scholarly journals Fulfilling the journalistic principles of truth and objectivity in the context of mediatisation of political communication – the terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015

Author(s):  
Rafał Leśniczak

The mediatisation of political communication indicates two main functions of the mass media: they report on events from the world of politics and create the images of political actors in the eyes of the public. I attempt to answer the question: can one talk about respecting the basic principles of journalistic ethics (the truth and the objectivity principles) in the times of the mediatisation of the public sphere? The theme of the article applies to terrorism, which is a form of political communication, having its own special expression. The activities of terrorist organisations influence the actions of the leaders of political life, citizens and the mass media. The research material consisted of Polish opinion-making weeklies Newsweek Polska and Polityka and national dailies in their printed versions: Gazeta Wyborcza and Rzeczpospolita. The time frame covered a period from 1 November 2015 to 11 December 2015. The topic of the article was treated as a case study.

Author(s):  
Aeron Davis

This article begins with a re-evaluation of political communication research based on Habermas' original theory of the public sphere. It presents Habermas' alternative framework for assessing communication in contemporary ‘actually existing democracies’. The model is then tested with a case study of the UK parliamentary public sphere based on 95 semi-structured interviews with political actors (politicians, journalists and officials). It concludes that parliament today operates rather better, according to public sphere norms, than the public sphere described in Habermas' accounts of 18th and 19th-century England. Such a finding, on its own, is clearly at odds with public perception. The research accordingly offers two explanations for this disparity and the (perceived) crisis of political legitimacy in UK politics.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Gavin Miller

This article uses the mass-media career of the British psychiatrist David Stafford-Clark (1916-1999) as a case study in the exercise of cultural authority by celebrity medical professionals in post-war Britain. Stafford-Clark rose to prominence in the mass media, particularly through his presenting work on medical and related topics for BBC TV and Radio, and was in the vanguard of psychiatrists and physicians who eroded professional edicts on anonymity. At the height of his career, he traded upon his celebrity status, and consequent cultural authority, to deliver mass media sermons on a variety of social, cultural, and political topics. Stafford-Clark tried to preserve his sense of personal and intellectual integrity by clinging to a belief that his authority in the public sphere was ultimately to be vindicated by his literary, intellectual, and spiritual significance. But as his credibility dwindled, he came to distrust the cultural intermediaries, such as broadcasters and publishers, who had supported him.


Res Publica ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-270
Author(s):  
Spyros A. Walgrave

Although the quasi-confederal character of Yugoslavia, especially after the introduction of its 1974 constitution did not encourage the development of a genuine Yugoslavian public sphere wherepublic debate could transcend ethnic and republic divisions, it nevertheless allowed the formation of what could be called Yugoslav cultural space, a space within which social and political actors (feminist, peace movements) forged their identities regardless of the ethnic or national diversity that characterised their membership. However, the existence of this 'space' had a limited impact in Yugoslav politics partly due to the breakdown of inter-republic communication and the fragmentation of the Yugoslavian mass media. This paper traces the process of disintegration of the Yugoslav cultural space and the emergence of national 'public spheres' in the republics and provinces of former Yugoslavia and attempts to assess the role of the mass media and cultural institutions in these developments by identifying the key strategies of representation employed in the process of the fragmentation and 'nationalisation' of the public sphere of former Yugoslavia.


Author(s):  
Jane Mummery ◽  
Debbie Rodan

Contending that media users are more than consumers and that the mass media are able to achieve more in the public sphere than simply meet market demand, Mummery and Rodan argue in this chapter that some types of mass media may in fact fulfil public sphere responsibilities. The authors demonstrate how forums such as broadsheet letters to the editor and online political blogs—despite their commonly recognised limitations due to influence by private/commercial ownership, editorship, and the requirements of authorship—may exemplify, enable and support community deliberation over issues of public concern. More specifically, via engaging with Jürgen Habermas’ conceptions of the necessary conditions for rational and communal deliberation, and critically examining recent debates in these forums, the authors argue both that these mediated forums can enable and exemplify community deliberation and, more generally, that community deliberation itself does not need to be strictly consensus-oriented to be productive.


Author(s):  
Marina Dekavalla

This chapter discusses the significance of referendum campaigns as an increasingly used form of direct democracy and explores the role of the mass media in determining how referendums are understood in the public sphere. It introduces the idea of media framing and sets out the research questions addressed in this book.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 100
Author(s):  
Nia Silviana ◽  
Ucu Martanto

This study examines the correlation between reporting by the mass media and the marketing strategies desired by each success team in the 2019 Presidential Election. To find this out, the author uses discourse analysis from Fairclough, because this method is able to show the integration between a) text analysis, b) analysis of the production process, consumption and distribution of texts, and c) sociocultural analysis. There is no significant difference related to the reporting of Jokowi-Ma’ruf and Prabowo-Sandiaga in the Jawa Pos newspaper, both in qualitative and quantitative terms. Although there are similarities between the political image built by actors and the image constructed by the media, it does not mean that it is based on political cooperation. The selected setting and framing agenda is based on consideration of the selling value of information for the reader. This shows that the mass media as well as the opinion of Croteau and Hoynes (2001) in Stromback (2011) are considered to be oriented towards commercial businesses on how to serve the wants and needs of the audience and advertisers. However, the media and actors are mutually beneficial in this regard, because political reporting is a commodity sought by readers, while political actors need the media to deliver their political products to the public.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Burwell

Through a complex web of technological innovations, social and political changes, and market forces over the last century, we have witnessed vast changes in the arrangement and environments of public and private space. Douglas Kellner observes that "a media culture has emerged in which images, sounds, and spectacles help produce the fabric of everyday life, dominating leisure time, shaping political views and social behavior, and providing the materials out of which people forge their very identities" (Media Culture, 1). The introduction of visual media such as television and personal computers, as well as the popularization of the internet over the last two decades, has brought about major shifts in our conception of the public sphere. Most notable is the transformation, outlined by Jurgen Habermas, from the bourgeois public sphere to a public sphere marked and shaped by mass media and spectacle. Ideally, Habermas' bourgeois public sphere is structured as a social space in which private citizens may assemble to discuss, debate, and come to consensus in order to mediate between the state and civil society. According to Habermas, however, this ideal has been brought to its demise largely because of the influence of the mass media. Habermas' ideal public sphere rests on notions of consensus brought about by rational debate which has been replaced by consumption and uncritical reception. He concludes that the "world fashioned by the mass media is a public sphere in appearance only" (Structural Transformation 171).


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