Issues concerning communication, information technology and democracy are focused points of studies in politics, sociology and communication. In the past few decades, the Internet has changed the image and ecology of mass media. The Internet provides more opportunities than other media for individuals to participate in the public discourse. Many scholars have suggested that Internet¡¦s characteristics such as real-time, interactivity, openness, and equality may help balance the power and bias exerted by traditional mass media. In this research three Internet forums (board) in Taiwan were analyzed by adopting the content analysis to evaluate the quality of discourse based on the communicative act theory proposed by Habermas. Specifically, we investigate several issues: Is the online forum an open, equal public place? Do participants interact with one another? Do they reach rational-critical discussion within an environment lack of social context cues? Do those virtual debates lead to cohesion and influence the real-life political process? There are several findings. First, although online forums are more open than traditional media¡¦s, individuals without internet facilities and skills are excluded from participation. Even within the forums, participants are not totally free to join or speak due to the registration, written netiquette norms, and hierarchical control systems. Secondly, instead of equally joining the discussion, a small percentage of people contribute to a majority of discourse in two websites¡¦ forums. That is, although online forums provide an opportunity for democratic discourse, it does not mean that everyone subscribed to the online discussion will participate equally. Thirdly, it is possible for individuals to reach rational-critical discussion within a CMC environment, the virtual debates rarely lead to consensus, let alone influencing real-life policy-making. In sum, this study concludes that the Internet has not become an alternative to the traditional media as a public sphere.

This essay details the profound economic and social impact of the Vietnam War on Hong Kong. The British colony provided essential strategic facilities to the U.S. war effort and ranked among the largest destinations for American servicemen on R&R. Between 1965 and 1970, Hong Kong annually hosted about 200,000 U.S. ground and naval personnel on holiday. This influx annually earned Hong Kong about US$300-400 million (in 2009 dollars) and employed thousands of residents working in the colony’s service and entertainment industries. In addition, American servicemen and the local businesses catering to them became a contentious issue in local society. Servicemen excited widespread interest, but their misdeeds and their bar and brothel stomping grounds provoked intense anxiety. Hong Kong residents’ ensuing debates exercised the available civil channels and stimulated the colony’s emerging public sphere, from English- and Chinese-language newspaper battles to outspoken unions and neighborhood associations. In tandem with famed events such as the Star Ferry Riots of 1966 and the communist agitations of 1967, American R&R was an essential ingredient to the emergence of a distinctive Hong Kong identity and citizenry during this period. While residents’ objections failed to curb the GIs’ holidays, Vietnam tourism and its reverberating effects pressed new sectors of Hong Kong residents to grasp and articulate their investment as citizens in the city’s future. Thus, the Vietnam War and its U.S. presence in Hong Kong were major factors in developing Hong Kong’s modern economy, civil society, and contemporary self-conception as a political, legal, and cultural ‘haven.’ / text

This thesis examines the quality and effectiveness of online political deliberation, within the framework of Jurgen Habermas’ public sphere and discourse theories. The thesis analyzes a deliberative process that took place online, in June 2011, as part of the Liberal Party of Canada’s Extraordinary Convention, specifically through content and discourse analysis of data from online discussion platforms. The analysis sought to ascertain whether the objectives of the convention were met, measured the quality of discourse and identified insights to support the creation of more effective spaces for political deliberation online. Analysis of the results revealed a difference in the discourse quality for each platform, attributed to the synchronicity or asynchronicity of the platform. The thesis concludes with suggestions for a design that makes use of both the synchronous and asynchronous features of the online discussion platforms in order to more specifically target the objectives of the political process.

This thesis examines the quality and effectiveness of online political deliberation, within the framework of Jurgen Habermas’ public sphere and discourse theories. The thesis analyzes a deliberative process that took place online, in June 2011, as part of the Liberal Party of Canada’s Extraordinary Convention, specifically through content and discourse analysis of data from online discussion platforms. The analysis sought to ascertain whether the objectives of the convention were met, measured the quality of discourse and identified insights to support the creation of more effective spaces for political deliberation online. Analysis of the results revealed a difference in the discourse quality for each platform, attributed to the synchronicity or asynchronicity of the platform. The thesis concludes with suggestions for a design that makes use of both the synchronous and asynchronous features of the online discussion platforms in order to more specifically target the objectives of the political process.

