Conference on Internet a new public sphere

Organized by Oslo University College. Sologny 23-26 August 2011. France.

Conference Paper: Public sphere and the new media, Bangladesh

Context.
Moiyen Zalal Chowdhury, Regional Master in Journalism, Media and Communication, University of Dhaka.

Abstract
The study examines the emergence of new public sphere that started in Bangladesh through the Internet. Built on the Public sphere (bourgeois public sphere) theory of Jrgen Habermas and later critiqued and developed by Peter Dahlgren (2005), Manuel Castells (2008), Jrgen Gerhards & Mike S. Schfer (2010), Greg Goldberg (2011), Zizi Papacharissi (2002) etc., it explore the potential of social media as new public sphere. Based on the primary findings the author concludes that social media has the potential for a vibrant public sphere and it is in the developmental phase.

Keywords: Public sphere, Bangla Blogosphere, Activism, Cyber Community, Social Mobilization, Bangladesh.

Introduction
Internet is arguably the single most important communication breakthrough of the latter half of the last century. It has revolutionized the way people, communicate, access information and distribute. It has also revolutionized the traditional relationship between mass media and its audience. It has enabled the user as consumer and producer of communication content. In this context Internet has been considered as new public sphere especially in the early phase of development of this arena. But since then Internet as public sphere has also been the issue of debate and challenge in recent scholarship all over the world (eg. Dahlgren, 2005., Hindman, 2008., Papacharissi, 2002., Atton, 2009., Ytterstad, 2008., Dahlberg, 2007., Delanty, 2010.etc.). This continuing debate covers a huge range of perspectives and dimensions, like democracy, modernity, participation etc. These arguments and debates have been circulating around Habermasian 1 (1962, p.89) idea of public sphere- a forum where public opinion is shaped.

We also can notice an emergence of active, vibrant and participatory social media particularly Blogosphere2 in Bangladesh. With the emergence of community blogging3 since 2005, Bangla Blogosphere as social media has developed with diversity, discussion and activism. Any attempt to study on Internet, Blogosphere, social media is ambitious or best be described challenging. One of the biggest reasons for this is, it is still immature and in the experimental phase. Bangladeshi Blogosphere known as Bangla Blogosphere is only six years old. Bangladesh got connected to the Internet in 1996. We can recognize slow and limited growth in Internet penetration in the first decade. But we also notice rapid growth in Internet uses (517.3%)4 in recent times. Online web diaries popularly known as blog (short form of two words web and log) 5 by Bangladeshi Internet users started to appear in English since the

1 2

Habermas, J., 1962(p.89). The Structural Transformation of Public Sphere An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society . What is Blogosphere? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogosphere. 3 Haque, Fahmidul, 2011. Bangla blog community: Opinion, virtual resistance or the hunger for creating community of the detached people .Yogayog. issue 10, p.151-178. 4 ibid. Haque, Fahmidul, 2011. p.151. 5 What is blog? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog

beginning of the millennium mainly users living on abroad who are exposed to new communication and technology. These early bloggers failed to grab much attention from general Internet users from Bangladesh. We may outline two major reasons. One is the language barrier. In early stage it was difficult to write in Bangla in the Internet. Second one is specific to Blogosphere context of Bangladesh. In worldwide practice blogging is mainly known as personal blogging but in Bangla blogosphere, community blogging is the dominating trend. So from this part of the world blogging mainly represent community blogging. We also see a incredible growth is social media users in Bangladesh though the use of mobile internet. It is assumed that almost half of the population have mobiles and many of them are using internet through mobile devices. But before going into public sphere debate lets us shed some light on media landscape of Bangladesh.

Media landscape of Bangladesh a brief history

Bangladesh has passed through three stages of shifting in media land scape. As Haque (2011) explained6, the first was initiated by the politicians, with the media being used as the voice of political parties or for serving political agendas though, for Bangladesh, it was serving the agendas of people also as the country was fighting for rights against West Pakistan central government in 1960s. With time, questions were raised against biased and political journalism and there was advocacy for objective and ethical journalism. Worldwide, behind the introduction of objective journalism, there was a contribution of journalism schools. Today is the age of corporate-owned journalism, a contemporary reality that is both global and local. There are differences in the objective and style of these three kinds of journalism.

