Publics and Counterpublics: Communication, Expression and Politics

This essay delves into the concepts of publics and counterpublics, examining how communication channels, especially social media, influence ideology and political engagement in modern society. It discusses Habermas' perspective on media consumption and Althusser's ideological state apparatus, highlighting the role of media in propagating ideologies. The essay contrasts publics, who adhere to societal norms, with counterpublics, who challenge these norms and express divergent beliefs. It also explores the evolution of the public sphere from traditional forums to digital platforms, noting the potential for both information dissemination and manipulation. The impact of commercialized media and the importance of open dialogue for social and cultural development are also emphasized. The essay further touches upon the role of media in shaping public perception and the challenges of maintaining an informed and engaged citizenry in the digital age. This document is a student contribution and more solved assignments are available on Desklib.

Running head: PUBLICS AND COUNTER PUBLICS
Publics and Counter publics
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Answer 1
The society functions in a number of ways in meeting the different needs and the
requirements of the people in the society. In the last few decades there has been a considerable
change in the perception of the society among the common people. The advent of the modern
commination technologies based on the internet and the different structural and the functional
changes that help in the overall development of the society. The political and the ideological
scenario in the global context is based on the different communication channels in the society
(Rasmussen and Leahy 2018). One of the important issues in this context is the fact that the
different aspects relating to the overall growth of the people and the society are affected by the
social and the media perspectives. The people in the society or the public are greatly influences
by the new methods of communication that are prevalent in the society. Habemas however points
out the fact that in the modern context the overall scenario of the public mass media and
communication is such that we have become the consumer of the media and the mass
communication instead of being the audience. The majority of the in the modern society is used
for the propagation of the propagandist ideologies instead of the different perspectives relating to
the different scenarios (Habermas 1987). The perspectives of the global communication has been
widely influenced by the ideals of the individuals being influenced by the media in the society
for the overall selling of the idea to them to form their opinions.
The age old ideological state apparatus and repressive state apparatus by Althusser have
taken its modern form and is inculcated in the society using the different sociocultural
perspectives such as the propagation of the political ideologies on some media channels. One of
the major issues on the modern context relating the people conception of the media and the

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ideology spread by the media. The different social and the cultural perspectives relating to the
situational and social scenarios. But there are counter publics who exist in the modern society in
the context that they stand against the usual norm of the normal public with similar cultural and
ideological thinking. The people in this context give preference to their individual perspective in
the society and give rise to the sociocultural scenarios relating to the different aspects of the
social and the cultural scenarios (Forester 1987). The people who form the norm and the culture
as per the needs of the society. The different social and the overall individual perception of the
society regarding the different aspects relating to their position in the society.
The induction of the cultural capital among the society people leads the creation of
ideologies which help them in regressively thinking about the social and the moral duties
towards the society. The counter publics on the other hand think more freely and question the
norms of the society which the others have to adhere to. The conflicting ideologies lead to a
number of states in the society in the current internet based digital media age. The internet is the
platform of communication and expression in the modern society and the public's and the
counter publics in this context use the media to communicate with each other (McIntosh 2015). It
is seen that the use of social media is one of the important channel of communication in the
modern society and a way of expression and propagation of ideas. These channels are used
expertly bi publisher counter publics to express their ideologies in the society.
It is also seen that the people living in smallest groups are it is a common scenario that
the politics uses the ideologies of the public send counter publics to their own personal gains by
pitting them against each other (Mansbridge 2017). For example It is seen that when someone
post something about their own personal freedom which violates the social norms they are
bullied and face extreme violence against them by the society. On the other hand video is used to

