Public Sphere

The public sphere is the idea that in the realm of our social life we can share ideas and form public opinions. In the public sphere we should be able to find out about what is happening in the world and take part in democracy. The public sphere is there to inform the public by using the media; this could be through newspaper, TV or the internet. The public sphere began to emerge in the eighteenth century in Britain where the first newspapers were not only supplying its readers with information but also with opinions, comment and criticism. The sphere was created because to give the public a voice that the government could not ignore. The government attempts to maintain the public sphere; success of the public depends on:
-the extent of access
-the degree of autonomy
-the rejection of hierarchy
-the rule of law
-the quality of participation
For Habermas, the success of the public sphere was founded on rational-critical discourse. This is where everyone has the ability for equal participation and the best communication skill is the power of argument.

According to McNair there are five functions of the communication media in democratic societies. These are:
-Firstly to inform citizens of what is happening around them
-Secondly to educate as to the meaning and significance of the facts
-Thirdly the media must provide a platform for public political discourse
-Fourthly to give publicity to governmental and political institutions
-Finally the media must serve as a channel for the advocacy of political viewpoints.

New media such as the internet can facilitate and disrupt these functions. The internet has the power to aid democracy because it provides a platform where people are able to have their own voice through blogs, social network sites and youtube. They are also able to discuss these opinions in a group; I was able to discuss my views on the general elections last year and who I was thinking of voting for with my peers on Facebook. Newspaper websites are also able to inform the public, with their online articles sometimes having more detail than those in the actual paper. The internet is also a way for people to upload their own evidence of ‘newsworthy’ events; this could be images or videos. However the internet is not always a good source as not all information is correct, which leads to misinformed opinions. Authenticity and credibility are too big problems of using the internet as a sort of ‘public sphere’ as you can never be sure of where the exact origin of the information you are getting is from or how credible it is. So although the internet provides a space where like minded people can group together and discuss newsworthy events and a space for opinionated people to air their views the question is, is it the right place for them to do it?

I think today that the internet is the biggest provider of a public sphere as so many people have access to it, but that there should be some other place where we have a strong sense of a public sphere as the internet cannot always be trusted.