Why are media important to democracy?

Media can play a crucial role in shaping a healthy democracy. It is the backbone of a democracy. Media can make us aware of various social, political and economical activities happening around the world. It can be like a mirror, which shows us or strives to show us the bare truth and harsh realities of life.

The media has undoubtedly evolved and become more active over the years. It is the media only who reminds politicians about their unfulfilled promises at the time of elections. T.V news channels' extensive coverage during elections can help people, especially illiterates, in electing the right person to the power. This reminder can motivate politicians to follow through on their promises in order to remain in power

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"A properly functioning democracy depends on an informed electorate"

- Thomas Jefferson

Insofar as media provide accurate and complete information to the electorate, they help the electorate to be informed. Hopefully their votes will then reflect an understanding of the issues and the candidates.

Insofar as media provide biased, incomplete, or inaccurate information, they are at odds with creating an informed electorate. Sometimes bias comes in terms of what they choose to report or what facts they choose to include or exclude in their reporting - resulting in incomplete information. Bias can also come in the terms they use for reporting. As an example: "the way Hillary handled classified information" vs. "the way Hillary mishandled classified information" are both technically accurate but have different connotations; mishandling is still a form of handling. The first glosses over and minimizes the fact that classified information was mishandled; the second focus on it. As you can see, it can be difficult not to introduce bias one way or the other. The problem comes when the bias is consistently skewed one way or the other.