The Importance Of The Public Sphere And What It Has Done For Public Opinion.(1)

Our first lecture on Media and Popular Culture discussed the importance and emergence of the Public Sphere. The public sphere is a philosophy that develops the idea of private individuals interacting with others in a common area.

We talked about the work of Habernas who defines the Public Sphere as "A network for communicating information and points of view." The lecture went on to look at Offentlichkeit a German idea, which suggested a given space in society where people could meet and share ideas and theories, as well as information which was important given the political climate of the time.

The spaces we spoke of were the Agora. The Greek definition for the marketplace or forum this allowed people from all over to meet outside the City or Polis to exchange ideas and convince someone of your plea. It became more than just a social hot spot but also became the place to go to hear and discuss important information including economical and political agendas. Although the Public Sphere makes a suggestion of the public as a whole, it was dominated entirely at the time by governmental officials, aristocracy and only included men. Working class and women were always excluded from this realm.

Thirst for information soon led to the rise of people willing to pay for print.The content of these articles were often more relevant to business men as it contained dry facts on political endeavors. Soon the thirst for knowledge however, grew, and journals such as the "Spectator" emerged. These swayed towards more leisure movements including taste and fashion. Taste was no longer determined by your class, now you were to be distinguished by what you were to spend your money on.

Generally, and certainly in today's standards, being able to voice our own opinion and be part of public discussions has meant a growing shift in power giving higher ranks less chance of standing in the way of change.

However with the occurrence of television and more recently the web, which has led to the obsession with the phenomenon that is "blogging." I feel this threatens to take away the importance of personal opinion by drawing a blank on actual new ideas. Surely all this allows us to do is tag on to the discussion of something that has gone before? Ones voice now as to be pretty radical to be heard over the doldrums of a monotone moan. Is this reason that its usually the most stupid parts of public opinion that are heard above the rest?