THE PUBLIC SPHERE AND MEDIA PLURALISM IN A EUROPEAN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
THE PUBLIC SPHERE AND MEDIA PLURALISM IN A EUROPEAN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

Summary/Abstract: The concept of the public sphere introduced by Jürgen Habermas in 1962 has shaped major normative perspectives in media and political communication scholarship for more than 30 years. In its initial form, the public sphere was conceptualized as a social space where the exchange of information on matters of public concern contributes to the development of a public opinion that functions as political power. The matters or events of “public” concern refer those that are “open to all in contrast to closed or exclusive affairs.” The concept of the public sphere was subjected to a number of scholarly accounts and critiques, many of which led to reconsideration of the notion of the public sphere in changing geopolitical conditions (the notions of global, European public sphere), a technological and media environment (the public sphere as a network) as well as evolving models of democracy (a monitory public sphere in the age of communicative abundance).

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