Changing Media and Publics: Habermas' Perspective

1. Week 7: Changing media, changing publics

2. Week 7 • Changing media and the public sphere • Changing publics and the public sphere - Hu Yong’s China case study.  • Assignment 3 check in

3. Habermas and media change “The markets on which the national newspapers must compete today cannot perform the dual function hitherto performed by the quality press, namely that of satisfying the demand for information and education while generating a profit” (p.132).

4. Habermas and media change “Were reorganization and cost-cutting in this core area to jeopardize customary journalistic standards, it would strike at the very heart of the public sphere. e. For without the inflow of information gained through extensive research, and without the stimulus of arguments based on an expertise that doesn’t come cheap, political communication would lose its discursive vitality. The public sphere would no longer offer any resistance to populist tendencies incapable of performing its proper function in a constitutional democracy.” (p.134).

5. Habermas and media change “But we first need to get used to the idea that newspapers and magazines should be subsidized. From a historical point of view, there is something counterintuitive in the notion of reining in the market’s role in journalism and in the press. The market first provided the stage on which subversive ideas could emancipate themselves from state repression.” (p.136).

6. Habermas and media change Public funding of high-quality journalism A report for the ACCC (2019) https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/ACCC%20commissioned%20report%20-%20Public%20funding%20of%20high-quality%20journalism%20-%20phase%201%2C%20Communications%20Chambers.PDF

7. Habermas and media change Should the state support news journalism?

8. Habermas and media change • Internet is egalitarian – revived the concept of an egalitarian public of reading and writing conversational partners and correspondents • Internet undermines existing national publics • Political communication only benefits from online debates when translated into real activity, eg: elections, mobilization.

9. Habermas and media change “The revolution in the media for transmitting information has given rise to an ever-wider spread and density of communication networks and to a corresponding diversification of the mass public.” (p.154). “The massive streams of opinions that surge through the public sphere seem too detached from collective learning and decision-making…Once opinions degenerate into mere opinions, there is nothing left to deliberate about.”(p.156).

10. News and the public sphere

11. News and the public sphere http://www.digitalnewsreport.org/

12. News and the public sphere “No matter how good reporting may be, if people do not value it, it is unlikely to have a significant impact on public opinion or public knowledge.” http://www.digitalnewsreport.org/

13. News and the public sphere “We identified those with populist attitudes based on their belief in: (i) the existence of a ‘bad’ elite and the ‘virtuous’ people – two separate groups with competing interests, and (ii) the ultimate sovereignty of the will of the people” http://www.digitalnewsreport.org/

14. “Mere opinion” https://www.modernmediapodcast.org/blog/2019/5/16/antisocial-media-a-conversation-with-siva-vaidhyanathan

15. News and the public sphere - exercise • In groups: • Identify advantages and disadvantages of the contemporary news environment in the public sphere • What can be done to address the disadvantages?

16. Public opinion and public intelligence in China Public opinion (yulun, 舆论) as “ as the majority view on a public issue after it has been discussed in a rational-critical way in the public arena.” Public intelligence (yuqing ,情), is a native Chinese concept. It is the “product of public opinion control in the Internet age”. With the Internet, we observe the emergence of two public opinion fields.

17. Public opinion and public intelligence in China

18. Public opinion and public intelligence in China Three providers for yuqing: the Party and government departments; flagship media organizations of the Party; and universities and research institutes. This creates a paradox where “ more information is available to average Internet users, but less authenticity on the real attitudes and sentiments of the masses.“

19. Discussion 1. What are the parallels with the concept of yumin (public opinion) and yuqing (public intelligence) in other countries?2. Does increasing concern over misinformation and hate speech on the internet globally and subsequent increase in regulatory action, suggest the Internet in the West is moving towards a Chinese model of governance in order to preserve social stability?

20. Burkart “…especially in situations with a high chance of conflict, companies and organizations are forced to present good arguments for communicating their interests and ideas—in other words: they must make the public understand their actions…” (p.250).

21. Burkart – communication and understanding • intelligibility (being able to use the proper grammatical rules), • - truth (talking about something the existence of which the partner also accepts), • - trustworthiness (being honest and not misleading the partner), • - legitimacy (acting in accordance with mutually accepted values and norms).(p.250).

22. Burkart

23. Burkart – communication and understanding • COPR as a framework for evaluation and/or planning • Particularly relevant where there is conflict/potential conflict • Doesn’t remove conflict but can be purposeful in obtaining agreement

24. Assignment 2/3 Questions?