The Press and the Decline of Democracy

Download or read book The Press and the Decline of Democracy written by Robert G. Picard and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1985-12-06 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author discusses the role of economic concentration in limiting public access to information and reducing opportunities for public discourse. Picard examines the government policies that have contributed to the erosion of democratic participation and have permitted the growth of large commercial press entities, unobstructed by anti-trust provisions. He relates recent public policy responses to this problem to democratic socialist ideology and develops a social-democratic theory of the press which draws upon ideas and policies found throughout the Western world. Picard provides a democratic framework for understanding the changing nature of media economics and state-press relations and offers proposals for achieving both a democratically functioning press and broader popular participation.