What do Big Brother and Q and A have in common?
Both are examples of a ‘Mediated Public Sphere’, which McKee (2004) defines as: ‘a metaphor for thinking about how individuals come together to exchange idea, information and feelings about what matters to them in a liberal society’.
This week’s blog post:
If we can define the public sphere as ‘the place’ where each of us finds out what is happening, and what social, cultural and political issues are facing us, and where we engage with those issues and say what we think about them and what should be done….
Where is your public sphere?
How does it operate?
What are the issues that come up?
Who is included (and excluded)?
What role does ‘the media’ play in all of this?
In class:
What issues are presented in these examples? How, and where might debate about these issues occur?
Go Back to Where You Came From
Bring Them Here – Australia’s refugee policy
Change the Date – Australia Day
Is it time to delete Facebook?
