Page 16 - Myths for the Masses An Essay on Mass Communication

Mass Communication and the Promise of Democracy

Because of its significance in the creation of the contemporary
lifeworld itself, the process of mass communication deserves close
scrutiny. Its uses in the name of liberty and democracy, its identifi-
cation with ideologically driven campaigns – such as the push for
a free flow of ideas – or its role in the determination of social or
political truths, disclose the nature of society.These applications have
notable consequences for the collective responses of people, since
public knowledge relies exclusively on media productions of reality
– or, as Niklas Luhmann reminds us, whatever we know, we know
through media.
Mass communication and the world of the media are by tradi-
tion tied in Western societies to the rhetoric of democracy.The term
democracy is difficult to define, however, since its use is not only
politically and emotionally charged, but also claimed by ideologi-
cally diverse contenders for an alliance with the principles of a
democratic life. Its basic premise, popular self-government, is aug-
mented by conditions of universal suffrage, political liberties, and the
rule of law. The American version involves the safeguarding (and
balancing) of individual and group interests, including issues of
assembly, expression, and publication. Thus, the guarantees of
freedom of speech and press relate the functioning of democracy to
the performance of (mass) communication. Besides, insistence upon
unfettered communication becomes the operating condition for a
democratic system of government.A malfunctioning of this process,
caused, for instance, by political or economic interests – and involv-
ing issues of power and authority, among others – must endanger
and ultimately destroy the possibilities for a democratic way of life.
Appeals to protect and reinforce democratic principles rely on a
linkage between democracy and mass communication that has tra-
ditionally been located in the idea of community and its principles
of equality, participation, and communication; these principles con-
stitute the dynamic and determinant elements of success or failure
of mass communication practices in the spirit of a democratic
society.
The process of mass communication itself has acquired credibil-
ity with its traditional claim that the media serve the public inter-
est and, unlike other cultural institutions, deserve legal protection.
Based on the premise that individual rights and freedoms also

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