Communications Technology

and the

Public Sphere

READING

Habermas:“The Public Sphere: An Encyclopedia Article” (1964)

Enzensberger:“Constituents of a Theory of the Media” (1970)

writingprintingliteracy

newspapersphotography

telegraphfilm

radiotv

computinginternet/web

read-write web

properties of media

hand-copied manuscript

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Escribano.jpg

hand-copied manuscript

high cost

precious

takes a long time to create

may be altered or amended in the copying process

moveable type

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Metal_movable_type.jpg

moveable type

lower cost

more copies

less precious – more access

more likely to circulate

quicker to create

moveable type

“Freedom of the press belongs to the man who owns one.”

motion pictures

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FilmCrew.jpg

motion pictures

high expense

one program - many viewers

seats and screen

immobile audience

motion pictures

“turn off cell phones and refrain from conversation”

one-to-many communication:school, church, movie house

Video

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Videojournalist.jpg

video

cheaper

faster

can be real-time

television

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Family_watching_television_1958.jpg

televisionin the home

...or bar, waiting room, airport

broadcast televisionlimited channels

cable televisionmany channels – few owners

television

a vast wasteland?

(1961 speech by FCC Chair Newton Minow)

1984 Mac Ad

Jurgen Habermas – b. 1929

Frankfurt School(Adorno, Horkheimer, Benjamin)

The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere pub. 1962

(English translation 1989)

“The Public Sphere: An Encyclopedia Article”(1964)

“Citizens behave as a public body when they

confer in an unrestricted fashion – that is, with the

guarantee of freedom of assembly and association and

the freedom to express and publish their opinions -

about matters of general interest.”

KEY TERMS:

public sphere

civil society

communicative action

Fourth Estate (the press)clergy

nobilitybourgeoisie/commoners

press

where ... public opinion... can be formedestablishing societal norms

Hans Magnus Enzensbergerb 1929

“Constituents of a Theory of the Media” (1970)