The Media and Public Sphere - Essay Example

Running Head: The Media and Public Sphere How the media have usurped the public sphere The media is a word that implies communication of ideas from one person to another, form a country to another or from an organization to another. The information is supposed to convey the desired message to the other person, nation or organization. The assumption behind every media information transfer is to inform everybody, that is, in the public sphere. Public sphere is the space where inhabitants can express and debate their democratic opinions. This paper will iterate on the nature of public sphere and how the media have taken control of it. Furthermore, it will indicate the effects of this take over and discuss on whether the media really represents the public opinion or the public has just been dumped aside. According to Harbermas (1996, p.372), public sphere can be defined in three main models, the individual, the debate and the public space. The individual is viewed as being balanced, competent in discussion using suitable arguments and proficiency in making conclusions. The debate should ascertain the public good, since individuals are equal and none possesses the complete truth, hence the decisions of the society are taken through debate which should have many different perspectives. The debate that is founded on communicational procedure is the one that authenticates public sphere’s existence. The position of public space is involving the private and state’s space. The structural revolution of public sphere is examination of Habermas’s publicity that instigated in the eighteenth century, but is still relevant to date. It starts by distinguishing the bourgeois public sphere, which is private individuals who comes together to form a public. The most significant feature of the public sphere in eighteenth century was the use of cause in rational critical debate by the public. This checkered authority by the state, or the unlawful use of power. The advancement of entire political public sphere took place in Australia in eighteenth century. In nineteenth century, the public sphere was institutionalized in European bourgeois constitutional states where public consensus was enshrined as a way of checking domination. The whole advance public sphere was then dependent on many social situations, which shifted finally (SparkNotes 2013, p.1). In a democratic society, public has many roles to play. First, it is the work of public and media in particular to support and deepen the democracy in the nation. Analytical reporting, which to some point has directed the ouster of leaders and the collapse of dishonest governments, has made the media an effectual and trustworthy watchdog and advanced its reliability among the public. It has helped in constructing a society of honesty and exposure that has brought accountability to leaders who are elected democratically. Since democracy involves dynamic contribution of citizens, it is the work of media to keep residents engaged in governance business by notifying, training and organizing the public. The media can also help in peace building and social agreement, which in its absence, democracy is threatened. They can offer the warring groups systems for conciliation, representation and influence for settling their disparity peacefully. They can play a constructive role in democracy only when the environment is facilitating. The requisite skill is needed by the media for the comprehensive reports that a new democracy needs (Coronel, 2005, p.131). Presently, according to Nielson (2011, p.1), the most influential media tools is the internet which is composed of several social networks like twitter, facebook, linkedIn, yahoo among many others. In these social networks, people are able to connect and communicate faster on the current news and current happenings. The other most used media tool is the mobile phone which is almost available to everyone. The mobile phones may contain in themselves internet connection which makes the social networks in the internet easy to be available to a large number of people. Moreover, televisions, radios, and journal materials are all found in the internet or in the mobile phones. In modern day Australia, these tools are widely common to a large number of people. They have impacted on the public sphere in various ways. Some examples of these ways in which this has been experienced will make this discussion more concrete. A report filed by Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and drawn form a research by Media Communication in Australian Families (MCAF) (2007, p.4) showed that 91 percent of the families with childeren aged eight to seventeen years were accessing the intrenet and three quarters of them were using a broadband. For those families with fourteen to seventeen year olds, it was observed that about ninety six percent accessed the internet while around eighty four percent had a broadband. Very few of these could access the internet in the bedrooms with a percentage of eleven. As for their studies, most of them used around three days of their study in week over the internet. Definitely, this report indicates that the use of the internet as a resource for recreation or academic purposes was highly inevitable in these young people. In that way, one can note easily that the media is fully unavoidable when it comes to public sphere. Murray (2008, p.8), while exploring the various opportunities offered by social networks, explained that these networks have impact on education. She observes that young people have found new ways of expression in the social networks as well as collaborating and sharing. The business sector too is experiencing the same change. She also noted that young people do a lot of activities in the internet which run from recreational to educational. This shows that young people, having found a place for exploring a their world can spend most of their time in the net doing various activities. This further indicates that the media is trying to move towards the centre of focus of the school life. If further measures of incorporating it in school programs as Murray (2008, p.9) urges, then the possibility is that a lot of young people may be put in a compromising situation by improper use of the media. On the same note, with the influence of media on the eating habits of children, the same media also fails to educate people on the right habits of eating. Actually, as it was witnessed by Bonfiglioli (2007, p.2), the media failed to devise techniques which can combat obesity. The issue was left on poor nutrition on the part of the individual. Moreover, the individual was the source of the solution by either having nutritional adjustments, doing exercises, and having recourse to surgical and medical interventions. Australia has over 3.2 million people who are obese and with the negligence of obesity, the nation heads towards serious health crisis. The media is capable of curbing this problem by broadcasting other sources of obesity such as social and cultural factors as sources of obesity. The same can be seen in the media campaign against public smoking which helped to reduce the practice. It was way of passing message of the non-smokers to the public and also creating awareness among the smokers on the harm inflicted onto others (Scollo & Winstanley, 2012, p.22). From the above examples, one is drawn to see the way the media can be influential in making people operate in a way that is not fully influenced by their own decisions. The social media in the first place has drawn the attention of young generation into itself. With the new way of expressing their opinions, the young people spend most of their time contributing their opinions through the social network. Secondly, the