Media and Democracy. What is the role of the media in a democracy?

Media and Democracy
Name
Institution
Course
Date
MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN A DEMOCRACY
Media plays an important role in democracy. A skilled media is very important in the development of any society. This is because provides useful and important information in which politicians can use to make informed decisions. The media also acts as a checking function by ensuring all the elected members have performed their duties effectively. Just like political leaders promise citizens a lot of things during campaigns, an effective media highlights all these promises to ensure they are fulfilled in the future. The media holds the power to communicate and interact with the members of society. For example, media has the ability to understand social, technical and financial problems of a certain community.
Media is viewed as a tool political leaders and parties can use to reach the people and inform them of their objectives. Leaders also use the media to understand some of the problems the community might be experiencing starting from unfavorable policies (Coombs, Falkheimer, Heide & Young, 2015). I such cases media is viewed as a promoter of democracy since it educates voters of their rights. The media teaches people the importance and components of legitimate government. It enhances communication by ensuring people have access to quality information.
WHAT CONDITIONS ARE NECESSARY FOR THE MEDIA TO FULFILL ITS DEMOCRATIC ROLE?
For media to perform its role in promoting democracy in society, they should be given enough freedom to access the needs of the people in the community. If media is given enough freedom without any restrictions, it will be hard for them to collect information. The media should be given enough protection by the government (Coombs, Falkheimer, Heide & Young, 2015). Restrictive legislations will limit the accountability of media. Additionally, the government can offer finance support to media houses. When media has enough resources, getting access to information is easy. Journalists can travel to different parts of the country especially the remote areas to gather information. They should have low barriers to entry. When journalists are try to access some areas the barriers to entry should be minimal. They should have adequate resources like cars, good cameras, and good accommodation for them to gather information. Media freedom is more important from all these factors media freedom is more important. This is because if favors positive coverage of informatio...