How can the Media act in the ‘Public Sphere’ in the ‘Public Interest’?

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

harbermas and the public sphere

The structural transformation of the public sphere

Media act in the ‘Public Sphere’ in the ‘Public Interest’

“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)

– media as watchdog



jurgen habermas

habermas created The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society in 1989

How can the Media act in the ‘Public Sphere’ in the ‘Public Interest’?

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

– the media as watchdog

“instead of providing a conduit for rational-critical debate, the media manipulated mass opinion” – james curry

state media v free market media

jurgen habermas and james curran

  • 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’

jurgen habermas

  • 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)

Process of manipulation

The role of advertising – Used to persuade and manipulate people into wanting to buy the product and making a product known to the world

Agenda setting – Creation of public awareness and concern of the big issues by the news media. The media attempts to influence viewers, and establish a hierarchy of news importance

Framing – How something is presented to the audience, influences the choices people make about how to process the information. It’s also a form of second level agenda-setting

Media myth making – Agenda setting and framing can create myths within media about how the world should be, things we value and how we should act

audience reception THEORY

AGENDA- media set an agenda (use term agenda setting in essay) – influence viewers, and establish a hierarchy of news importance

FRAMING – influencing the audience to look at the media in a certain way/ how its presented to the audience. the media present it in a way to influence how the consumers process it and view it.

MYTH MAKING – framing and agendas support myths and common beliefs.

CONDITIONS OF CONSUMPTION – everyone has own person views and beliefs. Media on shapes our views