scholarly journals Public Service Media for Critical Times: Connectivity, Climate, and Corona

2021 ◽  
pp. 69-111
Author(s):  
Graham Murdock

In this chapter, Graham Murdock analyses the role of public service media in the contemporary times of crisis that have been shaped by connectivity, the climate crisis, and the COVID-19 crisis. Using lots of examples, the political economy of communication approach, and Habermas’s concept of the public sphere, the chapter points out that Public Service Media is not something of the past, but is needed for guaranteeing a vivid and democratic public sphere in the digital age. The chapter points out the potentials of public service media for creating and maintaining digital public spaces that advance information, education, entertainment, and participation. This chapter is a written and amended version of a talk by Graham Murdock that he gave on 15 February 2021 at a webinar that was part of the AHRC project “Innovation in Public Service Media Policy” (https://innopsm.net/) and its research focus on “Envisioning Public Service Media Utopias”. A video of the talk is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4dJSzyW_GM.

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
LLOYD BOWEN

ABSTRACTCharles I and his clerical supporters are often said to have been wary of print and public discussion, only entering the public sphere reluctantly and to comparatively little effect during the political crisis of 1642. This article challenges such views by focusing on the neglected role of official forms of print such as proclamations, declarations, and state prayers and their promulgation in the nation's churches. It traces the ways in which the king utilized the network of parish clergy to broadcast his message and mobilize support during the Scottish crisis of 1639–40 and again in the ‘paper war’ of 1642. The article argues that traditional forms of printed address retained their potency and influence despite the proliferation of polemical pamphlets and newsbooks. The significance of these mobilizations is demonstrated by the profound disquiet they caused among the king's Covenanter and parliamentarian opponents as well as the ‘good effects’ they had in generating support for the royalist cause.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 650
Author(s):  
Matheus Da Cruz e Zica ◽  
Patrícia Barros de Oliveira

Este artigo procura elucidar o debate que se constituiu pela imprensa ao longo das décadas de 1870 e 1880 nas províncias brasileiras da Paraíba e de Pernambuco em torno do modelo francês de monarquia parlamentar que contrastava com o federalismo republicano dos EUA. Assumindo o lugar de formadora da opinião pública a imprensa procurou trazer destaque para a questão do Espaço Público na medida em que modos distintos de se lidar com ele estavam em jogo em cada um daqueles modelos políticos internacionais idealizados. Também foram mapeadas algumas relações que os jornais analisados indiciaram entre os debates sobre o Espaço Público e as retóricas de modernidade que os acompanhavam. Com frequência a questão da ciência e da técnica pareceu eclipsar a dimensão do conflito que é próprio do universo político e da esfera pública, unificando os olhares em torno de um deslumbramento com as benfeitorias materiais que o século prometia.Palavras chave: Espaço Público, Formação, Imprensa. AbstractThis article seeks to elucidate the debate that was constituted by the press throughout the 1870s and 1880s in the Brazilian provinces of Paraíba and Pernambuco around the French model of parliamentary monarchy that contrasted with the republicanism of the USA. Taking over the role of public opinion maker, the press sought to highlight the issue of the Public Space since that distinct ways of dealing with it was considered in each of those idealized international political models. This article also mapped some relations that the newspapers analyzed betrayed between the debates on the Public Space and the rhetoric of modernity that accompanied them. Often the question of science and technique seemed to eclipse the dimension of conflict that is proper to the political universe and the public sphere, unifying the glances around a dazzle with the material improvements that the century promised.Keywords: Public Space, Formation, Press.  ResumenEste artículo busca esclarecer el debate que se constituyó por la prensa a lo largo de las décadas de 1870 y 1880 en las provincias brasileñas de Paraíba y de Pernambuco en torno al modelo francés de monarquía parlamentaria que contrastaba con el federalismo republicano de EUA. Asumiendo el lugar de formadora de la opinión pública la prensa trató de destacar la cuestión del Espacio Público en la medida en que modos distintos de lidiar con él estaban en juego en cada uno de aquellos modelos políticos internacionales idealizados. También se han mapeado algunas relaciones que los periódicos analizados indiciaron entre los debates sobre el espacio público y las retóricas de modernidad que los acompañaban. Con frecuencia la cuestión de la ciencia y de la técnica parecía eclipsar la dimensión del conflicto que es propio del universo político y de la esfera pública, unificando las miradas en torno a un deslumbramiento con las mejoras materiales que el siglo prometía.Palabras clave: Espacio Público, Formación, Prensa.


