Understanding the media is of the utmost democratic importance. The media, whether newspapers, television, film, or social media, impacts our lives: our understanding of politics past and present, our democratic engagement, and our opinions. If we think of politics as the exercise of power, the importance of the media becomes clear: it is a place in which politics takes place. It also becomes clear that you don’t need to be a politician to ‘do politics’; the media can be used to impart a political viewpoint, including party political ones. In turn, politics and politicians also impact the media through regulation and law.
The relationship between the media, politics and society is therefore an important one. The media has an impact on politics and society, translating to outcomes in society; so, the things you read, listen to, watch, and engage with, can have an impact on the way you live your life.
In relation to politics, the media can impact our understanding of politics past and present, our democratic engagement, and our opinions. It is not a one-way linear process though. Audiences are not necessarily passive ones, absorbing what they are told; they can resist meanings, challenge them, and create their own.
Learn more by watching this mini documentary.
You can also register on ‘ADXS001: Media, politics, and society’. Produced collaboratively with the British Film Institute, this Open University online short course explores the relationship between media, politics, and society. You'll explore key themes of propaganda, moral panic, media and memory, and fake news, topped and tailed by an introduction to media theory, and media and its impact on democratic politics. By the end of the course, you’ll be able to better understand the key cultural and political dynamics that impact your everyday life.
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