What is the difference between a media entity that is democratic and one that has been "democratized"? There seems to be an incredible amount of confusion on this point, and at the very highest levels. So pardon me while I rescue our important friend - the word democracy and its permutations - from regular misuse by the media activism community.

Democracy

1 a: government by the people; especially : rule of the majority
b: a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections. (excerpt from Webster's dictionary)

Example of a democratic media entity: A community media center, large or small, the trustees of which are directly accountable through public election of some type.

Democratization

1: The illusion, perpetrated by many media scholars, media reform activists, and foundation officers, that a media entity - or media more broadly defined - is/are democratic simply because citizens may now be able to complain about it/them via a blog or email. (from the Sanders dictionary)

Here's how it all works: the average working stiff vents their frustration standing on a technologically evolving but still tiny soapbox, while the offending media megalith has moved on to its next lie or bit of pablum which will, like the previous one, receive mass distribution. The media reformers try valiantly to hold the line against further encroachment by the media entity. Down the road (we're told), we might split big media up a little, chew on some microradio bones, and rearrange the deck chairs in first class on public broadcasting's "Titanic". But the "democratized", failed media structure remains a deadly gun against all our heads; since too few substantially better, widely known, and trusted examples are created (or remade), the core problem is never solved or sufficiently ameliorated.

"Not to worry," say academia, the media reform organizations, and the foundations. "The Internet will fix everything!"

(rev. 6/01 - ed.)


Posted by Scott Sanders, Chicago Media Action
Read my essay on how we might best bring public broadcasting into the digital age,
from Z magazine's 9/07 issue: "A Litany of Lies and Omissions"
My bio page: About Scott Sanders - Who is this guy? Click here.
Feedback? Information? Email me - themediastructurefailed(at )yahoo.com

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