Essay

Final Essay Politics and International Relations 1A: Concepts (PLIT08017)

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Final Essay from Politics and International Relations 1a: Concepts and Debates Take Home Exam. Covers two prompts related to candidate representation in politics and how journalism can support democracy. Both essays contain a myriad of in-depth and relevant examples surrounding whistleblowers, watc...

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Uploaded on January 30, 2024
Number of pages 4
Written in 2023/2024
Type Essay
Professor(s) Unknown
Grade B

media
journalism
watchdog journalism
whistleblowers
democratic governance
watergate
representation
political representation
inequality
politics and international relations
theories of representation
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In what ways can the media support democratic governance? Answer by providing specific
examples. (63)

The media has been influential and instrumental to politics since its advent. The foundations of our
democracies today are deeply intertwined with the media and its practices. In this essay I will argue that
the media can support democratic governance primarily through monitorial and investigative journalism
displayed by the Watergate and Snowden scandals and mass education efforts that encourage democratic
participation as evidenced by the crucial information that media outlets can provide to help raise voter
turnout and in turn, strengthen a country’s democracy.

In many democratic societies, the main way in which the media serves the people in relation to politics is
monitorially. Journalists serve as watchdogs, keeping those in power responsible for their actions. This
form of journalism, particularly investigative reporting, has enabled democratic governing to be more
transparent with voters. Democracy, literally “demos” meaning people and “kratos” meaning power, relies
on the knowledge of voters to make the right decision when choosing and interacting with political
representatives. In order to make the right decision, they need to know the facts of the matter. This is
where investigative reporting and monitorial journalism become powerful tools to support the democratic
process.

A prime example of superb investigative journalism that helped support democratic governance is the
reporting on the Watergate scandal. Reported by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington
Post, the scandal rocked the American political scene. Woodward and Bernstein served as receivers of
information from a whistleblower and through further investigative reporting revealed a complex web of
corruption and lies that led to Richard Nixon’s resignation. Through their reporting they exposed
campaign tampering and corruption that otherwise would have gone unknown to the American people.
The fact that the whole scandal was perpetrated by compatriots of the President who were working on his
re-election campaign, indicates directly the power the media and monitorial journalism can have. By
exposing the President, Woodward and Bernstein held him accountable, and in turn, prevented his
re-election.

Contemporary monitorial journalism has also supported, as seen in Watergate and another example I am
about to provide, the advent of whistleblowers. Within complex and often out of the public eye
institutions like the NSA (National Security Agency), corruption can often go unnoticed or unreported
due to agencies’ close proximity to political power. As Lord Acton said, “absolute power tends to corrupt
absolutely”. With both the threat of legal punishment and illegal measures, people complacent in or aware
of corruption, undemocratic, or immoral actions are often silenced. The whistleblower, a person within an
association or agency who quite literally “blows the whistle” on these actions, is completely powerless
without the media.

Take Edward Snowden, an American whistleblower who revealed documents proving the NSA, or
American National Security Agency was paying private tech companies to access information on US
citizens illegally. Snowden leaked these documents both to the Guardian and the Washington Post
violating the Espionage Act and putting himself at significant risk to expose the truth to the American
people. Without the journalists who took up Snowden’s offer for information and dutifully reported it, the

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