Author(s):  
Eduardo Villanueva-Mansilla

OLPC, the One Laptop Per Child initiative, was accepted by just a few countries, including Peru. The largest acquisition of computers has produced a fairly low impact in education and is now being quietly phased-out. Peru's government decision to adopt the computers, back in 2007, was not contested or questioned by the political class, the media or even teachers, with just a rather small number of specialists arguing against it. This chapters discussed the political and argumentative processes that brought OLPC into the public sphere, through the use of a specific narrative, that of hackerism, i.e., the hacker attitude towards computers, and how social and political validation resulted in adoption. An assessment of the process of framing OLPC as a hacker product and the perils of such reasoning lead to discuss the need for a counter-narrative about the role of computers in society.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 309
Author(s):  
Zaprulkhan Zaprulkhan

<p><strong>Abstract:</strong><strong><em> </em></strong><em>As if it never finished to talk about the role of women in the public sphere. This is because the role of women in the public sphere, particularly in their political role is considered to be less significant. Up to the third millennium, some scholars and intellectuals still had a negative view about the role of positive contribution of women in the political arena. They interpreted the Qor’an and the hadith (traditions of the Prophet, sayings of the Prophet)</em> <em>textually with which prohibited women involve in politics. Through constructive critics and holistic reconstruction, this study tried to explore the political role of women in the public sphere based on ‘notion’ of Musdah Mulia. According to Musdah, the important things that should be done was not only the reconstruction of the interpretation of the fundamental doctrines of Islam (Qur'an and Hadith), but also practical implementation in the fields of education, culture, and public policies. All reconstructions of woman</em> <em>role in political leadership should be carried out simultaneously in order to produce concrete changes. This is because there were a number of internal factors that had caused women not be able to play their role significantly in the political sphere that consisted of figure of women themselves who were unconfident and passive to the given opportunities they had. They also got lack of support; they were chained in stereotypes as guardians of household, and still confined by misogynistic tradition, as well as caused by the biased interpretation of religious doctrines related to the patriarchal values and gender domain.</em> <em></em></p><p dir="RTL"><strong>الملخص</strong> :كاد لا ينتهي الحديث عن دور المرأة في وسط المجتمع . وذلك لأن دورها فيه – وخاصة في المجال السياسي – قليل. وإلى هذا الحين لا يزال بعض العلماء والمثقفين نظروا إلى دور المرأة الإيجابي في وسط المجتمع نظرة سلبية.  فسّر هؤلاء الآيات القرآنية والأحاديث النبوية الناهية المرأة عن الاشتراك في المجال السياسي تفسيرا حرفيا. حاولت هذه الدراسة – بمدخل نقدي بنّاء شامل – دراسة الدور السياسي للمرأة وسط المجتمع فكرة موسدة موليا. ترى موسدة أن العمل الواجب قيامه به هو، ليس فقط إعادة طريقة تفسير القرآن والحديث بل كذلك إيجاد الحركات في مجال التربية، والثقافة، والقرارات الإجتماعية. وجميع إعادة بناء لدور المرأة لابد أن تقام جماعية لتحقيق التغيّر الواقعيّ. وهذا لأن هناك عوامل داخلية للمرأة تمنع المرأة للتدخّل في المجال السياسي، وهي عدم ثقتها بنفسها وعدم انتهازها للفرصة الموجودة. وكذلك التأييد لها قليل، محبوسة في ضوء المقولة " إنها ربّة البيت"،</p><p><strong>Abstrak: </strong><em>Membincang peran perempuan di wilayah publik, seakan tidak pernah selesai. Hal ini karena peran perempuan di wilayah publik ini, khususnya peran politik diyakini masih kurang signifikan. </em><em>Hingga memasuki milenium ketiga, masih terdapat sebagian ulama dan cendekiawan yang memandang negatif peran dan kontribusi positif kaum perempuan di ranah politik. Mereka melakukan interpretasi secara tekstual terhadap al-Quran dan hadis yang melarang kaum perempuan terlibat dalam politik. Melalui kritik konstruktif dan rekonstruksi holistik, kajian ini mencoba untuk mengeksplorasi peran politik kaum perempuan di ruang publik gagasan Musdah Mulia. Bagi Musdah, hal yang perlu dilakukan adalah tidak saja rekonstruksi interpretasi terhadap doktrin-doktrin fundamental Islam (al-Quran dan hadis), tapi juga gerakan praktis dalam bidang pendidikan, kebudayaan, dan kebijakan publik. Semua rekonstruksi terhadap peran kepemimpinan politik perempuan tersebut mesti dilakukan secara bersamaan agar menghasilkan perubahan secara konkret. Hal ini karena terdapat sejumlah faktor internal yang menyebabkan perempuan tidak bisa berperan secara signifikan dalam ranah politik yang mencakup pada sosok perempuan sendiri yang kurang percaya diri dan pasif terhadap peluang yang ada. Mereka juga kurang mendapat dukungan, terbelenggu stereotip sebagai penjaga ranah domestik, masih terkungkung tradisi misoginis, serta penafsiran agama yang bias nilai-nilai patriarki dan bias gender. </em></p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>perempuan, publik, steorotip, patriarkhi, tafsir agama.</p>


