B0754 - SFERA PUBBLICA E INFORMAZIONE

Learning outcomes

Students will learn to analyze the public sphere in a sociological perspective, with a specific focus on the latest developments of the current debate surrounding the concept of public sphere and on the processes of construction of social knowledge of public issues in the context of the contemporary hybrid media landscape, including the role of algorithmic sources and the new global actors.

Course contents

The course is articulated into two interconnected parts - the first one more theoretical, the second onemore oriented towards an empirical perspective.

1. In the first part we will introduce:

1.1. The main aspects of the debate on the spaces where public opinion is formed, starting from the analysis famously elaborated by Jürgen Habermas and recalling the main results of different approaches in media studies.

1.2. The contemporary controversies regarding the relationship between the public sphere and the media, particularly with the advent of what the sociologist John Thompson calls “mediated online interaction”.

1.3. The social construction of public problems: which arenas, which actors, which mechanisms.

2. The second part will “test” the ongoing hypotheses illustrated in the first one, aiming to highlight the empirical problems and the more or less resilient practices that information professional routines employ to navigate the landscape of hybrid contemporary news media.

Among the issues covered in this part are:

2.1. The complex relationship between news, digital media and the public sphere in the contemporary hybrid landscape.

2.2. The building process of social and public problems by case analysis;

2.3. The main elements of the connection between news and online media, publici and NGO institutions.

Experts and professionals from the field of communication and information will be invited in class for a discussion with the students.

Readings/Bibliography

Habermas, J. (1974), The Public Sphere: An Encyclopedia Article . New German Critique, n.3: 49-55.

P. Schlesinger, After the post-public sphere. Media, Culture & Society, 42 (7-8): 1545-1563. [available via Unibo EZProxy]

Hilgartner, S., & Bosk, C. L. (1988). The Rise and Fall of Social Problems: A Public Arenas Model. American Journal of Sociology, 94(1): 53–78. [available via Unibo EZProxy]

McCombs M.E., Shaw D.L., Weaver D.H (2014), New Directions in Agenda setting theory and research . Mass communication and society, 17: 781-802 (available via Unibo EZproxy].

Van Dijk J., Poelle Y., De Waal M., Platform society. Valori pubblici e società connessa, Milano, Guerini, 2019 [or. ed. The Platform Society. Public values in a connective world, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2018]

Case studies:

D.L. Guber, C. J. Bosso, "Issue Framing, Agenda Setting, and Environmental Discourse", in M.E. Kraft, S. Kamieniecki (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of U.S. Environmental Policy, 2012-2013: 437-469 [accesso Unibo EZproxy]

Lalli, P., Capelli, C. (2021), "Young people as “glocal” citizens of the world. News media representations of youth in mainstream and digital native media", in G. Rocha, R. Lalanda, P. de Medeiros (eds.), Juventude(s): Movimentos Globais e Desafios Futuros, Vila Nova de Famalicão, Húmus, 2021, cap. 1 pp. 7-42 [preprint].

Teaching methods

Lectures in class, and workshops.

The two parts of the course are integrated also in the lessons and the interactive workshops.

The participation to the interactive workshops will be proposed and discussed during the first week, in order to establish an educational agreement with the students.

Assessment methods

Attending students:

1. Participation to at least 80% of classes; active involvement through group work following the indications that will be communicated during the course; group exercises based on a list of subjects that will be distributed during the course.

2. Reports on the subjects addressed during the class exercises.

The final grade will be the result of participation (60%) and the paper (40%).

This option will be available to Erasmus and Overseas exchange students as well, who will be allowed to write their paper in a language of choice among Italian, French, English or Spanish.

Non attending students:

Written exam consisting of open-response and close-response questions based on the readings listed in the syllabus. The aim of the exam is to verify not only the correct understanding of the concepts, but also the argumentation capacity.

Teaching tools

Slides, audiovisual material, discussion with experts, "Virtuale" and online Teams platforms.

Office hours

See the website of Pina Lalli