Accountability of mass media in the democratic system

Mass media can play a key role in enabling citizens to watch the actions of incumbents and to use this information in their voting decisions. This can lead to government which is more accountable and responsive to its citizens’ needs. In spite of the intuitive plausibility of the proposition, there is comparatively little work in the political economy literature that scrutinizes the role and effectiveness of the media in fulfilling this function. A literature, however, is emerging which focuses attention on the importance of the so called fourth estate of government in the policy process. A key feature of the approach taken here is to focus on incentives the media have to produce and distribute information.

News papers are the idea that citizens have imperfect information about the actions of government. Mass media can therefore improve citizens’ abilities to analyze government actions. Here, we develop the main themes and evaluate the talented practical facts. The latter identifies and tests the mechanisms through which development of mass media can enhance accountability. It also examines the determinants of media capture and hence the constraints on its capacity to perform a watchdog role. There is a host of reasons why governments are better informed than voters and, hence, act on the basis of confidential information. Politicians know more about their aptitude than those who vote for them. They have access to more policy advice and scenarios from a variety of sources. For example, if a overpass or dam is being built, then it is only through media scrutiny that citizens can discover whether proper attention has been paid to the relevant costs and benefits. Similarly when natural disasters strike an active mass media increases the ability of citizens to monitor their government has put in effort to protect the weak.