The Ittefaq and Sangbad, two Bangla dailies established in the Pakistan era, are the last two representatives of the first phase of journalism (political journalism), though they can now be identified as doing journalism of the second phase (objective journalism). These two newspapers played historical roles in the different periods of the independence movement. Bangladesh Betar
6

Fahmidul Haque 2011. 40 Years of Media Experiences in Bangladesh: A Critical Overview. http://fahmidulhaq.blogspot.com/2011/01/40-years-of-media-experiences-in.html

and Bangladesh Television were also involved in different historical moments of the nation. The existence of Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra was transient but it was a very unprecedented radical media during the Liberation War in 1971. Other than a few of these media, all print or broadcast7 outlets appeared in the last two decades. It is to be noted that these two decades are the age of globalization based on the idea of a free market economy after the fall of communism. As a result, an influence of capitalist globalization is felt in the media institutions. On the other hand, in the expanding capitalist activities driven by the globalization process, media remained as part of that process. The existing media situation around the globe as well as in Bangladesh is both the cause and effect of globalization.

After independence, the necessity of political journalism came to an end, even though we saw it until the end of the 1980s. Ajker Kagoj was a prominent representative of objective journalism. The idea of objective journalism8, as repeatedly taught in journalism schools, was reflected in Ajker Kagoj. Quickly a civil society started to take shape by writing in the middle page of Ajker Kagoj. Later, novelty in journalism was transferred into Bhorer Kagoj. But this short period of objective journalism disappeared after the advent of Prothom Alo in 1998.

Corporate journalism began with Prothom Alo (PA), with journalists who had come from Bhorer Kagoj. The ownership pattern of the daily compelled the same journalists to shift from objective towards corporate journalism. The leading English daily, The Daily Star (DS), established by SM Ali, was taken by Transcom Group, the owners of Prothom Alo which formed a media conglomeration. The PA-DS duo became influential dailies within a few years. Before them, Janakantha and Muktakantha appeared as corporate media outlets, but they could not influence the media industry. The journalism pattern set by PA-DS is followed by other media outlets of recent times.

7 8

ibid. Haque 2011. Razzaque Khan, Md. Abdur 2007.p.7. Media Concentration and Ownership

Emergence of a digital culture?

As we can see the transformation of media landscape of Bangladesh is more from production to wider consumption. However, such change does not necessarily resulted in public sphere or what could be characterized as a democratic platform of public engagements, debates and deliberations. Rather, newly established media outlets spent more time, space and efforts to grab the expanding advertisement markets and the long-standing political clientalism of news media reshaped in the new structure of media ownership (Mahmud, 2011).

Bangladesh got connected to the Internet in 1996 first through VSAT and the real growth of the sector started in 2006 when the country was connected to the Information Super Highway through the SEA-ME-WE 4 sub-marine cable. Slowly, but increasingly the webzines 9 have become popular in Bangladesh at least to urban elites since mid 2000s. Mahmud & Nasreen (2009)10 explained studies showed that demand of news through online rose rapidly at a time when restrictions were imposed on the traditional media by the ruling powers or when there is a national crisis or significant event In times of crisis, traditional news sources seem to be unable to meet general public demand of providing 'immediate' and 'detailed information' as they are often bound by journalistic regulations that demand fact checking before releasing news. Accordingly, people who have first-hand knowledge of the event wish to share information with others, some of these witnesses of the events turn to online to do so. At least in two major national events in recent times, first, the parliamentary elections of Bangladesh in December 2008, second, Border Guards Revolt in February 2009, it has been found that www.somewhereinblog.nets, page view, exceeded 11 page views of the website of countrys most popular vernacular daily - Daily Prothom Alo12, which is also regarded as the most read Bangladeshi newspaper online.

What is webzine? http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_webzine Mahmud, S & Nasreen, G.2009. p.3. Net Switching in Journalism Education in Bangladesh: Problems and Prospects, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, 54 (2). 11 ibid. Haque, 2011. p.173. 12 www.prothom-alo.com
10

Censorship landscape of Bangladesh Constitution13 of Bangladesh ensures freedom of speech in its article, 39 saying on freedom of thought and conscience, and of speech. (1) Freedom of thought and conscience is guaranteed. (2) Subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interests of the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence(3) the right of every citizen of freedom of speech and expression; and freedom of the press, are guaranteed. Though freedom of speech is guaranteed in the constitution, in practice; press freedom Bangladesh still have long way to go. It is ranking in 126 among the 176 countries in world press freedom index 201014 by the Reporters without Borders. In previous years like 2009 its ranking was 121. As in the US Human Rights Report 201115 on Bangladesh chapter it says, Journalists perceived to be critical of the government and those aligned with the opposition alleged harassment from unspecified wings of the security forces and members of the ruling party. The report also says 16 On June 1, 2011, the deputy commissioner of Dhaka District ordered the closure of Amar Desh, an opposition newspaper, and the detention of its editor, Mahmudur Rahman, ostensibly for fraudulent editorial practices. According to the attorney general, this was the first time that the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court sentenced journalists to prison for contempt of court17. Even guarantee from constitution influences of judicial and ruling political party suppress the freedom of press. This also creates an environment of self censorship among the media entities. The loop holes in the constitution saying, reasonable restrictions in security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement permits this loop holes to be used in political and other purposes.

