Public Sphere?

Public Sphere is an area within social life whereby people have the opportunity to come together and openly discuss, question and identify with societal problems. This discussion is usually in the ad of influencing political action. Groups of people congregate usually via a socializing network such as Facebook or in person, to discuss matters of mutual interest. The aim is to make an informed decision upon what action needs to be taken forward in order to have their rights heard. “The public sphere can be seen as “a theater in modern societies in which political participation is enacted through the medium of talk!” (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=111163119275) (04/04/2011)

In the initial workshops surrounding the Public Sphere we focused upon Brian McNair interpretations of the public Sphere. McNair believes that there are five important functions of the communication media in democratic societies, I have listed these below:

Inform: This is how information is distributed from the media to us as the public, this can be done through all forms of media; newspapers, TV, social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Educate: Represents the knowledge the public gain from the information. Without facts there is no sufficient argument in place.

Platform: The public are fed a platform of news via the media .

Publicity: This is very much needed to create a Public Sphere, this is related to the reactions the public give to the information and argument being presented through television footage etc etc.

Advocacy: This is the political imput, the government is very much in control of the media in the sense of what gets printed into our newspapers this means that readers or viewers are biased towards the opinion of the newspaper and therefore the opinion of the current government.
 

This term alone has seen two events which showcase the effects of public spheres. The first being the UNITE AGAINST FACISM which occurred in Leicester on Saturday 9^th October 2010. This was an event whereby people from all breeds of life and culture gathered together to fight against the English Defence League (EDL) in the hope of creating equality.

“The EDL is an organization of racist thugs with links to the British National Party and other fascist groups. It has particularly targeted Muslims in the past in an attempt to stir racist division.” (http://uaf.org.uk/2010/10/leicester-protest-against-racist-edl-goes-ahead-with-solid-support/) (04/04/2011)

Below are pictures of leaflets and forms which were being handed out prior to the events to attract more people to the public sphere.

Socializing networks such as Facebook and Twitter have recently become more connected with public spheres as most of these organisations and events are set up on Facebook initially to attract the general public who are interested in making a public and political stand. Here is one of the groups for the UNITE AGAINST FACISM campaign on Facebook :

This is where majority of the political stands we hear about in newspapers and on the news originate from. Just a simple group on Facebook unites people of the same interests and therefore creates a public sphere. When enough people join they can begin to plan actions.

I believe that public spheres can be used for both positive and negative reasons. When I was back home in Birmingham, my friend and I decided to go to the cinema to see London Boulevard in the city centre. When we arrived at the city centre we were surrounded by police and several roads were cut off. We asked if we would still be able to go to the cinema and if so how to get there, the policemen instructed us upon our way, so we began walking. When we eventually reached the road that leads to the cinema, we discovered that what was actually occurring was a riot. It was an Asian Attack Against The BMP! All roads were slowly shut off and guarded by armed police, we had to be escorted to the bus stop by three policemen as the large groups who were rioting began to get violent, throwing stones at buses, pushing their way past police etc etc. Needless to say my friend and I were incredibly scared and were glad to get home safely. When we returned home we discovered that the protest had initially started on Facebook as part of a harmless group however enough members inspired action and hence the outbreak in riots.

I am all about standing up for what you believe in however I believe that violence and chaos is not the way forward, I think you have to be incredibly sensible when getting involved in groups and public spheres alike.

The next famous protest of this year which did affect me somewhat was the protest against the rise of student fees. This was the problem:

£9,000 a year to carry on your education in the aid of creating a better life for yourself seems a little ridiculous and so it came as no surprise to me that the public (students in particular) decided to stand up against this and create a protest. This is another public sphere which was created on Facebook and twitter initially. Notice in the top right hand corner there are links to socializing networks that have groups surrounding this topic, this also represents how these public spheres are created.

Unfortunately, similar to the previous events mentioned the student protest which took place in London last December ended in a riot which showed students in a negative light through the media. Students have the right to stand up against this change however when depicted as violent youths who vandalise and forecast anti-social behaviour because they don't immediately get their own way, the cause is practically lost. I think the organisation and the purpose behind this protest is very worthy however the risk did not fully pay off in this public sphere possibly because of how large the public sphere actually was. It is rumoured that over 45,000 students gathered in London to begin the protest. Thats unbelievable but if i did not have a deadline the following monday i would have happily been one of those 45,000 +!