“后真相时代”的媒体与民主--访著名政治学家约翰·基恩教授

Media and Democracy within “The Post-Truth Era”: Interview with Professor John Keane

媒体在促进民主的进程中扮演重要角色。为受众提供真实、准确的信息一直是新闻媒体服务于民主的重要功能之一。然而随着"后真相时代"的来临,媒体的信息提供功能面临挑战,结合约翰·基恩(John Keane)教授的访谈发现,单纯对"真相"的强调并不是民主保护自身免受"后真相"侵扰的最好方法。约翰·基恩教授认为,"后真相"是"谎言""扯淡""象征性的插科打诨"和"沉默"的重组。"后真相"时代,通过保护和建立多元的监督平台,媒体可以成为"监督式民主"的有力支持者。此外,通信革命和"监督式民主"的来临增加了世界的阐释性特质,"后真相"虽然有摧毁民主的风险,但也引发了人们对所谓的"真相"的质疑并鼓励人们对"硬道理"说再见。媒体在"后真相时代"如要继续促进民主的发展,则需要帮助人们学习如何更好地做出诠释并判定不同诠释之间的冲突,从而为民主的发展培养理性和明智的公民。

Media plays an important role in promoting democracy. Providing audience with truthful and accurate information has always been an important function of media in advancingdemocracy. However, with the advent of ＂post-truth era＂, the information providing function of media is being challenged. Based on the interview of professor John Keane, the mere emphasis on ＂truth＂ is not the best way for democracy to protect itself against ＂post-truth＂. According to professor Keane, ＂post-truth＂ is a recombinant of ＂lies＇＂＇bullshit symbolic buffoonery＂ and ＂silence＂. Within the ＂post-truth era＂, through protection and establishment of multiple monitoring platforms, media can be the supporter of ＂monitory democracy＂. What＇s more, communication revolution and ＂monitory democracy＂ heightened the experience of the interpreted quality of the world. Although ＂post-truth＂ has the potential to destroy democracy, it also raises the question of what is truth among people and encourages farewell to ＂hard truth＂. If media wants to continue promoting democracy within the ＂post-truth era＂, it needs to help people learn how to make better interpretations and how to judge the conflict of interpretations, thus cultivating reasonable and wise citizens for the development of democracy.