Media 1

The role of the media in contemporary politics forces us to ask
/kənˈtem.pə.rer.i/ - /ˈpɑː.lə.tɪks/
 what kind of a society we want to live in,
 /səˈsaɪ.ə.t̬i/
and in particular in what sense of democracy
/pɚˈtɪk.jə.lɚ/ - /dɪˈmɒk.rə.si/
do we want this to be a democratic society?
/ˌdem.əˈkræt̬.ɪk/ -> /səˈsaɪ.ə.t̬i/
Let me begin by counter-posing two different conceptions of democracy.
/kənˈsep.ʃəns/- /dɪˈmɒk.rə.si/
One conception of democracy has it that
/kənˈsep.ʃən/- /dɪˈmɒk.rə.si/
a democratic society is one in which
/ˌdem.əˈkræt̬.ɪk/ -  /səˈsaɪ.ə.t̬i/
the public has the means to participate in some meaningful way
​ /pɑːrˈtɪs.ə.peɪt/
​in the management of their own affairs /əˈfer/
and the means of information are open and free.
If you look up “democracy” in the dictionary
/dɪˈmɑk·rə·si/
you'll get a definition something like that.
 /ˌdef·əˈnɪʃ·ən/
An alternative conception of democracy is that
/ɑːlˈtɝː.nə.t̬ɪv/ - /dɪˈmɑk·rə·si/
the public must be barred from managing their own affairs
and the means of information must be kept narrowly and rigidly controlled.
That may sound like an odd conception of democracy,
but it's important to understand
that it is the prevailing conception. /prɪˈveɪ.lɪŋ/
In fact, it has long been, not just in operation, /ˌɑː.pəˈreɪ.ʃən/
but even in theory.
There's a long history that goes back
to the earliest modern democratic revolutions in
/ˌdem.əˈkræt̬.ɪk/ - /ˌrev.əˈluː.ʃən/
seventeenth-century England which largely expresses this point of view.
I'm just going to keep to the modern period and say a few words about
how that notion of democracy develops, /dɪˈmɑk·rə·si/
and why and how the problem of media and disinformation enters within that context.