Hegel, Habermas, and Community: The Public in the New Media Era

Abstract

New media technologies with their networking capabilities have raised age-old questions about the nature of the public implicit in Enlightenment and about the role of public relations industries in democracies. This article reviews conflicting representational and deliberative notions of public dominant in the 20^th century, the implications of late 20^th century alternatives, and what Hegel's writings might suggest for a 21^st century concept of public. The article offers a reconceptualization of public as process—a constantly evolving conflict of the particular with the universal rather than as either a stable essence or as a consensus-building discourse.

Acknowledgment

The author would like to acknowledge the Gaylord family and the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation for their ongoing support of his research.