Letters for publication in The THES

Dear editor  What’s ‘Micky Mouse’ about defending fundamental democraticprinciples?The central role of the media in today’s configuration ofpower relations is not only evident by the sheer amount of time spent accessingor using media by the public and professionals. The increasing importance ofbranding, market research, endorsement, news and issue management, pressreleases and crisis communications in the setting of the public agenda implythat while power may well be diffused or distributed, it still passes throughfilters and is culled and crafted by media gatekeepers. While emerging forms of voice expression through socialmedia and citizen journalism challenge the power of such traditionalgatekeepers the actions of these often temporarily ‘empowered’ citizens is, ineffect, contributing different forms of mediation. In other words, we live in a saturated mediated world.Given ‘empowerment’ itself implies the acquisition of power– presumably from a prior state of inefficacy; we must recognise both theimportant role media can play in such attainment and equally how mediatedunderstanding can also be disempowering through distraction, agenda setting andframing.So, if in our ‘post-truth’ times, an empowered citizenry isvital in restoring or strengthening our  model of democratic governance based onnormative conceptualisations of the relationship between the government and thepeople, it follows that a deep, reflective and informed view of media in itsbroadest terms is indeed more crucial than ever. And remember, Micky Mouse is still commonly used in Americaas a form of electoral protest.Dr Richard ScullionA/L Oxford Brookes University