• He was sociologist & philosopher
• He believed democracy depended on the public
• He came up the the theory of the public sphere
• This is an area in social life where people can come together to freely discuss and identify problems
• This could possibly influence political action

“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’
• The media acts in the public sphere in the public interest
• James Curran wrote ‘Mass Media and Democracy’ 
• He focuses on Habermas and his idea of the public sphere
• He argued that the developments in education and the mass media made it simpler to access information related to the government, authority & control
• Also, Denis McQuail argued that the media works in the public interest and not in commercial interest

“Habermas argues that the development of early modern capitalism [brings] public debate”

“How can this model… be universalised during the era of mass politics?”

“Classic liberal thought argues that the primary democratic role of the media is to act as a public watchdog overseeing the state.”

“This watchdog role is said to override in importance all other functions of the media…”

Should the media that is in the public sphere be controlled by the state OR should it be runned by the free market?