The corporate takeover of the online public sphere: A critical examination, with reference to 'the New Zealand case'

Much communications research is in agreement about the failure of mass media to adequately facilitate a public sphere of open and reflexive debate necessary for strong democratic culture. In contrast , the internet's decentralised, two-way communication is seen by many commentators to be exten...

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Main Author:	Lincoln Dahlberg
Format:	article
Language:	EN
Published:	Asia Pacific Network 2005
Subjects:	indigenous public sphere mass media public sphere internet online media marginalisation Communication. Mass media P87-96 Journalism. The periodical press, etc. PN4699-5650
Online Access:	https://doaj.org/article/5683bb2d95824e30a1c543b7bf5b76d8
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:5683bb2d95824e30a1c543b7bf5b76d82021-12-02T09:09:42ZThe corporate takeover of the online public sphere: A critical examination, with reference to 'the New Zealand case'10.24135/pjr.v11i1.8221023-94992324-2035https://doaj.org/article/5683bb2d95824e30a1c543b7bf5b76d82005-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://ojs.aut.ac.nz/pacific-journalism-review/article/view/822https://doaj.org/toc/1023-9499https://doaj.org/toc/2324-2035 Much communications research is in agreement about the failure of mass media to adequately facilitate a public sphere of open and reflexive debate necessary for strong democratic culture. In contrast , the internet's decentralised, two-way communication is seen by many commentators to be extending such debate. However, there is some ambivalence among critical theorists as to the future role of the internet in advancing the public sphere. On the one hand, the internet is providing the means fot the voicing of positions and identities excluded from the mass media. On the other hand, a number of problem are limiting the extensiveness and effetivness of this voicing. One of the most significant problems is the corporate colonisation of cyberspace, and subsequent marginalisation rational-critical communication. It is this problem that i will focus on in this article, with reference to examples from what I refer to as the 'New Zealand online public sphere'. I show how online corporate portals and media sites are gaining the most attention orientated to public communication, including news, information, and discussion. These sites generally support conservative discourse and consumer practices. The result is a marginalisation online of the very voices marginalised offline, and also of the critical-reflexive form of communication that makes for a strong public sphere. I conclude by noting that corporate colonisation is as yet only partial, and control of attention and media is highly contested by multiple 'alternative' discursive spaces online. Lincoln DahlbergAsia Pacific Networkarticleindigenous public spheremass mediapublic sphereinternetonline mediamarginalisationCommunication. Mass mediaP87-96Journalism. The periodical press, etc.PN4699-5650ENPacific Journalism Review, Vol 11, Iss 1 (2005)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	indigenous public sphere mass media public sphere internet online media marginalisation Communication. Mass media P87-96 Journalism. The periodical press, etc. PN4699-5650
spellingShingle	indigenous public sphere mass media public sphere internet online media marginalisation Communication. Mass media P87-96 Journalism. The periodical press, etc. PN4699-5650 Lincoln Dahlberg The corporate takeover of the online public sphere: A critical examination, with reference to 'the New Zealand case'
description	Much communications research is in agreement about the failure of mass media to adequately facilitate a public sphere of open and reflexive debate necessary for strong democratic culture. In contrast , the internet's decentralised, two-way communication is seen by many commentators to be extending such debate. However, there is some ambivalence among critical theorists as to the future role of the internet in advancing the public sphere. On the one hand, the internet is providing the means fot the voicing of positions and identities excluded from the mass media. On the other hand, a number of problem are limiting the extensiveness and effetivness of this voicing. One of the most significant problems is the corporate colonisation of cyberspace, and subsequent marginalisation rational-critical communication. It is this problem that i will focus on in this article, with reference to examples from what I refer to as the 'New Zealand online public sphere'. I show how online corporate portals and media sites are gaining the most attention orientated to public communication, including news, information, and discussion. These sites generally support conservative discourse and consumer practices. The result is a marginalisation online of the very voices marginalised offline, and also of the critical-reflexive form of communication that makes for a strong public sphere. I conclude by noting that corporate colonisation is as yet only partial, and control of attention and media is highly contested by multiple 'alternative' discursive spaces online.
format	article
author	Lincoln Dahlberg
author_facet	Lincoln Dahlberg
author_sort	Lincoln Dahlberg
title	The corporate takeover of the online public sphere: A critical examination, with reference to 'the New Zealand case'
title_short	The corporate takeover of the online public sphere: A critical examination, with reference to 'the New Zealand case'
title_full	The corporate takeover of the online public sphere: A critical examination, with reference to 'the New Zealand case'
title_fullStr	The corporate takeover of the online public sphere: A critical examination, with reference to 'the New Zealand case'
title_full_unstemmed	The corporate takeover of the online public sphere: A critical examination, with reference to 'the New Zealand case'
title_sort	corporate takeover of the online public sphere: a critical examination, with reference to 'the new zealand case'
publisher	Asia Pacific Network
publishDate	2005
url	https://doaj.org/article/5683bb2d95824e30a1c543b7bf5b76d8
work_keys_str_mv	AT lincolndahlberg thecorporatetakeoveroftheonlinepublicsphereacriticalexaminationwithreferencetothenewzealandcase AT lincolndahlberg corporatetakeoveroftheonlinepublicsphereacriticalexaminationwithreferencetothenewzealandcase
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The corporate takeover of the online public sphere: A critical examination, with reference to 'the New Zealand case'

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