[Tarynaholenspacetime] Habermas

 

The Public Sphere, Public Opinion, and Citizen Kane           

            Habermas’ analysis was simple, yet still highly relevant to our time. He walks the reader through the dawn of influential public media, aka newspapers. “Newspapers changed from mere institutions for the publication of bees into bearers and leaders of public opinion - weapons of party politics,” (Durham et al., 2012). 

 

           While going through this reading, I couldn’t help but be reminded of my film class. In FIL 150, we recently watched and reviewed the movie, Citizen Kane. Just like the readings had explained, Charles Kane held extreme influence over the masses through his newspaper The Inquirer. He used his power over public opinion to help him run for office. Kane was extremely close to winning. However, he lost the vote due to a scandal. Later in the film, we see Kane lose his influence. He struggles to come to terms with this. 

 

           Despite being made over half a century ago, the message remains relevant today. In recent years, newspapers have been declining in readers. We are in an era filled with anti-establishment sentiment. More and more American citizens now consume their news through media such as Facebook. I am left to ponder where this anti-establishment sentiment lies in relation to modernism. 

References

Durham, M. G., Kellner, D., & Habermas, J. (2012). The Public Sphere: An Encyclopedia Article. In Media and cultural studies: Keyworks (2nd ed., pp. 75–79). essay, Wiley-Blackwell.