Textbook Ch.2 - Media In Public Life Flashcards
What is public life?
Public life:
Public life is everything we do not have the time or inclination to do on an everyday basis, and it involves thinking about what is good for society overall in a way that we cannot decide as individuals.
Ex. Politicians making decisions on sewage, traffic, farming, etc.
What is deliberative democracy?
Deliberation: long and careful consideration and discussion
It’s a way of making decisions in which people have thoughtful discussions and share their ideas openly before reaching a collective decision on important issues
*the way that issues of common concern are debated and resolved
What is the Mediated public sphere?
It is an idealized place in society where deliberation between different individuals and groups happens. In the contemporary world public deliberation usually takes place on and through media, since it relies on the ready availability of information and channels of communication.
Who created the public sphere? When?
Jürgen Habermas (1989)
Define elite democracy
Is a model of democracy in which a small number of people, usually those who are wealthy and well-educated, influence political decision making.
*posits that it does not matter how exclusive decision-making is, so long as the results are good
What 3 things are necessary to participate in the public sphere?
Rationality: those who are drunk, young, or very Ill are probably not rational enough to be allowed in
Reason: must follow ideas methodically through to their logical conclusion, and about knowing what is appropriate to include and exclude from discussion in the first place
Communication: must have the ability to properly get your point across.
What are Nancy Fraser’s critiques of Habermas and his public sphere?
*Habermas was too coldly rational in his view of what deliberation should look like, while Fraser advocated more emotion in public debate
*Nancy criticizes his basic premise that a society should have one public sphere. She believes there should be several as it puts into perspective the whole question of audience fragmentation
*Nancy believed Habermas is being too much of an idealist when he hypothesizes that everyone can interact as equals in the public sphere
*Nancy argues that the division of public and private matters overlooks important gender-related aspects of life, like family roles and health.It’s unfair to women if media doesn’t address these issues.
Explain Habermas’ key distinction between general opinion and public opinion
Think about general opinion as the sum total of every tweet and post about an issue, and public opinion as those opinions along with those of experts, brought together in a thoughtful, even-handed way with only the public interest at mind
What is the veil of ignorance?
An experiment made to test how people thought society should be designed (not in relation to their own self interest).
*This theory was devised by John Rawls in 1971
What is identity politics?
Identity politics is when people from specific identity groups, like racial or gender minorities, work together to address issues related to their identity, such as discrimination and inequality, in politics and society.
Define intersectionality
It means that we should never assume that one person’s experience of something like oppression or discrimination is the same as another’s.
Explain Rawls theory
Rawls: the identifiers of who we are - biological, psychological, or cultural markers are less important than what we think and do, and we should have as much freedom as possible
What is disenfranchisement?
It means losing one’s rights as a citizen - especially the right to be represented and listened to
What is mass media?
It used to be common to talk about mass media, but these days media is too diverse to lump into one category
What was Walter Lippmans’ howls of dispair?
Spoke about how uninformed the public was about more or less all public issues
