Month: April 2019

Public Sphere

The theory of a ‘public sphere’ as depicted in Habermas’ ‘The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere’ (1962), demonstrates the nature of places that enable society to gain news and talk about the important concerns that they share in common.

For me, I use what I see as two separate public domains in the modern public sphere. The first follows the more traditional public sphere that Habermas touches on. Within this, discussion is done through talking to different people, and debating common issues and spreading ideas. This operates as a way for society to spread ideas and bring forth both interest and concerns on social, cultural and political issue relevant to the times. Issues that usually come up are ones of current social concern, which provoke debate and discussion with inclusion of people that are within my immediate circle (friends, family, co-workers, teachers and peers). Those excluded are probably those who are not in the same area or background as myself, which, as Habermas notes, can impact and limit the discussion and debate that occurs.

The second follows a more modern approach to the public sphere, which involves media. Having several media outlets, particularly the news and Facebook, there is a constant flow of information, which viewers are able to comment on and discuss. This operates to extend the medium of ‘public sphere’, opening it up to the broader public allowing for more debate. This is due to the increase differences in background, context and social setting than the traditional ‘public sphere’. Issues that come up are usually political, social and cultural similar to the first sphere discussed, however, the difference is in inclusion, as mentioned above. Although this type of Public Sphere is opened up there are some exclusions that apply. For me specifically, I try to exclude people who are racist and misogynistic as my tolerance for those people is low.

Generally, we are now seeing the media play a larger part as a ‘public sphere’ for engaging with issues. In addition, the media also further stimulates the first, more traditional ‘public sphere’. This is created when debate is informed by the media, and then supports the face-to-face aspect of ‘public sphere’. This almost forms a circularity within the ‘public sphere’ as all platforms of engagement with those issues interacting with each other.

Overall public spheres are necessary for the development of society and the connections we maintain with people.

Media Ownership in Australia

The majority of Australian media is owned by a select number of people, which can, in some cases, create new sources that are bias. An example of this is Fox TV Network, which was eventually exposed to be a right-winged mouthpiece for political commentary.

It is useful to know who controls the media you use as this might impact the amount of trust you place in the one news source. When looking into the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the network I use to access the majority of information to keep up to date with the news. The network is not necessarily ‘owned’ by anyone rather it was established under the ABC charter, which came under Parliament requiring the ABC to ‘provide informative, entertaining and education services that reflect the breadth of our nation’ (Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act, 1983). Essentially the initial purpose of the network was to regulate issues of bias and to give the public a high standard of information, similar to the BBC in Britain.

I think this does impact my choice of network, as the standard is high and put forth as unbiased. The charter enables a type of regulation that other networks such as Nine Network and Channel 7 do not have.  Furthermore, its sole purpose is to reflect the diverse range of opinions and beliefs in Australia, which is necessary for the promotion of trust news sources. This trust matters because the media impacts the way we view reality, world events and social issues. Thus, having a balanced opinion is preferable, as it allows you to make your own decision based on the correct information available.

However, there has been some criticism of the ABC in regards to the encouragement of political beliefs within the news and errored information. In regarding this, it is necessary to remember no network is without fault and that the ABC in particular, is governed by an act, which helps to limit these faults. Overall, I do believe I have maintained trust in the ABC network as my main source of information.

Although the ABC is my preferred network, I still seek out more than one media source to gather knowledge about social issues, political commentary and world news. Fortunately, in Australia, as a democracy, we have numerous public and commercial networks to gather different opinions on news.  I often look at SBS, Channel 9, Channel 7 and Channel 10 networks when watching the news, as well as the Telegraph and Herald papers. I do believe this is necessary, in order for society to increase trust in the news put forward by these networks.

Image: ABC News. (2019). ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). [online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/ [Accessed 1 Apr. 2019].