The aim of this portfolio assessment is to explore the differences between mass media and new media in terms of their potential to create and maintain what Jürgen Habermas calls the ‘public sphere’. In this assignment, I will discuss the theories and criticisms around Habermas’s concept and use these to analyze the ways in which both mass media and new digital media are able to facilitate public deliberation and influence social and political viewpoints.

This portfolio is divided into three main parts:

The first section will act as an introduction to Habermas’s concept of the public sphere, outlining the development of the theory and providing context for the rest of the portfolio. This section will also make note of some of the criticisms of Habermas’s work.

In section two, I will discuss the role that the mass media plays within the public sphere, considering both the press and television as methods of contributing to public deliberation.

The third section will cover the role of new digital media in the public sphere, and, in particular, its potential as a facilitator of alternative public spheres.

Each of these sections, as well as the bibliography, can be navigated from both the links on this page and the sidebar to the right.