Conclusion — The Fall and Rise of Journalism

Abstract

In his plea for support of a model of public service broadcasting, the esteemed media scholar James Curran (2002) called for the abandonment of our “ 17th century fears of the leviathan state when absolutist, arbitrary authority was an ever-present threat” (p. 227). Instead, he writes, we should recognise that a democratic state, elected by the people, is able to extend the sphere of information and debate “in the interests of democratic self-rule” (ibid.). Sadly, Curran’s assumption that the emerging democratic state in the 21st century is such a benevolent and progressive force is, I think, overstated. I have seen this first hand, as earlier chapters attest. This overexpectancy regarding the democratic state is particularly evident beyond the Western and European models of democracy, out in the global South where nations are still young and their historical legacies are riddled with conflict and division. But even within the privileged cluster of stable democratic states, at this time of global political and financial insecurity, the signs of responsible benevolence are ambiguous.

Seek after truth and tell it to power

— Guizot