We spend countless hours exposed to television, radio, CDs, books, newspapers, magazines, billboards and the Internet. These media inform our ideas and opinions, our values and our beliefs. They reflect and influence our culture through arts and entertainment.
As such, they play a vital role in our democracy, shaping citizens' understanding of social and political issues and functioning as gatekeepers through which issues, people, and events must pass. No matter what you care about — gun rights or abortion rights, the environment or economics — the media influence the perceptions of citizens and policymakers, affecting the policies that touch us all.
Media must not be considered just another business: they are special institutions in our society. Information is the lifeblood of democracy — and when viewpoints are cut off and ideas cannot find an outlet, our democracy suffers.