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propagate idea about politicians and others for the better results and the Orphan the media houses
are divided between the political parties.
Answer 2
The public sphere is a domain where the people of the society interact with each other
and discuss issues which are important to them. General perception of the first public sphere has
changed through time and the development of the society. In the earliest societies people used as
Triangles and the public sphere consisted of the local meetings and interactions with their heads.
Gradually the exchange and the concept of public sphere became was meetings and community
meetings to discuss ideas for the development of the society. In the modern context to public
sphere has a important role to play in the development of the society (Chan 2018). Since the
advent of democracy public planning and infrastructure development. Hi in the modern context
the public sphere has gradually changed from an expression to a debate over the different
communication platforms. In the morning mass media is becoming increasingly consumer based
payments approach and the public Sphere in this context is great danger. As the public sphere
depends on the news and the information it was under media to formulate its ideas the very
conception of new kind of media has who made the consumers of the information. Most of the
media is used by the general society to reinforce their preconceived notions rather than getting
information and understanding ideas (Olson 2017).
Public sphere therefore we see physical structure of waste for sharing the ideas in the
society but it has greatly beam is managed and affected in the modern society by the kind of
information people are receiving. The modern public sphere exist over social media and different
websites where people change their views and Express themselves about a topic that is being

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viewed on. But this Paradigm shift in the public sphere has made the thought process and the
opinion of the people very constraint. India modern society people are no longer willing to
understand each others. Of users they focus on expressing their own and use this media to collect
information to reinforce their ideas and sometimes is information sources do not hold true. The
public sphere has therefore greatly change in the last few years where it has become a sheet of
argument rather than a common ground for people to discuss things on (Springer 2015). The
gradual change in the society positive and progressive thinking rather than a heated discussion
over topics which has legal as class race and religion. A discussion on the open forum by the
earlier times could make people more understanding about these issues rather than discussing
them on social media once people with opposite beliefs trying to shun each other. The change of
ideology in the modern society is itself the result of the lack of a public sphere that used to exist.
The individual has someone isolated itself from the real society and use the technology to
identified himself with the virtual society of common belief. In the real society the person can
express their views and open minded person can make the whole society more open minded and
progressive. But if social exclusion offers where people with similar thoughts from their own
societies the change and development of the society will be different and the divide may lead to
other major issues. The public sphere has developed from the usual discussion panels to the
modern age of discussion in the virtual society and on digital media like television and radio.
The digital and mass media do not only have the platform for discussion and mass information
but also lead to manipulation of the masses you have less or no education regarding the welfare
and their rights. This is what is harmful for the society as it may lead to one of the major issues
in the gradual development in the society (Lerner and Gehrke 2018). The different issues that are

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pointed out today I downtrodden by being overlooked in the light of some minor issues which
are hyped in the virtual world.
The public sphere therefore in the modern context is the platform that allows the people
free speech and the freedom of expression of expressing their own ideas. It is also a common
noun for the description for various policies for the overall development of the society and the
people as a whole. The defective and the virtual media are the tenets of modern public sphere
and they help in both spreading information and misinformation in the modern society which
helps in the formation of opinions and policies and other stereotypes in the society. The public
sphere is platform of communication which is necessary for the overall success of the society
and the country as a whole. One of the important factors to be concerned about in the modern
public sphere is the commercialization of the media is the general population in becoming the
consumers of the news instead of being the seller of the news. The different aspects of the social
and the socio-cultural scenarios need to be discussed on the common platform for the overall
understanding of the social and the cultural development of the society.
Answer 3
The different studies have various perspectives relation to the development of the ideals
in the society. One of the important aspect in this context is the development of the different
sociocultural aspects for the development of the ideologies such that they may influence the
overall interaction and the behavior patterns in the society. Communication is an essential part of
human life and media plays a significant role in effectively communicating with one another.
With technological advances global media is in the palm of a common man and there is rising
competition among the media houses to garner attention of the people through their content.

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With pictures, audiovisual content, written content etc are part of the daily lives of the people
(Michael DeLuca and Peeples 2002). In order to attract the attention and increase the sale of the
media, there are new technical approaches from the business as well. For example: click bait is a
jargon that has gained popularity due to the use of social media where the headline of the content
is designed in such a way that it catches the attention and make the viewer click on the link.
Information is more like a consumer good where people are enlightened but they are hardly
using any of the information that is available. There is a lot of advertorial confusion as well
where media print an article in the format of a news article but has a small disclaimer stating that
the article is for advertisement which most of the time is missed or ignored due to the placement
of the disclaimer or the font that is used to state the disclaimer. These approaches of the media
houses are making the readers and the audiences more of driven towards consumerism. The
public in the society is seen in different forms in the different studies. Habermas takes them as
the consumer of the different media in the society and there are other theorist like Michel Warner
who take the public as the different people who adhere to the common norms in the society
where as the counter publics are the people who diverge from the general norms in the society
and establish themselves as the different people and have their own belief systems in the society.
The different aspects related to the overall development in the society is affected by a number of
people such as the publics and counter publics (Duelund 2010). One of the important issues in
the development of the internet as the major medium of communication is the fact that the
communication channels is affected by the overall development of the different ideologies
relating to the society which is often affected by the opinions formed in the society. The social
and the socio cultural perspective take the public in two different forms one as the consumer of
the propagandist information sold as the news and the other which take into account the