television which provides audio-visual information on the current news, it has made many people to practice be influenced to in whatever opinion they have. This is furthermore seen in the influence on eating habits that produces two effects. The time spent watching the television and the also eating without any exercise, developing idleness related sicknesses. In that regard therefore, the media controls peoples likes and preferences as well as movement to give what they intend. The media has the capacity of perpetuating political activity. Chen & Vromen (2013, p.1) observe users of social media in the political arena are quite varied contrary to what many may expect. This indicates that social media use in Australia is common to every age, that is, the young and the old. Chen and Vromen (2013, p.1) observe that this is likely to endure with time because it is getting more and more accepted by the population in general. Moreover, it tells that many people are accepting the indomitable drive that is exerted by the media in controlling the politics of the nation is quite strong. Moreover, the more the people are more advanced in the education, the more they are likely to involve in political activity via social media. (Chen & Vromen, 2013,p.1). The media also is being used by several leaders around the world. Many Australian leaders rely much on the opinion from the public sphere to identify the most urgent needs fo the people. Moreover, in asserting their opinion,they have opted for the public sphere to get easy support and ready audience. Anderson (201, p.1) in an article posted in a blog suggests that the media is capable of making or breaking a leader. She notes this after the performance of Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and the Mayor of Brisbane Campbell Newman. They had overshadowed others before in with their amazing perfomances. However, with an earthquake that was heartbreaking, the Mayor of Christchurch did an impressive job by his action. Still he was praised for his action during he flood. This is a sign of how the public sphere is influenced by media publicity. Public opinion has been and has continued to be controlled by media. In choosing the news to display on the screen, newsroom staff, editors and broadcasters play a significant part in shaping the reality of issue for instance in politics as well as other related issues. The readers discover not only about the issue given, but as wells as how important it is to connect to the given issue from the quantity of the information in a news narrative and its point. For instance, in politics, by reflecting what candidates say in their campaigns, the media may as well establish the issues that are important. This means that the media may set the agenda of the campaign (McCombs, 2013, p.200). However, for the media to have this control in the public space, freedom is essential as a key practice for the democracy of Australia as mentioned in the Coalition Senators’ Dissenting Report (2013, p.40). Therefore, if freedom is lacking media will have very little to do in the public sphere. Still, the media is capable of shaping people’s opinions in several ways. The setting of agenda, the reporting of breaking news and withholding of other news is meant to capture and influence people’s opinion (Heath, 2005 p.1). Through the news they choose to display and in the manner in which they display issues pictures in our heads concerning the bigger world of public dealing, in a world that to most individuals it not easy to reach, out of sight as well as out of mind. What is understood about the world, is mostly founded on the information that media decides to tell the citizens. As such, the outcome of the mediated observation of the nation is that the precedence of the media powerfully manipulates the main concern of the public. The prominent elements on the media agenda become prominent in the minds of the public, due to the emphasis put on the issue by the media by displaying some issues many times than others (McCombs, 2003, p.200). The media is therefore not avoidable in what it contributes to the public sphere. There is a tendency towards dictating what people say. It is this outlook that gives the people the feeling that they are almost in control of what is aired in televisions. In fact, that is not the case. The media according to Curran et al (2009, p.22) has taken control of the people with a market mind thus fostering a very less informed and less involved public. This has drawn the people out of their right place in the public sphere and replaced their position with the media mind and intent. This, as Helmke (2011, p.2) would say, traditional media cannot satisfy the needs of democracy or the public sphere satisfactorily. Actually, he believes that with the advent of the internet, the traditional media is being replaced for the better. This means that full representation has been hindered by traditional media and democracy has not been effective as it should. In conclusion, from the discussions above, it is evident that the media is capable of piloting the outlook of the public sphere. This can make everything seem to be of absolutely what everybody says. However, it is a matter of timeliness, speed and connection. Everything these days seems to reach everybody almost everywhere. This makes everything appear to have been said and thought of at the same time and by everybody. The fact however remains that an idea has to be set in motion so that everybody takes over, and that is where the media comes in. References Anderson, G. (2011). Leadership and the public sphere. Available at: , Accessed on 14/4/2013. Australian Communications in Media Association, (2007). Internet use and social networking by young people. Available at (accessed on 14/4/2013) Bonfiglioli, C., (2007). Reporting Obesity: A resource for journalists.NSW Centre for Overweight and Obesity. The University of Sydney. Available at: sydney.edu.au/medicine/public-health/.../2007_reporting_obesity.pdf. Accessed on 19/4/2013. Chen, P.J., & Vromen, A. (2013). Australian Electoral Commission: Social media, youth participation and Australian elections. Available at: accessed on 14/4/2013. Coronel, S. S., (2005). The role of media in deepening democracy. Washington: U.S. Agency for International Development. Curran, J., Iyengar, S., Lund, A. B., & Salovaara-Moring, I. (2009). Media System, Public Knowledge and Democracy A Comparative Study. European Journal of Communication, 24(1), 5-26. Harbermas, J. (1996). Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a discourse theory of law and democracy. Cambridge: MIT Press. Heath, R. L. (2005). Encyclopedia of public relations: 2. Thousand Oaks, Ca. [u.a.:Sage] Helmke, B. (2011). Media and Democracy in Australia: The internet’s influence on contemporary political processes in the areas of information, communication, political activity and participation. GRIN Verlag. McCombs, E, M., Shaw, D. (2013, April Saturday). Public Opinion Quarterly. Retrieved from Oxford Journals: http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/content/36/2/176.abstract McCombs, M. (2003). The Agenda-Setting Role of the Mass Media in the Shaping of Public Opinion. Austin: University of Texas . Murray, C. (2008). Schools and social networking: Fear or education. Synergy Perspectives: Local, 6(1), 8-12. News Media (Self-regulation) Bill 2013, Clause 10. Available at: > accessed on 14/4/2012. Nielson, (2011). State of the Media: The social media report. Available at: Accessed on 14/4/2012. Scollo M., Winstanley M., (2012). National Tobacco Strategy 2012 -2018 Accessed on Thursday, April 2013. SparkNotes, (2013). Sparknotes (Online) Available at http://www.spar[knotes.com/philosophy/public/summary.html (Accessed on Tuesday April 2013) Read More

