How did a 1940s edition of Life Magazine play a normative role in the times of its publication?
What's your personal theory of the ideal media system? Identify the most important things the media should and should not do in terms of the public interest.
Consider:
- radical libertarianism favours an unregulated media - what might advocates of technocratic control, such as Harold Laswell and Walter Lippmann, have to say about radical libertarianism?
- what are some arguments in favour of media regulation?
- what tensions exist between economic theory interpretations of the media and democratic theory interpretations - in other words, between profitability and social responsibility
- what are some limitations of the professionalization of journalism?
- are hate groups effectively taking advantage of new media to spread their messages - should they have the right to promote hatred ?
- what steps should be taken toward a socially responsible media system given the new media environment?
- what are your views of the self-righting principle?
In what ways do citizen journalism and blogs promote or hinder socially responsible media ?
MoveOn.org | Huffington Post | Daily Kos | Crooks and Liars | Daily Dish | Buzz Machine
Free Press in the United States sees a lack of social responsibility owing to a lack of democratic participation in the media as a whole. What are some of its key concerns? Is there a similar group in Canada? If so, what are its key issues? Is it effective?
