jurga-ilona - conception of the public sphere - the baltic countries
TRANSCRIPT
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Conception of The Public
Sphere (The Baltic Countries)Jurga Jasineviit
Ilona Jurkonyt
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The goal: to overlook theoretical
approaches towards the phenomena of
public sphere and analyze itstransformation using data of Baltic
countries during the national awakening
period (1987 1990).
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The public sphere we can define following Habermas,
Garnhem and Jakubowitcz
It is as the network of media, educational,
knowledge and opinion-forming institutionswithin civil society whose operation is conducive
to the emergence of public opinion as a political
power (Jakubowitcz, 1997, p. 155)
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Curran distinguishes three approaches to the public
sphere: According to classical liberal theory, the public sphere is
the space between government and society in whichprivate individuals exercise formaland informal controlover the state (the media concidered to be the fourthestate of realm , watchdog).
Radical democratic theory conceives the media as abattlegroundbetween contending forces.
Traditional Marxist/communist perspective maintains theopinion that the media should be viewed as ideologicalapparatus of the state, working for propaganda.
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Nicholas Garnham considering Habermass theory counts at least three
virtues of Habermass approach towards public sphere.
Firstly, Habermass original approach focuses upon the
link between the institutions and practices ofmass public
communication and the institutions and practices of
democratic politics.
Habermass approach focuses on the necessary material
resource base for any public sphere.
Third, Habermas distinguishes the public sphere from
both state and market.
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Habermass concept of public sphere offers a basis for the
critical analysis of current developments of both media and
democratic politics.
Garnham claims that usual structures of public communication are changing.This change is characterized by:
(1) a reinforcement of the marketand the progressive destruction of publicservice as the preferred mode for the allocation of cultural resources;
(2) by a focus on a TV setas the locus for a privatized, domestic mode ofconsumption;
(3) by the creation of market divided between the information-rich andinformation-poor;
(4) by a shiftfrom largely national to largely international markets in theinformational and cultural spheres.
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Without freedom ofassemblyand freedom to impact and
receive information it would be impossible for citizens:
1 - to possess the knowledge of the views of other necessary toreach agreements between themselves;
2 - to possess knowledge of the actions of those to whomexecutive responsibilities are delegated so as to make themaccountable;
3 - to poses knowledge of the external environment necessary toarrive at appropriate judgmentof both personal and societal
interests.
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The main characteristic of nowadays communication its
mediated nature.Mediated character of communication,according to Garnham, brings such issues:
Not everyone has got equal access to both channel and means ofcommunication. Cannel and means of communication are possibleto control.
Second, what also became mediated is the content ofcommunication and the subject of debate, or to use Habermassterminology, the experience of the lifeworld.
The establishment of representative forms in political scoperendered the rationalization and alienation elements. This alienation
of indirect democracy reveal its best features when it is necessary todeal with multiple variables.
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When communication is mediated, two things are really
important:
Duty to listen to the views of others and to
alternative versions of events.
Participation in debate, closely linked to
responsibilityfor the effects that go as the result of
the actions.
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Garnham claims that the possibility of arriving at a
rationally grounded consensus can only be
demonstrated in practice by entering into a
concrete and historically specific process ofrational debate with other human beings (...) the
task is to cooperate in building the political,
economic and communication institutions.
(Garnham, 1996, p. 375)
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The answer to postmodern
critiques is:
Habermass work is not utopian, it israther tragic. It recognizes the extremefragility of human civilization and the
difficulty of sustaining the social bondsof mutual obligation, facing enmity of
psychological, internal and externalforces.
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Media trasformation in Baltic
countries in 1987-1990
The apearance of a new style of speaking inmedia (critics about soviet regime).
Tendency towards democratization media
content. The explosive growth of circulation of the
press.
Job market in the field of journalismexpanded rapidly.
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Leading Lithuanian Dailies
Circulation 1990-2001.
Title Type Ownership
Circulation
(thousands)
1990
Circulation
(thous)
1995
Circulation
(thous)
2001
Lietuvos rytasNational
daily
National
shareholders523 70 49
RespublikaNational
daily
National
shareholders122 48 42
Kauno dienaRegional
daily
Orkla Media
(Norway)113 57 42
Lietuvos iniosNational
tabloidPrivate person - - 25
Verslo iniosBusiness
daily
Bonnier Media
Group (Sweden)14 9 8
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Circulation of Dailies in Estonia
in 1987-20001987 1988 1999 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Average Circulation
of one daily
(in thousands)
63 68 76 83 64 31 23 19 16 17 15 16 18 20
Circulation ofdailies per 1,000
inhabitants
406 433 486 528 411 199 183 186 162 173 178 175 189 182
Circulation of
non-dailies per
1,000 inhabitants
338 380 446 549 709 518 613 590 419 361 343 325 290 231
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Media role in the emergence of a
new public sphere
Media is an important social mechanism usedfor the political breakthrough in the Balticcountries
Media is like a source of encouragement topublic action.
