James Curran- mass media and democracy revisited

Writes about how Habermas argues that there is a arena of public debate, “emergence of independence encouraged a new public engaged political discussion.” public sphere

The media can be seen as a watchdog, a public representative and a source for public information.

One thought is that the main role media plays is to act as a watchdog to the public to oversee the state.

Usually to expose the misuse of authority.

can be used to debate about government freely

laws are put in place by government to regulate the media

should it be free to do what it wants? or should the media be regulated.

Unethical- If it becomes a free market and producers can make anything they want can cause tension.

watchdog keeps everyone in there place

Media shouldn’t be completely controlled by the government but also shouldn’t be a free market. A balance is needed to keep everyone happy

“once the media becomes subjects to public regulation, it will loose its bite as a watchdog and may even be transformed into a snarling rottweiler in the service of the state.”- A rottweiler= dangerous dog

The liberal theory of free press.

Freedom to publish- The theory that everyone should have the right to publish what they want.

Diversity and chain ownership- More publishers leads to more diversity as there is more to choose from. There are many types of different people with different social backgrounds, political beliefs and values who can publish there thoughts, rather than one company who produce the same content and thoughts.