dia can also help in peace building and social agreement, which in its absence, democracy is threatened. They can offer the warring groups systems for conciliation, representation and influence for settling their disparity peacefully. They can play a constructive role in democracy only when the environment is facilitating. The requisite skill is needed by the media for the comprehensive reports that a new democracy needs (Coronel, 2005, p.131). Presently, according to Nielson (2011, p.1), the most influential media tools is the internet which is composed of several social networks like twitter, facebook, linkedIn, yahoo among many others.

In these social networks, people are able to connect and communicate faster on the current news and current happenings. The other most used media tool is the mobile phone which is almost available to everyone. The mobile phones may contain in themselves internet connection which makes the social networks in the internet easy to be available to a large number of people. Moreover, televisions, radios, and journal materials are all found in the internet or in the mobile phones. In modern day Australia, these tools are widely common to a large number of people.

They have impacted on the public sphere in various ways. Some examples of these ways in which this has been experienced will make this discussion more concrete. A report filed by Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and drawn form a research by Media Communication in Australian Families (MCAF) (2007, p.4) showed that 91 percent of the families with childeren aged eight to seventeen years were accessing the intrenet and three quarters of them were using a broadband. For those families with fourteen to seventeen year olds, it was observed that about ninety six percent accessed the internet while around eighty four percent had a broadband.

Very few of these could access the internet in the bedrooms with a percentage of eleven. As for their studies, most of them used around three days of their study in week over the internet. Definitely, this report indicates that the use of the internet as a resource for recreation or academic purposes was highly inevitable in these young people. In that way, one can note easily that the media is fully unavoidable when it comes to public sphere. Murray (2008, p.8), while exploring the various opportunities offered by social networks, explained that these networks have impact on education.

She observes that young people have found new ways of expression in the social networks as well as collaborating and sharing. The business sector too is experiencing the same change. She also noted that young people do a lot of activities in the internet which run from recreational to educational. This shows that young people, having found a place for exploring a their world can spend most of their time in the net doing various activities. This further indicates that the media is trying to move towards the centre of focus of the school life.

If further measures of incorporating it in school programs as Murray (2008, p.9) urges, then the possibility is that a lot of young people may be put in a compromising situation by improper use of the media. On the same note, with the influence of media on the eating habits of children, the same media also fails to educate people on the right habits of eating. Actually, as it was witnessed by Bonfiglioli (2007, p.2), the media failed to devise techniques which can combat obesity. The issue was left on poor nutrition on the part of the individual.

Moreover, the individual was the source of the solution by either having nutritional adjustments, doing exercises, and having recourse to surgical and medical interventions. Australia has over 3.2 million people who are obese and with the negligence of obesity, the nation heads towards serious health crisis. The media is capable of curbing this problem by broadcasting other sources of obesity such as social and cultural factors as sources of obesity.

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