TIME AND NEWS - THE MEDIAS LIMITATIONS AS AN INSTRUMENT OF DEMOCRACY

As traditional institutions have weakened, the news media have been ex pected to carry more of the burden of organizing public opinion and de bate. In general, however, the news agenda is an unsuitable basis for political action. There are always critical problems facing society, b ut whether they play a large or small part in the news, and do so in a true or distorted form, depends significantly on how they conform to the time-driven demands of the news cycle. The news is deliberately sh ortsighted, is rooted in novelty rather than precision, and focuses on fastbreaking events rather than enduring issues.