Media can play a crucial role in mobilizing themasses
Media is like a socializing agent, socializespeople of common thinking about publicdemands
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The public sphere and the political
culture
The participation in politics can be treated asparticipation in the public sphere. So publicsphere has some common aspects with thepolitical culture.
Baltic countries in 1987-1990 can becharacterized by a very active level ofparticipation in politics.
The period of national awakening in Baltics isusually called by theorists as a mythologicalstage of political culture.
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Towards creating a more democratic
public sphere
Some tasks: to create more diversity in media content and in media
outlets numbers, that it should reflect different interestsin society
to enlarge the participation of marginalized society
groups in public debates and politics
Nowadays is undergoing discussion about the publicjournalism idea, which concerns problems of democracy,equality, participation.
Public journalism is defined as more practical efforts ofjournalists to encourage people to participate in publicaffairs.
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Numbers of Newspapers and Magazines
in the Baltics, 1990-2000
Number of newspaper (titles) 1990 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Estonia 165 146 119 102 109 105 109
Latvia 172 286 252 229 226 235 227
Lithuania 324 477 443 439 415 377 361
Number of magazines and
other periodicals (titles)
Estonia 434 501 517 572 578 930 956
Latvia 243 235 229 273 266 262 325
Lithuania 159 321 351 378 412 418 465
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Nations in Transit 2001 ratings for democratisation
Central
Europe
Average of
Political
process
Civil societyIndependent
media
Governance
and public
administration
Democratization
Czech Republic 1.75 1.50 2.00 2.00 1.81
Hungary 1,25 1,25 2,25 3 1,94
Poland 1,25 1,25 1,5 1,75 1,44
Slovakia 2,25 2 2 2,75 2,25
Slovenia 1,75 1,75 1,75 2,5 1,94Balkans
Albania 4 4 4,25 4,25 4,13
Bosnia 4,75 4,5 4,5 6 4,94
Bulgaria 2 3,5 3,25 3,5 3,06
Croatia 3,25 2,75 3,5 3,5 3,25
Macedonia 3,75 3,75 3,75 3,75 3,75Romania 3 3 3,5 3,75 3,31
Yugoslavia 4,75 4 4,5 5,25 4,63
Baltics
Estonia 1,75 2,25 1,75 2,25 2
Latvia 1,75 2 1,75 2,25 1,94
Lithuania 1,75 1,75 1,75 2,5 1,94
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CIS
Average of
Political
process
Civil societyIndependent
media
Governance
and public
administration
Democratization
Armenia 5,5 3,5 4,75 4,5 4,56
Azerbaijan 5,75 4,5 5,75 6,25 5,56
Belarus 6,75 6,5 6,75 6,25 6,56
Georgia 4,5 4 3,5 4,75 4,19
Kazakhstan 6,25 5 6 5 5,56
Kyrgyzstan 5,75 4,5 5 5,25 5,13
Moldova 3,25 3,75 4,25 4,5 3,94
Russia 4,25 4 5,25 5 4,63
Tajikistan 5,25 5 5 6 5,44
Turkmenistan 7 7 7 6,75 6,94
Ukraine 4 3,75 5,25 4,75 4,44
Uzbekistan 6,75 6,5 6,75 6 6,5
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Conclusions
Public sphere can be seen as the network of media, educational,knowledge and opinion-forming institutions participating in politicalsphere. Here we can stress the mediated character of nowadayspublic sphere.
Theorists of public sphere claim that the Western structure of publicsphere is changing as the political map during last 20 years haschanged a lot.
The public sphere can consist of multiple small spheres. It is nothomogeneous. So only in this way it can be called democratic.
Media in the period of 1987-1990 in Baltic countries became a placefor public debate over the emergence of a new public sphere insociety.
During the period of National Awakening in Baltics there was anexplosion of press circulation, that shows the active participation inthe public domain.
Nowadays we observe the increasing diversity of newspaper titles but
not the circulation. This is important going towards democracybecause we can find more different opinions reflected in mediatedpublic sphere. But the participation of people in the public sphere andpolitics is not of so high level. We face problems of access,marginalization.
According to the democracy rating (consisted) among Central Europecountries Baltic countries are quite advanced: share third (Lithuania,
Latvia) and fourth places (Estonia).