<P> The use of digital social networking technologies to promote political dissent and reform lends credibility to the media democracy model . This is apparent in the widespread protests in the Middle East and North Africa known as the Arab Spring where social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube allowed citizens to quickly connect with one another, exchange information, and organize protests against their governments . While social media cannot solely be credited with the success of these protests, the technologies played an important role in instilling change in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya . These acts show a population can be informed through alternative media channels, and can adjust its behaviour accordingly . </P> <P> Though the model aims to democratize the opinions expressed within the mass media as well as the ownership of media entities themselves, feminist media theory argues that the media cannot be considered truly inclusive or democratic insofar as they rely on the masculine concepts of impartiality and objectivity . Creating a more inclusive and democratic media would require reconceptualizing how we define the news and its principles . According to some feminist media theorists, news is like fictional genres that impose order and interpretation on its materials by means of narrative . Consequently, the news narrative put forward presents only one angle of a much wider picture . </P> <P> It is argued that the distinction between public and private information that underpins how we define valuable or appropriate news content is also a gendered concept . The feminist argument follows that the systematic subversion of private or subjective information excludes women's voices from the popular discourse . Further to this point, feminist media theorists argue there is an assumed sense of equality or equalness implicit in the definition of the public that ignores important differences between genders in terms of their perspectives . So while media democracy in practice as alternative or citizen journalism may allow for greater diversity, these theorists argue that women's voices are framed within a masculine structure of objectivity and rationalist thinking . </P> <P> Despite this criticism there is an acceptance among some theorists that the blurring of public and private information with the introduction of some new alternative forms of media production (as well as the increase in opportunities for interaction and user - generated content) may signal a positive shift towards a more democratic and inclusive media democracy . Some forms of media democracy in practice (as citizen or alternative journalism) are challenging journalism's central tenants (objectivity and impartiality) by rejecting the idea that it is possible to tell a narrative without bias and, more to the point, that it is socially or morally preferable . </P>

What is the role of the media in democracy