Contemporary Challenges for Media and Democracy from the Young Citizens’ Perspective: A Case Study in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka

Abstract: Democracy plays a crucial role in building a society where people’s freedom, human rights and social well-being are assured. In that light, media plays a considerable role as a source of information that can facilitate the smooth function of democracy. Due to the factors such as the rise of social media, political mismanagement and poor administration, media and democracy face numerous challenges in many countries. There is a lack of empirical research on the challenges for media and democracy from the citizens’ perspective. This study aims to identify the contemporary challenges for media and democracy in Sri Lanka from the young citizens’ perspective. Accordingly, the research question is formulated as: “What are the contemporary challenges for media and democracy in Sri Lanka from the young citizen’s perspective?”. ‘Normative theories’ are applied to understand the conduct of media. ‘Capability approach theory’ and Hasebrink’s concept of ‘users as citizens’ are used to understand the standard of living that people can achieve. This study conducted online face-to-face semi-structured interviews with sixteen young citizens in the Gampaha district in Sri Lanka. A case study research strategy was used, and the respondents were selected through purposive sampling. Thematic analysis is used to analyse the data and the identified challenges, and the sub-factors are illustrated in a thematic map. Twenty sub-factors that negatively contribute to media and democracy were identified and classified into five main challenges. The challenges for media and democracy identified in this study will be vital for policymakers, practitioners, journalists, and researchers in this area in order to mitigate the challenges whereby a sound democracy can be facilitated. These challenges identified would also be advantageous as a resource in formulating legal policies, introducing reforms and decision-making processes.