Journalism and Democracy

Journalism and democracy have similar objectives to empower the public. While Journalism empowers people with information and knowledge making them capable of wiser decisions, Democracy politically empowers people with power to decide their political leaders and thus be the part of the political decisions the nation makes.

'Democracy needed journalism to get started. Journalism needs to re-absorb the
values of democracy into its own self-conduct if it is to function effectively:
to open itself to scrutiny and challenge.'-Ian Hargreaves, Journalism: Truth or Dare, OUP, 2003

Democracy has always been enforced when the autocratic government has worked against people and so the general people have used journalism to inform and enforce people to raise against. Like in Nepal and also french revolution, journalism has its significant role to bring democracy. While in democracy also the people have the power to decide their political leaders and so have their part in the political decisions. Thus, democracy stands with the assumption that their citizens are well informed and capable of making wiser decisions about their nations. And journalism is the means to make their citizens capable of making wiser decisions with all perspectives of information, making them updated of different facts.
A French novelist once said, “Free press can, of course, be good or bad, but, most certainly without freedom, the press will never be anything but bad.”-www.nowpublic.com
Journalism, for better or for worse, is the best example of the freedom of individuals and the importance of free thought in a democracy.
In short, participatory democracy would benefit if citizens and those who act
as their ears, eyes and voices were to engage in open-minded dialogue about how
the media carries out its functions, with particular reference to issues such
as:

* diversity;
* freedom of expression;
* global media issues;
* media regulation & the rights of the citizen;
* power, politics & the media;
* safety, protection & independence of journalists;
* training, development & media literacy;
* young people & the media.

In the democratic equation, there are three types of identities: the politicians, the public, and the publication. The three elite ”P’s” of the democratic process which, through their correlation with each other, make modern democracy unique compared to other political philosophies. The relationship between the politician and the public, through the media and journalism particularly, is distinctive in a democracy, and has a very special connection with the electoral process, which separates true democracies from imitations.-www.nowpublic.com

Only elections doesn't make the state democratic. For example, the U.S.S.R. had elections, but that certainly did not make them a democracy. Liberated media is fundamentally crucial in genuine democratic societies because it practices the theory of including the public in governmental affairs, and commemorates the democratic idea that reality can only be relative and truth and facts are to be deemed authentic by individuals, not administrators.

Without freedom in journalism, journalism can't be able to achieve its objective. And without free journalism democracy is incomplete. Thus, journalism and democracy are interdependent to each other.

Sources:
www.mediawise.org.uk
annenberg.usc.edu
adrianmonck.com
www.nowpublic.com