• Habermas is a German philosopher and sociologist in the tradition of critical theory and pragmatism.
• His work addresses communicative rationality and the public sphere
• “a public space between the private domain and the state in which public opionion was formed and ‘popular’ supervision of government was established”
• The media as watchdog

‘a neutral zone where access to relevant information affecting the public good is widely available’

‘the development of early modern capitalism brought into being an autonomous arena of public debate’

‘the primary democratic role of the media is to act as a public watchdog overseeing the state’

• Habermas is a philosopher and sociologist in the tradition of critical theory and pragmatism.
• His work addresses communicative rationality and the public sphere.
• Habermas defines communication as strictly what happens between two or more talking seriously about something that exists or should exist in the world, but no one disputes the validity of the statements or suggestions made by and each other. Communication therefore uses a medium in and through which it occurs: the language.
• The public sphere is an area in social life where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems, and through that discussion influence political action
• media act in the ‘public sphere’ in the ‘public interest’
• media as watchdog

“a public space between the private domain and the state in which public opinion was formed and ‘popular’ supervision of government was established” (p. 82: 1996)