Graham, T orcid.org/0000-0002-5634-7623 (2011) What’s reality television got to do with it? Talking politics in the net-based public sphere. In: Brants, K and Voltmer, K, (eds.) Political Communication in Postmodern Democracy: Challenging the Primacy of Politics. Palgrave Macmillan , Basingstoke, England , pp. 248-264. ISBN 978-0230243354
Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to see whether online discussion forums dedicated to popular culture (reality TV) provide a communicative space, content and style for politics that extends the public sphere. Given their typically casual, chatty and frivolous nature, we might assume that political talk doesn’t emerge in such spaces, and if it does, it would fall well short of the type of talk crucial to the public sphere. To what extent does political talk emerge in such spaces? If so, do such forums fulfil the requirements of rationality and ‘decent’ deliberation? Given the nature of the forums, the analysis moves beyond a formal notion of deliberation by also taking into account the use of expressive speech acts: emotion, humour and acknowledgements. What role do ‘expressives’ play within online political talk and how do they impact the normative conditions of deliberation? Moreover, comparing these spaces with a space dedicated to high politics – the Guardian political discussion forum – allows us to see whether, as critics would expect, deliberative talk is taking place in the one and emotional and irrational talk in the other.
Metadata
Item Type: | Book Section |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Editors: |
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Keywords: | Online deliberation; public sphere; new media; internet research; internet studies; civic engagement; popular culture; UK; political talk; Habermas; content analysis; discussion forums |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Media & Communication (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 31 Jan 2017 11:34 |
Last Modified: | 31 Jan 2017 11:34 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230294783_15 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Palgrave Macmillan |
Identification Number: | 10.1057/9780230294783_15 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:111458 |