The aim of this study is to investigate how frequently religious actors participate in public debates, on what subjects and with what arguments. This is done by studying the debate pages of Sweden’s largest tabloid: Aftonbladet. Furthermore, the aim is also to study what forms of authority and arguments the religious actors use while participating in the public sphere. In order to answer the research ques-tions the author takes an abductive approach and uses the theories of deprivatiza-tion and mediatization to conduct a sequential mixed method study of Af-tonbladet’s debate page between the years 2001 and 2011. The results show that very few religious actors participate in public debates in Sweden, and that the small sample of articles signed by religious actors are dominated by the Church of Sweden. The Christian groups are represented by religious authorities to a much larger extent than the Jewish and Muslim groups. However, the arguments used by all groups are predominately secular, which would indicate an acceptance of the secular norm in the public sphere.

In this paper I explore how participatory journalism is changing organizational structure and production practices at the publicly funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Toronto (CBC). Using practical action research I examine two sites of study that offer unique strategies on incorporating everyday citizens into the news production process: the use of citizen bloggers to supplement CBC’s coverage of the G20 summit in Toronto shows how diversifying storytelling improves the overall quality of news content; the mandate of Connect with Mark Kelly to democratize daily news by using ordinary people as sources and breaking traditional rules of production reveals a survival strategy for daily news shows. Through the lens of media logic, using the theories of convergence culture and the public sphere, I develop strategies to involve more citizens in the newsmaking process, thus invigorating public discourse and subverting news production that is designed to entertain instead of inform.

This study examined the civic properties afforded by Twitter and considered whether hashtag communities achieve issues-pluralism in order to facilitate at least some viewpoints to popular expression otherwise absent from print media. Data sources included Twitter hashtag communities that formed around the 2013 Alberta Budget and the associated print media coverage. This inquiry found that while diverse actors contribute to the formation of Twitter hashtag communities, the associated discussion failed to drive issues-pluralism. Twitter's most apparent value to civil society is information exchange--both in terms of tweet content and hyperlinked content and multimedia. In spite of this strength, Twitter is ill-suited as a communicative forum for civil society. Discussion uptake and opinion expression were relatively modest among participants, and the conversation was overwhelmingly dominated and driven by agents of traditional news media intent on perpetuating roles in content gatekeeping and who operated in the service of profits.

Environmental issues are increasingly discussed through social media applications. Consequently, researchers are beginning to question whether social media could represent a green virtual sphere: a virtual public space to discuss environmental issues not governed by a single authority in which anyone can access; however, limited empirical research has been conducted to date. In response, this study combines text analysis, social network analysis, and semi-structured interviews to determine whether discussions regarding the Alberta oil sands and the Northern Gateway Pipeline on Twitter – a micro-blogging site – reflect the characteristics of a green virtual sphere. It was found that Twitter is used to disseminate information, access news, and engage in debate, but there are limitations: not everyone has access to Twitter, the government may monitor online activity, and discussions appear to be dominated by environmentalists and environmental organizations. Twitter use on these issues only partially reflects the characteristics of a green virtual sphere.

This thesis assesses the effectiveness of social media platforms, specifically Facebook and blogs, in facilitating women’s participation in the online public sphere in India. Discussion provides a literature review of the internet as a new public sphere and its impact and influence in enriching the existing public sphere in India. The study also reviews the relationship between the online public sphere and the role women play in this sphere through social media in India. The research is supplemented by a review study of the ‘India Against Corruption’ movement in order to demonstrate the case for the online public sphere. Moreover, the present study also provides a snap shot of how some blogs and Facebook pages are used by women. Taking as a case study the 2012 ‘Delhi gang rape’ incident, through a topical network analysis of the Facebook pages and blog articles, this research attempts to understand the role of these media in allowing women to discuss social issues and participate in the public sphere. Drawing from the analysis of blog contents and examining Facebook pages I demonstrate how the women’s voices inhabiting the online sphere are limited to a certain class and region. In the cases studied here respondents appeared to be predominantly urban and middle class. While the scope of the research is small, this is one of the first studies in the area, and the findings suggest that social media are becoming a significant communicative tool in India and that women are increasingly appropriating these technologies. The study also demonstrates that women are discussing issues which were previously considered as taboo like rape and sexual violence, albeit in small numbers. Lastly, I identify challenges limiting women’s participation in the emerging online public sphere in India.

2011 IEEE International Conference on Fuzzy Systems (FUZZ-IEEE 2011), June 27-30, 2011, Grand Hyatt Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan