Democracy takes power from rulers and gives it to voters. (That’s it’s point.)
Voters then vote, based on the information at their disposal.

1/24
#media
#democracy

If the information is corrupted, then the process fails – the ship of democracy finds itself lost in an ocean of lies.

2/24
#media
#democracy

Of course, information is not just facts. In fact… it’s rarely factual.
The information we encounter in our daily lives includes emotion, prejudice, inclination, belief. It can be manipulative, suggestive, nudging, propagandistic, partial, spurious or simply false.

3/24
#media

Control the information and you’re 99% down the path of controlling us.
Why else would dictatorships incline towards censorship and a state-managed media?
Information control allows dictators to dictate.

4/24
#media
#democracy

“But didn't you just say democracies are different?” you protest.

I did.
They are.

In democracies power is transferred from rulers to voters. It’s a wonderful thing.
But here’s how the power is reclaimed: by taking control of the information on which your vote is based.

5/24

So, through misinformation, propaganda and spin the key drivers of a healthy democracy – its sources of information – are subverted.
Through information control the processes of democracy (and our votes) are hollowed out and become a sham.

6/24
#media
#democracy
#propaganda

This failure of democracy is evident right now, to varying degrees, in every democratic nation on Earth.

7/24
#media
#democracy
#propaganda
#spin

Voters become the finger puppets of the media, voting for the governments which the media tells them they want.

Democracy is subverted.
Power is returned to a powerful elite.
Mission accomplished.
Job done.

8/24
#media
#democracy

“But what of our wonderful journalists and reporters?” you ask, a little querulous. “What about the ‘fourth estate’ – the speakers of truth to power?”

Well, what of them?

Do you really think they exist?

9/24
#media
#democracy

Let’s ponder on that.

The spokespeople of our media are ambitious. They could never achieve fame or prominence if they were not.
And ambition will often reflect a desire to rise up the hierarchy, to become part of the elite.

10/24
#media
#democracy

Ambition makes our prominent journalists–in direct proportion to their ambition–cautious about whom they criticise & what they report.

& they are successful, too, these prominent journalists & commentators. For them, their prominence is precisely what ‘successful’ means.

11/24

But success breeds complacency. All of us love to believe our success is solely down to us – that it’s not a social construct. Yet this breeds self-satisfaction and a tendency to side with ‘the successful’ – with the powerful and the wealthy.

12/24
#media
#democracy

Our journalists and commentators can hardly help themselves. Success delivers bias. They become partial (intentionally or unwittingly) to the establishment of which they are increasingly a part.

13/24
#media
#democracy

So, given this, is it realistic to expect our ‘fourth estate’ to challenge power and wealth?

Not if success depends upon the very people it should challenge.

Not if it is owned, from database to printing press, by these same folk.

14/24
#media
#democracy

Because it’s clearly not US who own the media.
It’s not US who finance or control the news outlets through advertising or sponsorship.
It’s not US who employ the most prominent journalists, commentators or news presenters, or who select which voices should be heard.

15/24
#media

It’s not us who own or control the sources of our information.

It’s our governments, or the corporations, or the extraordinarily rich.

And by abusing this control they control democracy.
They return to themselves the power which democracy was meant to devolve.

16/24
#media

It’s just another clusterf*ck,” you mutter. “Is there a way this process be reversed?”

I breathe a sigh of relief. Solution-seeking not finger-pointing–it’s an attitude I always like to see.

Yes.
There are measures we can take.
Democracy can reassert itself.

17/24
#Media

Mending the Media 1
Democratisation: Cooperativise/decentralise news organisations so they're largely owned & managed by those who work in them.
Give them charitable status & a subsidy/grant.
Why not?
Healthy democracies need democratised sources of information & challenge.
18/24

Mending the Media 2
Ensure news organisations are not controlled by advertisers, investors or owners. Set up a ‘clearing house’ for advertising revenues. Legislate for editorial freedom.

Novel approaches will be needed–but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

19/24
#news

Mending the Media 3
Establish a publicly funded news service to provide the accurate information people need if they’re to participate in social and political decision-making. Ensure democratic internal structures; independence from government; a diverse workforce.

20/24
#media

Mending the Media 4
Ensure media & news organisations develop rules/algorithms for information & news distribution which prevent the simple reinforcement of prejudice and the polarisation of belief. Implement mechanisms to curtail propaganda, disinformation & fake news.

21/24

Mending the Media 5
Facilitate legal redress against the knowing broadcasting or publication of demonstrable lies.

22/24
#media
#democracy
#disinformation
#lies

Mending the Media 6
Embed morality. Ensure media and news organisations commit to three basic moral values:
- the nurturing of all of us as individuals
- the nurturing of communities and of all humanity
- the protection of the biological world.

23/24
#media
#democracy
#ethics

Finally, you might ask, “What if some media can only survive through the support of those with power/wealth?”

The answer's simple: Why risk it? Why risk undermining democracy?

Let wealth-dependent outlets fail.

Create structures which allow independent media to thrive.

24/24