13 14

Constitution of Bangladesh. Reporters without Borders, 2011. Press Freedom Index 2010

16 17

ibid. UNBconnect, 2011. UNBconnect, 2011. [Accessed 22nd September 2011]

Like in the Special Power Act (1974)18 which allows detentions of up to 90 days without trial the according the above mentioned reasons. This opens ways and threat the freedom of press and push to self censorship practice. In the broadcast media, Ministry of Information in Bangladesh approved a new draft broadcast law19 which will be in effect in three months. This law is putting the prior-censorship on the private TV channels and also bans any foreign channels showing any kissing scene. The law says "pre-approval should be taken from the Ministry of Information prior to broadcasting any publicity materials on Puja, Christmas, and Buddha Purnima etc." Which also restrict the freedom of expression for other religious minority groups. And the pre-approval system makes the media dependent on public body or registration. This law also put censorships on whole right to information act (2009)20 as well. According to the law it will not permit any criticism to national ideology or characters, no individual can be criticized, no criticism will be allowed on national ideologies and goals, no program can be broadcast against any friendly nation, programs related to trafficking in women, forced prostitution, rape etc will be barred from broadcast, broadcasting 'kiss scene' shall be banned under the new law, no program or content on mutiny or demonstration can be broadcast, etc. This law21 has been sent to parliamentarian committee on 30th June 2011 for approval and the parliamentarian committee sends it back to Ministry of Information saying, 22This draft law is not mass media friendly. If this law is passed without proper scrutiny then the vibrant broadcast industry will be barren and freedom of expression will be cut down by irresponsible censorship. In the censor code of films (1985, rule 13)23 every moving picture have to be pre-censored before public viewership which covers a list of criteria. Here I am mentioning few like, violation the culture and codes of Bangladeshi culture, undermining the solidarity of Bangladesh, anything that shows law enforcement agencies not capable, reveals military or other official secrets likely to affect security of the state. It also includes any content that violates relationship with friendly

18 19

Laws of Bangladesh, 2011. THE SPECIAL POWERS ACT, 1974 (ACT NO. XIV OF 1974) BLITZ, Special Correspondent. 2011. Bangladesh enacts new broadcast law 20 ibid. Ministry of Information, 2011. 21 ibid. BLIZT 22 E-prothomalo, page 3, 2011. Draft broadcast law is not mass media friendly 23 Bangladesh Film Censor Board, 2011. Censor code of films (1985, rule 13) [doc]

countries, propaganda in favor of a foreign state, ridicules, disparages or attacks any religion, depicts actual act of sex, rape or passionate love scenes of immoral nature and so on. Though the population is already exposed to so many medium this censorship law seems outdated. In one hand it protects the violence or obscenity towards audience and same time not permitting the diversity and differences in the world or present reality. Community Radio Policy (2008) 24, gives pre-censorship guidelines which is pre-requisite for licensing. It covers the local integrity standards and reservations for community behavior. It ensures that no offence against women, children or handicap people. At the same time providing loop holes which may used in ill motives. With this law one cannot argue or criticize (with ill motives) against government, anything that violates countries integrity etc. Right to Information Act (2009)25 gives a long waited hope for ensuring the freedom of expression and information as right. Every public body by law has to give information when sought, with exceptions about certain topics. I am mentioning few of them which are chosen by me. These are26: (a) Any such information that may, if disclosed, causes a threat to the security, integrity and sovereignty of Bangladesh; (b) Any such information relating to any aspect of foreign policy that may affect the existing relationship with any foreign country or international organization or any regional alliance or organization. All publications are subject to Press and Publication Act of (1973)27, which requires four copies of each issue to be sent to a "designated government agency." To my best knowledge no law has been sanctioned for the censorship of Internet yet.

