of the day to be able to form the broad judgements required by an election, and to maintain between elections the vigilance necessary in those whose governors are their servants and not their masters' 7 .In addition to providing a faithful record of all that is important, the media should also off er a platform for diff ering points of view. They should, in the words of the British Royal Commission, 'provide a forum for the expression and exchange of opinion' 8. By thus furnishing information and diff ering opinion, the media facilitate public debate. This leads to the formation of public opinion on the...

Krytyka polityki gospodarczej koalicji PO-PSL w „Gazecie Wyborczej” (2007–2015)

“…Należałoby jednak wspomnieć, że choć powyższa klasyfikacja funkcji (zadań) mediów jest bardzo przydatna przy opisywaniu ich roli w państwie demokratycznym, to jednak bywa ona (jak również sama rola mediów) kwestionowana w literaturze przedmiotu (Curran 2007;Jakubowicz 2013).…”