“for rethink the democratic role of the media is provided by a seminal study by Habermas”

“discussions in coffee houses and salons etc created… a new public engaged in critical political discussion”

A public space between the private domain and the state in which public opinion was formed and “popular” supervision of the government was established”

“the primary democratic role of the media is to act as a public watchdog”

“once the media becomes a subject to public regulation it will lose its bite”

“reconceptualized and reincarnated in a new form”

‘the watchdog is said to override in importance all other functions of the media”

“regulation state or free market?” liberal or concervative

James Curran- mass media and democracy revisited

Writes about how Habermas argues that there is a arena of public debate, “emergence of independence encouraged a new public engaged political discussion.” public sphere

The media can be seen as a watchdog, a public representative and a source for public information.

One thought is that the main role media plays is to act as a watchdog to the public to oversee the state.

Usually to expose the misuse of authority.

can be used to debate about government freely

laws are put in place by government to regulate the media

should it be free to do what it wants? or should the media be regulated.

Unethical- If it becomes a free market and producers can make anything they want can cause tension.

watchdog keeps everyone in there place

Media shouldn’t be completely controlled by the government but also shouldn’t be a free market. A balance is needed to keep everyone happy

“once the media becomes subjects to public regulation, it will loose its bite as a watchdog and may even be transformed into a snarling rottweiler in the service of the state.”- A rottweiler= dangerous dog

The liberal theory of free press.

Freedom to publish- The theory that everyone should have the right to publish what they want.

Diversity and chain ownership- More publishers leads to more diversity as there is more to choose from. There are many types of different people with different social backgrounds, political beliefs and values who can publish there thoughts, rather than one company who produce the same content and thoughts.

State or free market?

the ideal level of regulation for media that would be most beneficial for the public sphere is somewhere between the state and the free market. Full State regulation reduces freedom of speech whereas a fully free market regulation would allow people to say anything they want which would create problems.

Habermus and the Public Sphere

Habermus argues that the development of early modern capitalism brought into being an autonomous arena of public debate. Habermus traces the evolution of the “bourgeois public sphere” which is a public space between the private domain and the state in which public opinion was formed and “popular” supervision of government was established. He argues, the public sphere came to be dominated by the expanded state and organized economic interests. Although Habermas was careful to argue that participation in the public sphere, in its classical phrase, was restricted to the propertied class, he has come under attack for idealizing, this period of history. He also has been criticized for his characterization of the media and the public sphere in the subsequent period

Media Watchdog

Classical liberal thought argues that the primary democratic role of the media is to act as a public watchdog overseeing the state. This is usually defined as revealing abuses in the exercise of state authority. The watchdog role is said to override in importance all other functions of the media, and to dictate the form in which the media should be organised

Quote

“Once the media becomes subject to public regulation, it will lose its bite as a watchdog and may even be transformed into a snarling Rottweiler in the service of the state”

Habermas argues the public state

“a public space between the private domain and the state in which public opinion was formed and ‘popular’ supervision of government was established” 

“This watchdog role is said to override in importance all other functions in media and to dictate the form in which the media should be organised”

“The primary democratic role of the media is to act as a public watchdog”

The media should work for the public interest. This should be regulated between the free market (people) or the state.

• Habermas argues the public sphere is an ‘autonomous area of public debate’
• ‘popular supervision of government was established

Watchdog journalism informs the public about goings-on in institutions and society, especially in circumstances where a significant portion of the public would demand changes in response

The media should work for the public interest. This should be regulated between the free market (people) or the state.

“the watchdog role is said to override in importance all other functions in media and to dictate the form in which the media should be organised”

“once the media becomes subject to public regulation it will lose its bite as a watchdog and may even be transformed into a snarling rottweiler in the service of the state”

“the primary democratic role of the media is to act as a public watchdog” A watchdog is someone who protects the public from the “shadows” as they become as anonymous as possible to fight and expose the truth for the public and this quote is saying how the media is part of the “people” and help the “people”.

-The media is made to inform us the public but yet needs a sense of regulation as if the media has no restrictions they can publish whatever they want rather it be false or completely unacceptable so the government has put regulations onto the media but then they have a sense of control upon the media and can filter what goes through also known as “flack” so the government could stop negative information against them to never be published for the public

Habermas and the Public Sphere

‘Critical reflection fostered by letters and novels, the flowering of discussion in coffee houses and salons and, above all, the emergence of an independent, market-based press.’

‘a public space between the private domain and the state in which public opinion was formed and ‘popular’ supervision of government was established ‘

‘ The primary democratic role of the media is to act as a public watchdog over the state. ‘

Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin were both popular figures in the film industry and they both were actors, film makers and comedians. Both Keaton and Chaplin are still well known today for their ability to express emotion through movements and expressions. The Great Dictator was directed by Charlie Chaplin in 1940, The Blacksmith was directed by Buster Keaton in 1922.

Birth of a Nation which was originally called Clansmen was co-produced by DW Griffiths and released in February 1915. The movie was the first 12 reel film and longest movie ever made at the time. The movie was also the first to have a musical score for an orchestra. The film is also very controversial for a variety of reasons, firstly, the film portrayed black men as unintelligent and sexually aggressive towards white women, the Ku Klux Klan was also portrayed as a heroic force in the movie. After its release there was many protests against the film, most notably in Boston when thousands of people protested against the film.