24 25

ibid. Ministry of Information, 2011. ibid. Ministry of Information, 2011. 26 ibid. Ministry of Information, 2011. 27 Press reference, 2011. Bangladesh country profile, Censorship

Habermas and Public sphere

Generally speaking public sphere means first of all the realm of our social life in which something approaching public opinion can be formed. Citizens behave as a public body when they confer in an unrestricted fashion. And that is, with the guarantee of freedom of assembly and association and the freedom to express and publish their opinions - about matters of general interest. The expression 'public opinion' refers to the tasks of criticism and control which a public body of citizens informally practices...vis-a-vis a ruling class (Habermas, 1962)28. Habermas's public sphere is based upon his research into the bourgeois class of the 18th Century in Great Britain, France and Germany. During this period he saw that normal people, rather than experts, engaged in rational critical debate about matters of public concern. There was an, embryonic public sphere, with conditions which made ideal speech and public interests a possibility. (Habermas,1962)29. This public sphere began to form first in Great Britain at the end of the 17th Century - the Licensing Act of 1695, which allowed newspapers to print without the Queen's censorship. Habermas writes at length about 18th Century bourgeoisie life, describing in great detail the characteristics of his ideal type, the public sphere. But in the 19th Century the characteristics of bourgeois life changed, and so the public sphere declined. There was a re-feudalization in which media became commercialized, the state took control of the private world (for example, children in education) and experts formed bureaucracies, cutting out normal people from public decision-making. In more recent years, it is argued, the public sphere has declined yet further with the aid of one-to-many mass media, such as television and tabloid newspapers. The result is a bourgeoisie which leaves matters of public concern to 'experts' such as politicians. Critique of Habermasian Public sphere Many scholars have argued that Habermas classical theory is too inflexible for the concerns of a modern pluralistic society and that there is a need to extend the concept of public sphere towards

28 29

ibid.Habermas, 1962. p.22. ibid. p.29.

a more inclusive concept (Dahlgren 30 , 2005., Hindman 31 , 2008., Papacharissi 32 , 2002., Dahlberg33, 2007.). Within the bourgeois public sphere approach, development is perceived as a slow process rooted in a Western perspective which does not give room for the rapid changes of many newly democratized countries. The classic notion of the citizen in the public sphere does not open for discussions on the politics of identity or multiculturalism. Manuel Castells34 in his discussion of a new public sphere (2008) states that the public sphere "is not just the media or the sociospatial sites of public interaction. It is the cultural/informational repository of the ideas and project that feed public debate" (2008). In blogosphere we can recognize interactions on such news and views which are filtered in the mainstream media; ranging from religion, politics, gender, identity etc. Here news, views and reaction comes fast and mostly uncensored. Some news and views which is not focused in the mainstream media can be focused in this social media.

Conceptualizing new media and public sphere In new media scholarship, the development of a networked public sphere is framed as a migration or extension of an already existing public sphere to an online platform, a resuscitation of an ailing public sphere, and/or a first-time venture whose success has been made possible by the advent of digital network technologies. Media scholars interest in the public sphere is often articulated in opposition to political apathy, cynicism, disenfranchisement, consumerism, and increasing media concentration.

This opposition serves two purposes: it is descriptive of the corporatized conditions of media production, distribution, and consumption in which the Internet has come of age and which place on it the burden of democratic rescue, and it is a cautionary tale of the cooptation of other
30

Dahlgren, P., 2005. The Internet, Public Spheres, and Political Communication: Dispersion and Deliberation. Political Communication[e-journal] vol. 22, 2: p. 147-162. 31 Hindman, M. 2008. What is the Online Public Sphere Good For? In: Turow, J., Tsui, L., ed. 2008. The Hyperlinked Society : Questioning Connections in the Digital Age. Michigan. University of Michigan Press. p. 1-29. 32 Papacharissi, Z., 2002. The virtual sphere, the internet as a public sphere. New Media Society [e-journal] vol. 14, 1: p.927. 33 Dahlberg, L.,2007. Rethinking the fragmentation of the cyberpublic: from consensus to contestation. New Media Society [ejournal] vol. 9, 5: p. 827847. 34 Castells, M., 2008. The New Public Sphere: Global Civil Society, Communication Networks, and Global Governance. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science [e-journal] vol.616, 1: p.78-93.

communication technologies with unrealized democratic potential, particularly radio and television. Contextualized in this way, online participation, amateur cultural production, and even piracy can be understood as forms of empowering and emancipating weakly engaged viewers. Many articles and books have addressed in detail the relationship of online practices to empowerment and democracy, pausing to examine the specificities of particular practices and analyze their participatory content. These analyses share a similar set of concerns, which have not changed substantially since Papacharissi (2002) 35 asked of the Internet,Can it promote rational discourse, thus producing the romanticized ideal of a public sphere envisioned by Habermas and others? Does it reflect several public spheres co-existing online, representing the collectives of diverse groups, as Fraser argued? Are online discussions dominated by elements of anarchy or accord, and do they foster democracy? Will the revolutionary potential of the Internet be ultimately absorbed by a mass commercial culture? (Papacharissi, 2002).

