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BREAKING
Israeli media outlet: Security incident reported in the Gaza Strip
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson: No new date or venue has been set for the meeting between Araghchi and Witkoff, and no negotiations will take place until the outcome is guaranteed
Palestinian platforms: Settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque complex under the protection of the occupation police
Palestinian platforms: The IOF detonated a booby-trapped robot east of the al-Zaytoun neighborhood, south of Gaza City
Syrian Defense: We call on all parties in Sweida to cooperate with security forces and exercise restraint
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese Army is continuing its investigations and will later announce any information that does not affect the confidentiality of the investigation
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: It has not yet been determined whether the detainees belong to ISIS or another organization
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Around 10 people of different nationalities, including Lebanese nationals, were detained
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese army arrested a number of people in the Matn area of Mount Lebanon with possession it has not disclosed
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: We have strong indications that there are martyrs, injuries, and trapped people in the Salah al-Din area

The Future of US Democracy in Crisis

  • By Al-Mayadeen
  • Source: The New Yorker
  • 5 Jul 2021 22:59
3 Min Read

The New Yorker released a special series entitled “The Future of Democracy”, examining the ramifications of a post-Trump America.

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  • Protesters storm U.S Capitol on January 6 - A.P
    Protesters storm U.S Capitol on January 6 - A.P

In a post-Trump America, government and democratic institutions have been undermined by a number of elements borne from within the very processes that were supposed to safeguard democracy.

The American electoral system has, for one, given way to two presidents in recent history that did not win the popular vote, signifying that there are innate flaws within the American electoral process.

Media on the other hand been used (or rather misused) by what they term to be “malicious actors at home and abroad”, greatly polarizing American political life, and leading a large segment of people to consider the 2020 elections illegitimate.

This crisis, however, was not born with former US President Donald Trump, and has not gone away with him. The New Yorker’s series of articles, published in the week of July 4th, explores the "past, present, and future" of American democracy, and so attempts to shine a light on the latter's innate problems, what effect they have had, and proposes possible solutions for them. However, the practicality and applicability of these solutions is another matter.

One of the more interesting problems was highlighted in Michael Luo’s “How can the press best serve a democratic society”. which tackled the problem of the press in the US. Although the press, in mid-20th century, held high the banner of truth and objectivity, chiefly because of the rise of totalitarianism, these principles were soon overshadowed by sensationalism and the need to provide novel pieces, driven by the market’s needs. This led to “news…skewed by the biases of the owners of media outlets, and by pressure from interest groups.”

Jumping to today’s US, we have “disagreement over basic facts, and half-truths, falsehoods, and propaganda have overrun digital platforms and polluted the news ecosystem. The press itself is also shrinking.”

The piece goes on to the Trump era, calling the Republicans a party “that embraces deception as a political strategy”, and claims that the era’s radicalism has caused a need to reconsider “objectivity” as a journalistic ideal; a solution that can only be tackled by the press.

Here, the responsibility for fixing the press falls on the press itself, as it needs to “fundamentally reset the norms of our field. The old way must go. We need to rebuild our industry as one that operates from a place of moral clarity.”

Indeed, the problems facing US democracy cannot be restricted to media, but media has proven itself to be the most polarizing factor in American political life, especially with its ability to loosen the “collective grasp on reality” through misinformation.

  • The Future of Democracy
  • US Democracy
  • New Yorker
  • Trump
  • US elections

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