Place, Pluralism and the Media Who Tells Us About Political Affairs? Steven Harkins

Citation

Harkins S (2024) Place, Pluralism and the Media Who Tells Us About Political Affairs? Steven Harkins. In: An Introduction to UK Politics: Place, Pluralism, and Identities. 1st ed. London: Sage, pp. 183-201.

Abstract
First paragraph: The news media play a crucial role in providing information that influences the functioning of the UK’s complex democratic system. One of the central concerns of this book is examining the extent of pluralism within the UK political system. Any analysis of this would be incomplete without a sustained and critical examination of the role that the news media play in expanding or restricting debates about political affairs. One of the dominant normative claims about the role of journalism in a modern democracy is that journalists are responsible for informing and educating citizens. Furthermore, they are expected to hold powerful elites to account on behalf of the public by exposing abuses of power. They are also expected to adhere to professional norms of objectivity while performing these important social roles. This challenge is difficult when journalists report on political affairs because of the contentious nature of political reporting. Professional journalists are increasingly facing accusations of bias from unhappy news consumers from across the political spectrum.