The role of the mass media within liberal democracy

Essay from the year 2009 in the subject Communications - Media and Politics, Politic Communications, grade: 0.88, , course: Politics, language: English, abstract: This essay will describe the characteristics of the mass media and its components and further investigate the arguments that suggest that mass media either supports or undermines a democracy. The role of the mass media in influencing the political process as well as mass and class behaviour has been a central concern among many critical writers, especially in the last decade. Some of the major issues covered in debates and studies on the mass media are its political bias, its ownership and links to big business, relationships and ties to the state, corporate interests and promotion of wars as well as its relative openness and diversity.