Nehal Bothra
Subhamitra Adhikari
Academic Writing (A) – CORACW101 (a)
22 October 2013
Media the fourth pillar of democracy.
“The media’s the most powerful entity on Earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and make the guilty innocent and that’s power. Because they control the mind of the masses.” MalcolmX
The three pillars of democracy that is the judiciary, legislative, and the executive cannot function without the fourth pillar –MEDIA. Everything in this modern age is powered by media from the moment we wake up until we sleep at night. Over the years, media has played a pivotal role in making people understand the meaning of democracy. It’s the media who reminds politicians about their unfulfilled promises made at the time of elections. It exposes loopholes in the democratic system, which ultimately helps the government in filling the vacuums making it more accountable, responsive and citizen- friendly. Media plays an important role in shaping the personality of people which makes them more sensible and capable to shoulder their responsibilities towards the nation, the democracy. It has deepened the roots of democracy by exposing various scams, scandals, fraud and many other cases of corruption, leading to initiations of inquiries. However there have been many instances when they acted immature which weaken the pillars of democracy and the faith of people in democracy. Media has failed to function in a proper way .They start being more upfront about their loyalties, towards corporate and political leaders. The media houses have failed to distinguish when a sensational news becomes damaging towards national interests as it was evident during the 26/11 Mumbai attack and the reportage of the Gujarat riots. The news channels have modeled themselves as entertainment channels to increase their TRP’s. However a country without media is like a vehicle without wheels. This aim of this essay will be to investigate whether media is the fourth pillar...