Political Communication and the Internet.pdf

POLITICS: 2002 VOL 22(1), 1–8 Public Opinion, Political Communication and the Internet Heather Savigny1 University of Birmingham In contemporary society public opinion is generally mediated by the mass media, which has come to encompass the Habermasian ‘public sphere’. This arena is now characterised by the conflict between market and democratic principles, by competing interests of politicians and the media. The presentation of information for debate becomes distorted. The opinion of the ‘public’ is no longer created through deliberation, but is constructed through systems of communication, in conflict with political actors, who seek to retain control of the dissemination of information. The expansion of the internet as a new method of communication provides a potential challenge to the primacy of the traditional media and political parties as formers of public opinion. Introduction Public opinion is crucial for political actors to maintain their legitimacy and political authority. In contemporary modern liberal democratic society public opinion is generally mediated by the mass media, either through the presentation of opinion polls, or more generally in the reflection and/or creation of public opinion. Jürgen Habermas provides a framework through which to analyse the relationship between the media and public opinion formation. The ideals of Habermas’s notion of public opinion in the public sphere are premised on the assumption of rational-critical undistorted debate and universal access. Contemporary mass media encompass the public sphere, but this arena is characterised by the conflict between market and democratic principles, where media presentation of issues are distorted to gain atten- tion, rather than to provide information. The ‘public’ is no longer created through deliberation, but is c