Public+Sphere

=Public Sphere=

Coined by [|Jurgen Habermas], the public sphere is defined as, “A space where citizens come together to debate and discuss the pressing issues of their society.” (Sturken and Cartwright, 364)

The beauty of the public sphere is that it allows individuals to openly discuss their thoughts and opinions on topics. Before the introduction of mediums such as radio, television, the internet etc a public sphere would usually be held in a town square or in a town hall where citizens would gather to listen and discuss pressing issues. During this period, around “the nineteenth century the public was directed towards the liberal middle class.” (Sturken and Cartwright, 178)

With “the rise of mass media and consumer culture in the twentieth century the public sphere was not strictly directed a just one class, but everyone.” (Sturken and Cartwright, 178)

Today, public spheres are found just about everywhere and in every medium. Of course people still physically attend public spheres i.e. political rallies, city council meetings etc but they also communicate their thoughts and opinions virtually through web forums, chat rooms, wikispaces, blogs etc.

Other forms of the public sphere can be recognized in radio and television programs such as Larry King Live, MTV Live etc. These public spheres allow viewers to call in ask questions, voice their opinions and sometimes even speak to expert or a panel of experts.

Arguably there are exceptions to participating in a public sphere. The most important exception being that “Private interests are inadmissible (i.e. business interests) the public sphere is intended for public opinion.” (Struken and Cartwright 178)

Opposing the notion of the public sphere being strictly intended for the public is debated by theorist Walter Lippmann. Lippmann states “that is not possible for the average citizen to keep abreast of political issues and events and give them due consideration given the chaotic pace of industrial society.” (Sturken and Cartwright 178)

The debate regarding the public sphere being strictly intended for the public results in a separation dividing the two ideas into “the public sphere and the private sphere. (Sturken and Cartwright 178)

Another exception to the public sphere which originated during the beginning of the 19th century was that it was not open to everyone. Ethnic minorities, the lower class and women were excluded from the public sphere, causing it to become more directed towards Caucasian males.

As time progressed society saw the emergence of the feminist sphere which initiated discussion over female issues. Further along, we would see public spheres including all people regardless of ethnicity, sex, of sexual orientation.

Some examples of public spheres:
- town meetings - conferences - call in radio talk shows - call in radio television shows - online chat rooms such as [|msn messenger] - wikispaces - editorials - classified sections of newspapers - web forums - journals - newsletters - lectures

Sources:
image: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/cems/graphics/media.jpg Sturken, Marita, and Lisa Cartwright. __Practices of Looking: an Introduction to Visual Culture__. USA: Oxford UP, 2001.