Media and Democracy

As the infrastructure of the public space, media play an indispensable role in democratic societies. To create the right conditions for media, media policy is necessary. This chapter discusses Dutch media policy, which traditionally covers two sub-areas: press policy and broadcasting policy. In what follows, the chapter identifies three key democratic functions for media: informing the public, holding power to account and providing a forum for public debate. To properly fulfil these functions, the media system needs to be independent, reliable, accessible and transparently accountable to the public. The chapter concludes with brief reflections on the importance of factual consensus and institutional trust, and the democratic value of a mixed system consisting of both public and private media.