Theoretical Concerns Regarding the Role of Mass-Media in the Social Construction of Democracy in Republic of Moldova

Abstract

Today, mass media plays an important role in reflecting on all social fields, including the political sphere and the evolution of democratic processes. The state of democracy in a state is influenced by a multitude of factors, which interfere with each other, but also by the media's ability to function from the perspective of the role of "watch dog for democracy". In recent years, according to national and international assessments, the Republic of Moldova faces a series of social - political problems, which determine the deviation from the principles and norms of democratic functioning of the state, the establishment of a party dictatorship and the emergence of the democracy deficit. The contribution of the media in the democratization processes, especially in the context of post-Soviet countries, is indisputable from a double perspective: the press institutions acquire a new model of functioning after the totalitarian period, restrictive in the field of journalistic practices and within society, in which citizens opt for democracy,  the collective memory of past events is still maintained. Political communication through mass media, as well as the reflection of political events, generate opinions, reactions, behaviors, in a society in which remembering, as a process of collective memory, can generate associations, nostalgia and ambiguity in the consciousness of the masses which are only just getting used to the democratic exercise.