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Håkon Larsen

Abstract The present paper examines the debate on the future of public service broadcasting (PSB) in Norway and Sweden in the 2000s. I have analysed the discourses on PSB that dominate the public debate in the two countries, the cultural policy related to PSB, as well as the legitimizing rhetoric of the Norwegian public service broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) and that of the Swedish public service broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT). Theoretically, the analysis draws on normative theories on the role of PSB in promoting democracy, culture and a well-functioning public sphere, as well as theories on democracy and the public sphere per se.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-217
Author(s):  
Tomasz Sochański

This study aims to highlight the role of education in a democratic society in the political philosophy of Nicolas de Condorcet. Condorcet refuted legitimising political power on the idea of general will and postulated to replace it with the notion of reason and probability of truth. This assumption tightly linked the wellbeing of democracy with a public education system which, on the one hand, was to prepare citizens to take an active role in the public sphere, and on the other, allow them to improve the political system in which they function in accordance with the progress of the human spirit.


Author(s):  
Christian Fuchs

Social media has become a key term in Media and Communication Studies and public discourse for characterising platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, LinkedIn, Wordpress, Blogspot, Weibo, Pinterest, Foursquare and Tumblr. This paper discusses the role of the concept of the public sphere for understanding social media critically. It argues against an idealistic interpretation of Habermas and for a cultural-materialist understanding of the public sphere concept that is grounded in political economy. It sets out that Habermas’ original notion should best be understood as a method of immanent critique that critically scrutinises limits of the media and culture grounded in power relations and political economy. The paper introduces a theoretical model of public service media that it uses as foundation for identifying three antagonisms of the contemporary social media sphere in the realms of the economy, the state and civil society. It concludes that these limits can only be overcome if the colonisation of the social media lifeworld is countered politically so that social media and the Internet become public service and commons-based media.Acknowledgement: This paper is the extended version of Christian Fuchs’ inaugural lecture for his professorship of social media at the University of Westminster that he took up on February 1st, 2013. He gave the lecture on February 19th, 2014, at the University of Westminster.The video version of the inaugural lecture is available at:https://vimeo.com/97173645


Author(s):  
Christian Fuchs

Social media has become a key term in Media and Communication Studies and public discourse for characterising platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, LinkedIn, Wordpress, Blogspot, Weibo, Pinterest, Foursquare and Tumblr. This paper discusses the role of the concept of the public sphere for understanding social media critically. It argues against an idealistic interpretation of Habermas and for a cultural-materialist understanding of the public sphere concept that is grounded in political economy. It sets out that Habermas’ original notion should best be understood as a method of immanent critique that critically scrutinises limits of the media and culture grounded in power relations and political economy. The paper introduces a theoretical model of public service media that it uses as foundation for identifying three antagonisms of the contemporary social media sphere in the realms of the economy, the state and civil society. It concludes that these limits can only be overcome if the colonisation of the social media lifeworld is countered politically so that social media and the Internet become public service and commons-based media.Acknowledgement: This paper is the extended version of Christian Fuchs’ inaugural lecture for his professorship of social media at the University of Westminster that he took up on February 1st, 2013. He gave the lecture on February 19th, 2014, at the University of Westminster.The video version of the inaugural lecture is available at:https://vimeo.com/97173645


2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 493-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
RANDALL GERMAIN

AbstractRecent concern with the institutional underpinning of the international financial architecture has intersected with broader debates concerning the possibility of achieving an adequate deliberative context for decisions involving transnational economic governance. Scholars working within traditions associated with international political economy, deliberative democracy, cosmopolitanism and critical theory have informed this broader debate. This article uses this debate to ask whether the structure of financial governance at the global level exhibits the necessary conditions to support deliberative democracy. In particular, it considers the extent to which publicness and a public sphere have become part of the broader structure of financial governance. Although in some ways financial governance is a hard case for this debate, an argument can be made that a public sphere has emerged as an important element of the international financial architecture. At the same time, the analysis of the role of the public sphere in financial governance reveals important lessons which public sphere theorists and deliberative democracy advocates need to consider in order to extend their analysis into the realm of global political economy.


2021 ◽  
pp. 2336825X2110291
Author(s):  
Vasil Navumau ◽  
Olga Matveieva

One of the distinctive traits of the Belarusian ‘revolution-in-the-making’, sparked by alleged falsifications during the presidential elections and brutal repressions of protest afterwards, has been a highly visible gender dimension. This article is devoted to the analysis of this gender-related consequences of protest activism in Belarus. Within this research, the authors analyse the role of the female movement in the Belarusian uprising and examine, and to which extent this involvement expands the public sphere and contributes to the changes in gender-related policies. To do this, the authors conducted seven semi-structured in-depth interviews with the gender experts and activists – four before and four after the protests.


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