Democratic Delusions: How The Media Hollows Out Democracy And What We Can Do About It

About

A free media is inextricably linked to a healthy democracy, but in many parts of the world liberal democracies are deemed to be dying or on the decline – enabled by many forms of media whilst they herald themselves as democracy’s saviour. This hollowing out of democracy has left many people questioning the value of (neo)liberal democratic societies and what we can do about it?

Join Media & Communications Prof. Natalie Fenton as she explores the potential of our media and tech systems to be democratic and contribute to a just and transformative democracy.
By interrogating different media and their relationship to seven key elements of democracy – power, participation, freedom, equality, public good, trust, and hope – Natalie will ask what is the response of society when the ability of news media to speak truth to power has been restricted by corporate logic? And, how do we tackle a deep-rooted market logic that shifts public debate towards private interest and marginalises progressive perspectives?