媒介是民主制度的重要支撐。然而，當今的商業媒介制度卻成了民主的一個危險的脆弱環節，媒介的民主允諾變成了「媒介的民主赤字」。隨著市民社會自身的成長壯大，市民社會試圖改革媒介來挽救這種媒介危機和民主危機。美國一直是資本主義國家中最強調市場自由的國家，其媒介所受的市場擠壓也更為強烈。因此，在美國興起了歷史淵源最長、影響面最大的公民媒介改革運動。1920年代到1930年代前期，一些教育組織作為市民社會的代表，積極參與廣播制度的立法過程，試圖建立非商業的廣播系統。1960年代到1970年代上半期，在民權運動和女權運動等社運背景下，市民社會對電視的不滿激起了更加廣泛的公民媒介改革運動。除了教育組織之外，更多的社會團體、公民組織參與到電視改革的運動中來。進入二十一世紀，媒介集中壟斷的現實壓力日益加劇，這激起了公眾參與度更加廣泛、社會影響更大的公民媒介改革運動。新的改革運動不再局限於媒介監督和參與廣播行政管理，更包含大量媒介制度立法等結構性議題。美國公民媒介改革經歷了近百年的延續與積累，其公眾參與的程度日益提高，社會效果越來越顯著。但是，美國公民媒介改革運動受到自由主義的社會制度和觀念的制約，其發展面臨著一些現實困難。

The media is the pillar of most democratic societies. However, current commercial media system has jeopardized democracy, making media democracy an empty promise. With the growth of the civic society, it has attempted to save the media and democracy through media reform. Among the capitalist countries, the U.S has always put the greatest emphasis on market freedom and it also has the most commercialized media, hence the country has the longest and most influential civic media reform movement. In the 1920s and early 1930s, some educational institutions took an active part in the law-making process with an attempt to establish a non-commercial broadcast system for the society. In the 1960s and early 1970s, along with the civil rights movement and the feminist movement, the dissatisfaction of the civil society with the television stimulated civic media reform movement reflected an even wider scale. Besides educational institutions, more social groups and civic organizations also got involved in the television reform movement.The beginning of the 21st century witnessed the increasing media monopoly, and such change has aroused more influential civic media reform movement with even more participants. New reform movements are no longer confined to involvement in monitoring and regulating media. Structural agendas such as substantial legislation issues are also included. With the accumulation and continuation of almost a century, the U.S civic media reform movement has a growing public participation as well as increasingly noticeable social effects. However, due to the limitations of the liberal social system and values, the development of the civic media reform is facing some practical difficulties.