Media Theory

According to Habermas (Curran, n.d., p. 83), the ideal media model would be enacted as that of a "public sphere": as a neutral zone where access to relevant information affecting the public good is widely available, where discussion is free of domination by the state and where all those participating in public debate do so on an equal basis. Within that model, traditionalist liberal thought puts forward the proposition that the media performs several key functions in a democratic society, among them: acting as public watchdog overseeing the state, providing consumer representation, and fulfilling an informational role in the public forum of debate. Central to Curran's reassessment of such theory, however, is his observation that such traditional liberal thought - and he defines the term "liberal" within the "British historical sense" (Curran, n.d., p. 112) - relies upon a classic capitalist belief, faith in the forces of the free market system, to protect the

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s and associations play. Without acknowledging this evolution in democratic reality, Curran argues, traditionalist ideology becomes further flawed when it "maintains an artificial distinction between information and representation . . . by detaching information from its social context" (n.d., pp. 100-101). Finally, he posits, the negative traditionalist liberal model is limited by its reliance upon the classic belief in the rationality of public discourse (Curran, n.d., pp. 101-102). Modern society has expanded and diversified far beyond the realms imagined and embraced classically (Curran, n.d., pp. 83-84), and that diversity - which he believes should be encouraged in a modern liberal democracy - does not necessarily follow rational pathways of public discourse. In response to the defects and anachronisms of the Habermas/traditionalist liberal mass media theory, Curran proposes a contemporary working model of his own (n.d., pp. 105-111). The main conceit he employs in his model is its self-described workability: "It works with the grain of what is available" (Curran, n.d., p. 105), drawing from existing media organizations exemplifying the ideals he finds attractive, primarily European models. Curran's working model relies
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Approximate Word count = 1397
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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