M1: The Idea of the Public Sphere

Media

Attention/business system that distributes info

Journalism

Social practice (set of rules journalists follow)

Press

Democratic institution (“office”) with authority & service

An audience

Consumes

A public

Participates and deliberates

Media issue

Organizing as a union

Journalism issue

Company policies on social media use

Press issue

Protecting anonymous sources (Sotto Law)

“With” AI

1. Prime the pump

2. Interrogate the text

3. Exteriorize the argument

“Against” AI

1. Do the legwork

2. Let your brain work

3. Word the self (use AI to be more yourself)

Bourgeois public sphere

Space where private individuals form a public body to debate common affairs, originally countering absolutist states

How early capitalism and news traffic shaped the public sphere

Trade fairs + merchant mail routes = commodity & news traffic; a true press (public access) appeared late 17th century

How mercantilism and the modern state changed public authority

Shift from feudal lordship to bureaucratic state; private economic activity became publicly significant → civil society emerged

The role the press played

From merchants’ newsletters to political journals → created a reading bourgeois public demanding legitimacy from the state

The public sphere

Realm of social life where public opinion forms; private individuals assemble as citizens to discuss general interests freely

Political public sphere

State-related issues

Literary public sphere

Culture/discussion outside direct politics

Publizität

Visibility/transparency

Öffentlichkeit

Substantive process of public opinion formation through reasoned debate

How mass democracy affects the public sphere

Expands beyond bourgeoisie but brings group interests, PR, and “refeudalization,” weakening critical function

6 Elements of the Public Sphere

1. Social life for forming public opinion

2. Private individuals assemble to form a public body

3. A public arises in every conversation

4. Freedom of assembly

5. Matters of general interest

6. Media channels info

Why Rizal argued for press freedom

To enlighten public opinion in Spain, pressure the state, and continue reforms in the Philippines (“No voice, no vote”)

How media helps imagine the nation

It allows people to imagine communities and connect with unseen compatriots

Fraser’s main critiques of Habermas’s bourgeois model

1. It ignores social inequality

2. Assumes one unified sphere is best

3. Excludes private issues from public debate

4. Separates state and civil society too strictly

Counterpublic

Alternative publics where marginalized groups develop discourse

Why multiple publics are important

They enable participatory parity, give marginalized groups safe spaces, and expand discourse (e.g., “sexual harassment” became public)

Strong publics

Combine opinion + decision-making (parliaments, self-managed institutions)

Weak publics

Opinion formation only (social movements)

Fraser’s alternative model

A post-bourgeois public sphere that:

• Eliminates inequality instead of bracketing it

• Embraces multiple publics

• Includes issues labeled “private”

• Coordinates strong and weak publics