In the last Book Café we talked about us being consumers rather than citizens. We got to the conclusion that the Media keeps us from being citizens since we do not have access to the necessary information that being a citizen requires. We agreed that we need Media that denounces the monopoly of industries and the concentration of political power in the hands of few. Given that we are more consumers than citizens, the media focus should shift from the political to the economical sphere. Freedom of speech is essential to democracy but has to be used to maintain democracy.
Questions that we would like to discuss with you:
Why is the current Media not informing us about the behaviour of companies? Are there examples of Media outlets who are doing this already?
In how far are the Media independent?
Is independent Media a necessary constituent of a functioning democracy?
Should there be some kind of state control or influence on the Media? Or are the Media already to much under state-influence? Is there a monopoly of free speech in the Media?
Some of these topics will be addressed in the documentary "The new Watchdogs" following our discussion at the Peep shop.