A Study Of The Relationship Between The Construction Of Public Sphere And Media

Public sphere is a problem of modernity, it's also a key concept widely applied in politics, sociology, communication theory and research of literature and culture. This thesis is only concerned with the application of public sphere in politics. However, this category is characteristic of vague connotation and farraginous explanations. Furthermore, the impotence and decline of public sphere in fact cause us to doubt its prospect and reality. When questions such as where the public sphere is and who is included in it and the like emerge, media thus come into our vision. No one can escape from the influence of media, for our everyday life is soaked in media. Thus, in the age of comprehensive implosion of time, space and politics, and in such a information-overloaded global village, it is no doubt that the relationship between public sphere and media is a theme of much significance.In the above context, the first part of the thesis induce and comb two classic models of public sphere, namely Arendt's Greek model and Habermas'liberal bourgeois model, to elucidate the connotation of public sphere. The second part is concerned with what positive influence modern media do exert on the public sphere. Distinguished from Arendt and Habermas'pessimistic tone, this part insists the potential of media to construct a public sphere suitable for our times and to activate deliberative democracy. So the part can be regarded as a try to put forward an idea type of media constructing public sphere. In the third part, I divert from the above idea type to the real situation of public sphere, arguing that media have to confront many a dilemma of actualization in the course of constructing public spheres. Considering all these disadvantages, it may be a solution to establish a new non-commercialized and non-state media system of public services which could be the substantial backbone of public sphere.