DOT POINT 6 The role of government, the media and communication technologies in promoting or eroding active citizenship ◦ Refer to the handout distributed during class for a comprehensive outline of the knowledge you are expected to demonstrate

Recap: active citizenship In a democratic society, the term active citizenship refers to the right of an individual or group to play an active role in public life (not necessarily as a politician) so that democracy and democratic practices and institutions are supported and preserved. Active citizens also respect and take responsibility for human rights so that no group or individual is excluded from these practices and institutions.

Recap: active citizenship Active citizenship can be hindered by interference by government and other institutions, but it is also up to the individual how they use the rights and responsibilities conferred by active citizenship. Active citizens can work towards improving their community through volunteer work, public service (e.g. jury duty, voting, army reserve), obeying laws, paying taxes, protesting, etc.

Promoting or Eroding Grab a few different newspapers such as The Australian, The Age and Herald Sun ◦ Choose a controversial issue that is covered in each newspaper and compare the headline, position, length, use of images, etc ◦ Discuss the difference between the various representations of the same issue in different media ◦ What does this suggest about the role of the media in promoting or eroding active citizenship?

Promoting or Eroding Read the article ‘Freedom of speech has limits when it’s about exploiting children’ ◦ Identify an example of recent media you have consumed (or are aware of) that goes against Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child ◦ Should we allow the media ‘freedom of speech’ when it comes to the production, distribution and consumption of sexualised images of children? ◦ What has the government done to protect children against sexual media representations? ◦ What could the government do to better protect children from the media? ◦ What role do parents play in this issue?

Promoting or Eroding Research examples of how the government, communication technologies and the Internet can both promote and erode active citizenship ◦ Read the ‘How government can promote active citizenship’ handout ◦ To better understand the concept of communication technologies, read the Bessant & Watts handouts

Government Promoting and Eroding Promoting ◦ Diversity of political parties (Greens, Independents, etc) ◦ Right to challenge government actions (but you may pay legal costs!) ◦ Right of citizens to vote ◦ Providing funding to community organisations ◦ Favourable policies and laws (e.g. anti-discrimination) Eroding ◦ Dual citizens can not be elected members of parliament ◦ Limiting voting rights to people over 18 ◦ Restricting funding to community organisations ◦ Restrictive policies and laws (e.g. banning gay marriage) ◦ Deporting undesirable permanent residents

Media Promoting and Eroding Promoting – The media informs citizens of issues so appropriate decisions can be made – The ABC is “always” neutral and unbiased (especially relating to political coverage) as it is government funded Eroding – The government has cut funding to ABC TV and Radio National, and as taxpayers we are entitled to neutral and unbiased media to help participate in active citizenship – The government-funded SBS has started advertising which may lead to biased programming decisions and slashing of programming tailored to ethnic minorities with little economic pull, thus limiting their active citizenship in Australian media – Private media does not have to be neutral and often forms alliances with political parties – Private media ownership can hinder unbiased coverage (eg, same company owns TV, radio, press, Internet, etc and spreads the “same message”) – Private media are slashing jobs, and ‘serious journalism’ in favour of syndication (eg, same article appears in multiple sources) so citizens are not receiving a diversity of opinion – Global media ownership limits diversity in international perspectives

ICT Promoting and Eroding Promoting – Citizens can source their own news via the Internet and not rely on “established” media – Links and networks between citizens can be formed, so this enhances democratic practice – The Internet is “currently” outside government censorship – Citizens use ICT to communicate easily with the government – The government uses ICT to distribute information to citizens Eroding – The Internet contains a lot of misinformation that may mislead citizens – Foreign governments control Internet use (e.g. China, Saudi Arabia) so Australians cannot participate in full global citizenship – High cost of telecommunication restrict use by lower socioeconomic peoples