Digital Media and The Return of The Representative Public Sphere

Abstract

This article analyses how digital media redefi ne the boundaries of the political public sphere. Against the mainstream assumption of a new emancipatory potential of the digital media, which strengthens the participatory and interactive elements of the public sphere, it is argued that digital media introduce a new representative order of political communication. In this sense, there is a need to conceptualise the digital public sphere in relation to political representation. Digital media do not straightforwardly unbound political communication in replacing the representativeness of the national public sphere. The performance of the Internet in promoting political communication remains rather limited and, by and large, continues to reproduce the national public sphere. At the same time, the digital media have multiplied the symbolism of representation, which is continuously in the making, by providing new off ers for the identifi cation of publicness through shared problems and solutions.

Young adults and the digital public sphere: a cross-cultural perspective

“…It would be hasty to bemoan students on the fact that they are not more international in their exchanges on political issues since it may be just as important (if not more so in some cases) to first understand one's own society and become concretely involved in its development. However, such data serve to temper the optimism that is often expressed about the "global or transnational citizen" (Marden, 2011;Trenz, 2009). Once again, we observe that more men than women availed themselves of this feature in all the geographical areas.…”

Os jovens adultos e a esfera pública digital: uma perspetiva intercultural

“…Seria precipitado lamentar o facto de os estudantes não serem mais internacionais nas suas interações sobre questões políticas, uma vez que pode ser igualmente importante (senão mais importante, nalguns casos) compreender primeiro a sua própria sociedade e envolver-se concretamente no seu desenvolvimento. Contudo, estes dados permitem moderar o otimismo muitas vezes expresso acerca do "cidadão global ou transnacional" (Marden, 2011;Trenz, 2009). Uma vez mais, observamos que foram mais os homens que recorreram a esta função do que as mulheres, independentemente da área geográ-fica.…”

German Quality in the Service of a European Public Sphere? An Analysis of the Deutsche Welle’s European Journal program

“…In this public arena where debate is facilitated by the media, which act as purveyors of information, people can share opinions and ideas, can comment on the activity of their political representatives and question their decisions and they can suggest a certain course of action. Thus, this "shared community of communication" (Risse, 2002, p. 10), this open field where a communicative exchange takes place (Trenz, 2008) also provides acces to information, another basic characteristic of democracy.…”