In this essay, John Keane rethinks the relationship between themedia and democracy. He opens up and explores a cluster of vitalquestions: where did the modern ideals of republican democracy and'liberty of the press' originate? Have they been destroyed duringthe twentieth century by new forms of state censorship, or theemergence of transnational media conglomerates, or the growth ofelectronic media? Do the new digital technologies, satellitebroadcasting and the convergence of broadcasting andtelecommunications hinder or help these ideals? Is the free andequal communication of citizens through the media a feasible idealat the end of the twentieth century? While these questions have long been neglected in social scienceand in the high-pressured world of print and electronic journalism,Keane restores them to the centre of political analysis and debate.He challenges many conventional assumptions of journalists,academics and policymakers. His essay sets out a radically newaccount of the importance of the media to democracy and elaboratesa new conception of the public service model of communications - amodel which would expose invisible power, publicize risks andfacilitate 'a genuine commonwealth of forms of life, tastes andopinions'.