Media Education And Democray

European Review, Vol. 9, No. 2, 159168 (2001) © Academia Europaea, Printed in the United Kingdom

Media, direction and democracy
RICHARD HOWELLS Institute of Communication Studies, University of Leeds, Roger Stevens Building, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. E-mail: Richard@ics-server.novell.leeds.ac.uk

Media, fosterage and democracy are inseparably connected, as an formu recentlyd citizenship is fundamental to the proper working(a) of democracy. The mass media have a demonstrated and vital mental ability to educate, especially beyond the parameters of formal education. The nature of such education is both civic and social, deliberate and unintentional. Vigilance is required to erupt education from persuasion, information from propaganda. Given the centrality of media to democracy, not only do the media have an obligation to educate the citizenship, but the universities need to educate the citizenship about the media. Without such education, democracy itself is threatened. There is an umbilical relationship between the media, education and democracy. Traditionally, an umbilical relationship is one in which the larger provides for the smaller. Here, however, we have a troika-way relationship in which each both nurtures and invigorates the others.



The equal health of all three is essential to the existence of the good society. If we are still to lease the good society, we need not only to give stern thought to the media but, crucially, to re-think the parameters and even the purpose of education itself. We have pine understood the potential of the mass media to educate. Although the cinema began in the late 19th century as a simple strong suit for spectacle and entertainment, by 1927, John Grierson, the founder of the British documentary ?lm movement, was seeking to persuade the government of the value of what he called socially purposive cinema.1 Film, he argued, could provide models for social action. He was non party-political in his approach, and sought to represent the...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com



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