""In national news, when we cover people who aren't technically in power, it is... often as people who are affected by the decisions of the people who are in power," Maddow said. "But if we are serious about doing this work in a democracy and for a democracy, that categorization is backwards. Because in a democracy, the controlling force, the real power, ultimately is with the people. And when the people are expressing themselves politically - which means peacefully - they are telling power what it can do and what it cannot do.""
""It's under pressure from a leader having his friends buy up and domesticate previously independent media, doing his best to intimidate or shut down the rest. He has the intent to rule by force, to consolidate all power in himself and rule indefinitely without being constrained by election results," she said."
National journalism often frames non-powerful individuals primarily as those affected by decisions of leaders rather than as the controlling force in a democracy. Real power in a democracy rests with the people, and peaceful political expression tells leaders what they can and cannot do. Concentration of media ownership, intimidation, and attempts to domesticate independent outlets can enable authoritarian consolidation and threaten democratic constraints. International correspondents should foreground popular political agency and grassroots movements. Media coverage should center ordinary people and democratic actors to defend democratic norms and accountability.
Read at LGBTQ Nation
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