Democracy without Journalism?: Confronting the Misinformation Society
Victor Pickard
Abstract
Democracy without Journalism? is about the ongoing journalism crisis and the policies we need to confront it. It exposes the historical roots, market failures, and policy inaction that led to the loss of local journalism and the proliferation of misinformation through both social media and mainstream news. In underscoring these threats to democracy, the book also draws attention to the growing problem of monopoly control over digital infrastructures in general and the rise of platform monopolies in particular, especially the “Facebook problem.” The book proposes that now is an opportune moment ... More
Democracy without Journalism? is about the ongoing journalism crisis and the policies we need to confront it. It exposes the historical roots, market failures, and policy inaction that led to the loss of local journalism and the proliferation of misinformation through both social media and mainstream news. In underscoring these threats to democracy, the book also draws attention to the growing problem of monopoly control over digital infrastructures in general and the rise of platform monopolies in particular, especially the “Facebook problem.” The book proposes that now is an opportune moment to address core weaknesses in US news and information systems and push for alternatives. Above all, the book argues that to understand the underlying pathologies in our news media and the reforms that are needed, we must penetrate to the roots of systemic problems. Toward this aim, Democracy without Journalism? emphasizes the structural nature of journalism’s collapse. The book concludes with an in-depth discussion of new models for journalism, emphasizing the need for a publicly owned and democratically governed media system. Ultimately, the goal is to reinvent journalism.
Keywords:
democracy,
media,
journalism,
misinformation,
communication,
political economy,
media policy,
activism,
US history
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2020 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780190946753 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: December 2019 |
DOI:10.1093/oso/9780190946753.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Victor Pickard, author
Associate Professor of Communication, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
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