A number of influential critiques of public sphere scholarship have been made, which remain applicable to scholarship of the virtual sphere. Nancy Fraser (1992, 2007)36 places critiques of the public sphere into two categories: legitimacy critiques and efficacy critiques. Legitimacy critiques point to the public spheres lack of inclusiveness, particularly of groups historically excluded from institutions of power, while efficacy critiques point to the publics inability to communicate its will to institutions, and to institutions inability to realize the publics will. In short, most critics of the public sphere have either argued that it never truly existed, because social groups were excluded or their contributions were minimized, or that it does exist but has not been successful at institutionalizing the public will. The cost of participation On the Internet there is no debating and deliberating that is not also buying and selling. Participation is a commercial act. Every instance of participation involves a transfer of data
35 36

ibid.Papacharissi, 2002. p.27. Fraser, N. 1992. p. 6. Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy, in C. Calhoun (ed.) Habermas and the Public Sphere, pp.10942. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

which has been economized, driving the profitability and viability of the networking industry and of Internet-based companies like Google that cover infrastructure costs though innovative advertising, freemium37 business models, and other methods.

Political uses of the Internet affect the public sphere

Proponents of cyberspace promise that online discourse will increase political participation and pave the way for a democratic utopia. According to them, the alleged decline of the public sphere lamented by academics, politicos, and several members of the public will be halted by the democratizing effects of the Internet and its surrounding technologies. On the other hand, skeptics caution that technologies not universally accessible and ones that frequently induce fragmented, nonsensical, and enraged discussion, otherwise known as flaming, far from guarantee a revived public sphere.

Papacharissi (2002) 38 argues, when thinking of the public, one envisions open exchanges of political thoughts and ideas, such as those that took place in ancient Greek agoras or colonial-era town halls. The idea of the public is closely tied to democratic ideals that call for citizen participation in public affairs. Still, these conceptualizations of the public were somewhat idealized. It is ironic that this pinnacle of democracy was rather undemocratic in its structure throughout the centuries, by not including women or people from lower social classes, a point acknowledged as such by Habermas himself. Moreover, critics of Habermas rational public sphere raised the issue that anarchy, individuality, and disagreement, rather than rational accord, lead to true democratic emancipation.

37 38

Freemium :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemium. ibid. Papacharissi, 2002. p.19.

What is new about social media in terms of blurring public and private spheres?

It can be argued that in common with many Web 2.0 (social networking) phenomena, blogging has contributed to embedding individualization in the public sphere of new media. However, there are a number of qualifications that instantly help us to probe the specific nature of such individualization. First lets say a little about the new challenges presented to our thinking about public sphere by the Internet.

Blogging may be an entirely new form of online communication, but as with most things, it has its antecedents, and it is useful to think a little here about these with regard to the points just raised about context. We can regard the myriad forms of blogging (media, commercial, hobbyist, political, personal to name a few) as an anarchic cacophony of individual voices, some of which might be regarded as expert and many non-expert, and some attached to traditional public sphere organs such as newspapers and broadcasters, and many just personal blogs about daily life, interests, travel, etc. Individual voices, including different forms of feedback or audience engagement, are not new in themselves in the public sphere, letters to the editor in traditional print media, perhaps being the archetype, but radio phone-ins continuing to be a familiar form (and now text-ins and emailing-in).

Habermas' ideal type of the public sphere is characterized by an ideal speech situation. Robert Alexy (2011)39developed rules for the ideal speech discourse based upon Habermas' work, of which the third rule states: 3.1 Every subject capable of speech and action may take part in discourses 3.2 (a) Everyone may challenge any assertion 3.2 (b) Everyone may introduce any assertion into the discourse 3.2 (c) Everyone may express his/her attitudes, wishes and needs

39

Robert Alexy 2011. Public sphere http://jakeg.co.uk/essays/habermas [Accessed 12 November 2011].

3.3 No speaker may be prevented, by internal or external coercion, from exercising his/her rights under 3.1 and 3.2 However, the concept of the public sphere has heuristic value; it is because it is inseparable from two other key dimensions of the institutional construction of modern societies: civil society and the state. The public sphere is not just the media or the socio spatial sites of public interaction. It is the cultural/informational repository of the ideas and projects that feed public debate. It is through the public sphere that diverse forms of civil society enact this public debate, ultimately influencing the decisions of the state.

Conclusion

The Internet may actually enhance the public sphere, but it does so in a way that is not comparable to our past experiences of public discourse. Perhaps the Internet will not become the new public sphere, but something radically different is there. This may enhance democracy and dialogue, but not in a way that we would expect it to, or in a way that we have experienced in the past. The existing and growing trend of regulatory censorship policy of the Government will put thrust on self censorship in the arena of Internet based public sphere.

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