The Role of Media in the Public Sphere Essay

Introduction

The modern world exists in the era of media giants which can control the agenda and direct people’s thoughts in a certain direction. Moreover, the media today are not only the print press and television. Many bloggers on YouTube, Twitter and other social networks have become active newsmakers by using new modes of communication. In general, there was a radical shift from traditional media to new ones in recent years.

Content of the Articles

Kaiser et al. states that the way we communicate changed in multiple ways and dimensions. Modern social networks created possibilities for many-to-many communication where every individual can contribute to the discussion with users of any social status (Kaiser et al., 2018). For example, it is easier to communicate with government officials because every modern politician has a website and Twitter account. Neuberger indicates (2014) (cited in Kaiser et al., 2018, p. 441) that the Internet changed communication in the public sphere in four dimensions: the spatial, social, time, and sign dimension.

The time dimension is characterised by the possibility to get acute news and search for past debates in social media in one moment. Journalists can communicate and prepare news articles from the different parts of the glove (spatial dimension). The Internet also allows hyperlink signs and phrases to refer to past articles, which was unavailable for past journalists. The social dimension of public communication on the Internet is termed “produsage”: the possibility both to use and produce content simultaneously (Kaiser et al., 2018).

Bainbridge discusses the trends behind the monopoly of the media space by mainstream media, which, even in the presence of the Internet, prevent small media from setting the agenda. He claims that ‘mainstream news is largely hegemonic <…> the broader mediasphere is pluralist’ (Bainbridge, 2015, p. 12). In other words, although mainstream media are headliners in public discourse, they, unlike authoritarian states, do not prohibit other media from creating their own news materials in any way. The ideological preferences of the media are also different: although most mainstream media are liberal, there are also conservative right-wing ones. Bainbridge (2015) states that such a tendency corresponds to a postmodern approach to diversity as a tool for giving voice to all social groups.

The growth of communication on the Internet has brought serious challenges. Scott and Overly (2020) point to the significant flows of misinformation and ‘fake news’ caused by the 2016 US presidential elections. The misinformation of opponents of Covid-19 vaccines can also be attributed here. Silicon Valley companies like Facebook face persistent accusations of failing to remove misleading content that can even be life-threatening (Scott and Overly, 2020).

The solutions to these problems are different: social networks can mark fake content with “fact check” marker or simply remove and block misinformation. In this chaos of different information, some media experts can launch an effective promotion campaign. Workman and Hutcheon (2019) tell the story of two digital marketers Sean Topham and Ben Guerin. They used their knowledge of social media’s algorithms and people’s communication desires to promote political campaigns of top-tier politicians around the world. They developed their unique technique of creating “boomer memes” that find a positive response among the general population. The main idea is the high value of content virality in modern media, as hype content makes people interact and share with friends.

Conclusion

New media bring new opportunities and new challenges into our lives. On the one hand, the development of the Internet and social networks made it possible to express their opinions to those previously silent. The Internet provides an opportunity to ask questions of government officials, find information that corresponds to personal political views, and much more. On the other hand, massive misinformation campaigns cause people to believe in conspiracy theories and fake news. Fighting this problem is one of the most important agendas for democracies around the world.

Reference List

Bainbridge, J. (2015) ‘The public sphere’, in Bainbridge, J., Goc, N. and Tynan, L. Media and journalism: new approaches to theory and practice. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 5-23.

Scott, M. and Overly, S. (2020) ‘Silicon Valley is losing the battle against election misinformation’, POLITICO. Web.

Kaiser, J., Fähnrich, B., Rhomberg, M. and Filzmaier, P. (2018) ‘What happened to the public sphere? the networked public sphere and public opinion formation’, in Carayannis, E.G., Campbell, D.F. and Efthymiopoulos, M.P. (eds.) Handbook of Cyber-Development, Cyber-Democracy, and Cyber-Defense. New York: Springer, pp. 433-459.

Workman, P. and Hutcheon, S. (2019) ‘Topham Guerin: the team that helped Scott Morrison win is now working for Boris Johnson and Brexit’, ABC News. Web.