A leading media critic will discuss the role of the media in a democracy Monday.

Robert McChesney will speak at 7 p.m. in Emerson Suites on “The U. S. Media: A Political Problem Requiring Political Solutions.” McChesney has criticized corporate media for not fostering the democratic process.

He said he hopes students will come away from his speech with a sense that the media system is deeply flawed and needs to be changed. McChesney said he advocates more public involvement in the media, competitive and locally owned media and a strong nonprivate broadcasting system.

“I think our strongest allies are those in the media, on the front lines, who see commercialization destroying quality, especially of journalism,” he said.

McChesney will also give a student media workshop, “Students as Media Makers,” on Monday from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the Green Room of the James J. Whalen Center for Music. He will discuss the role of students as they enter the professional media. Students must sign up for the workshop in the Park School Dean’s Office by Friday.

Senior Eric Lieb said he looks forward to the chance to discuss how students are operating and will operate within the media.

“A lot of people in democracy make choices based on what media has to say,” he said. “Maybe this will help them be more critical of what they see, what they hear and what they read.”

McChesney is currently a research professor in the Institute of Communications Research and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His most recent book is “The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communications Politics in the 21st Century.”

His speech is part of the yearlong Engaging Democracy and Troubling the Waters series.