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HOW CAN THE MEDIA ACT IN THE ‘PUBLIC SPHERE’ IN THE ‘PUBLIC INTEREST’?

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Habermas’ Public Sphere theory

  • A theory by Habermas, as we learn to read and write, people are able to socialize with others from across the globe, rather then limiting it to just socializing with their families.
  • Habermas had written extensively on the way that information, news and events are processed in the ‘public sphere’
  • Habermas believes that democracy depends on a public which is informed, aware and which debates the issues of the day
  • Habermas believes that the that mas media has resulted ina reduction in plurality, there are fewer voices discussing the news
  • Habermas believes the mass media and globalization has reduced the effectiveness of the public sphere.
  • Habermas was the author of the Theory of communication
  • 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 public sphere is meant to connect people horizontally, rather then vertically. In the past, the kings and noblemen would control the lower class.
  • The public sphere explains that people can connect by going into a coffee shop. You have personal places, such as your home to communicate with your family and then social places, such as coffee shops, where you can communicate and socialize with others and see what is going on, therefore connecting beyond our family and personal relationships.
  • Socializing with others in public spaces means you can transform your life and also socialize with anyone throughout the whole World.
  • The public sphere excludes the poor and uneducated

Mass Media in Public Interest

  • There is a fundamental presumption that the media does serve the ‘public interest’ or ‘general welfare’, whether that is by design or chance
  • It doesn’t imply that the media are obliged to conform to popular will or carry out the same particular function
  • A quite diverse set of expectations, from or on behalf of ‘society’ have been articulated in different fora in most countries.
  • The public control of media has often been advocated on the grounds of public interest as deregulation and further extension of the free market

James Curran = created the book ‘Mass Media and democracy’

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