The Struggle for Democratic Media: Lessons from the North and from the Left

Abstract

Over the past decade, the eyes of the world have been on Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia and other Latin American nations as their elected governments attempt to achieve fundamental social reform through their respective constitutional systems. In every nation with an elected government that traditional elites regard as dangerous to their interests, the core battle has turned to questions of media. The news media in these nations are generally owned, sometimes effectively monopolized, by a handful of the wealthiest families. These news media have traditionally advocated a politics that represents their interests, and are not known for being especially sympathetic to the plight of the poor and working class. In some cases, they have been singularly hostile to popular reforms and democratization. This has created a problem for the effective functioning of a democratic political system — one based on political equality — which is predicated upon there being a wide range of effective and credible sources of information.

This chapter draws in part from RobertW. McChesney, Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism Is Turning the Internet against Democracy (New York: New Press, 2013); and also from John Bellamy Foster and Robert W. McChesney, ‘The Cultural Apparatus of Monopoly Capital – An Introduction,’ Monthly Review, July–August 2013. The author thanks co-author Foster for his assistance and insight.