Strategically Communicating

Image thanks to Zazzle.com

I have an opinion about the central question posed for this week’s reading, “Do the media serve the democratic process?”

That’s an easy “no.” The vast majority of media companies in America serve themselves as for-profit endeavors. The public can’t expect companies to rise above that goal in support of democracy.  That’s simply not the charge of business executives.

Even if the media kicked in overdrive today, Americans don’t have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. The reasons for this are twofold: 1) our leaders are almost always people who are really good at raising money or already wealthy and 2) people aren’t voting; they’re too busy consuming to try to fill the emptiness in their lives to bother reading voters’ guides.

Consider the Possibilities

Question 1:

Do you think a non-profit media system would help build a healthy democracy—one where most citizens participate—in America?

Question 2:

How could we drive the proceeds from the new non-profit media companies into facilitating democratic processes?