CIAO DATE: 01/02

Journalism and Emerging Democracy: Lessons from Societies in Transition

Abstract

The media worldwide are undergoing dramatic changes that reflect the powerful global economic and political forces that have been unleashed by the end of the cold war. The demise of the bipolar world and the success of Western or American political and economic power have raised the following questions: What interests and values are the increasingly global media propagating? Should global media propa-gate these interests and values to societies of great social, linguistic, and cultural diversity?

The media's values are central to the ongoing debates about media concentration and access, penetration into fragile societies, and con-veyance of powerful images and other content that easily shapes the reality of millions of people. Traditional wisdom posits that media are merely a mirror to society, but this idea is a truly passive view of one of the most dynamic sectors of contemporary society.

Journalism and Emerging Democracy: Lessons from Societies in Transition (PDF File)