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perspectives as the different perspectives. The different perspectives that help in the development
of the social and the cultural factors in the society is affected by the general opinions of the
people living in it.
The other ideology which express the public in the form of the two different entities who take
into account the different social and the cultural perspectives to express themselves in the
society. The different social and the cultural aspects that have been affected by the factors
relating to the overall development of the society is countered by Habermas. The Habermassian
theory relating to the development of the individual identities in this context is the fact that they
depend on the different social and the socio cultural factors in the society. The nearness of other
people who see what we see and hear what we hear guarantees us of the truth of the world and
ourselves, and keeping in mind that the closeness of a completely created private life, for
example, had never been known the ascent of the advanced age and the corresponding decrease
of the general population domain, will dependably extraordinarily increase and improve the
entire size of subjective feelings and private emotions, this strengthening will dependably
come.to go to the detriment of the confirmation of the reality of the world and men (Gosse and
O'Meara 2018).
The Baudrillard illustration is convincing in that he examines composed types of
correspondence as though they were talked. Notices and notification are "talked and replied."
They are superior to anything broad communications be-cause they are not far off but rather
prompt, similar to discourse. Additionally, despite the fact that people in general circle
incorporates composed types of correspondence, typified discussion works as the perfect
benchmark. However the fantasy of general society circle as the commitment of exemplified

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voices, majority rules system by means of discourse, houses us, for perforce its vision propels us
to see the contemporary scene of mass correspondence.
References
Chan, M., 2018. Networked counterpublics and discursive contestation in the agonistic public
sphere: political jamming a police force Facebook Page. Asian Journal of Communication, pp.1-
18.
Duelund, P., 2010. Jürgen Habermas, The structural transformation of the public sphere: an
inquiry into a category of bourgeois society. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 16(1),
pp.26-28.
Forester, J. ed., 1987. Critical theory and public life. MIT Press.
Gosse, C.E. and O'Meara, V.J., 2018. “Blockbotting Dissent”: Publics, Counterpublics, and
Algorithmic Public Sphere (s). Stream: Inspiring Critical Thought, 10(1), pp.3-11.
Habermas, J., 1987. The theory of communicative action (Volume 2). Boston: Beacon.
Lerner, A.S. and Gehrke, P.J., 2018. Publics and Counterpublics of Engagement. In Organic
Public Engagement (pp. 69-95). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Mansbridge, J., 2017. The Long Life of Nancy Fraser’s “Rethinking the Public Sphere”.
In Feminism, Capitalism, and Critique (pp. 101-118). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
McIntosh, S., 2015. Integral consciousness and the future of evolution. Paragon House.

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Michael DeLuca, K. and Peeples, J., 2002. From public sphere to public screen: Democracy,
activism, and the" violence" of Seattle. Critical studies in media communication, 19(2), pp.125-
151.
Olson, I., 2017. Abduction in the Public Sphere: Sadomasochism, Surveillance, and
Counterpublics. Sexuality & Culture, 21(3), pp.795-812.
Rasmussen, M.L. and Leahy, D., 2018. “Young People,” Publics, and Counterpublics in School-
Based Education on Gender and Sexuality: An Australian Story. Youth Sexualities: Public
Feelings and Contemporary Cultural Politics [2 volumes], p.61.
Springer, N.J., 2015. Publics and counterpublics on the front page of the internet: The cultural
practices, technological affordances, hybrid economics and politics of reddit's public
sphere (Doctoral dissertation, University of Colorado at Boulder).

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