There is a disturbing trend in today’s public sphere, according
to renowned media expert John D.H. Downing, Ph.D.

Downing, director of the Global Media Research Center and
professor of radio and television at Southern Illinois University
at Carbondale, spoke to a small gathering of students and faculty
members in Xavier Hall on Thursday, Oct. 28 on the topic of “Social
Movements and Alternative Media.”

Downing’s speech was not limited to these two topics, however,
as he also sought to define what the concept of a public sphere
really was and what needs to change.

According to Downing and most historians, the concept of the
public sphere was born in the tea and coffee houses of Europe in
the 18th and 19th centuries, where men would gather to discuss
politics and current affairs. Downing said there existed two realms
of the public sphere, the rational and the emotional. He said that
males are usually grouped into the rational realm, while women fall
into the emotional. He said that there was no reason why the two
could not mix.

“Politics has been defined as a male zone, which suits rational
debate,” he said. He called this belief “disturbing.”

The role of the alternative media and social movements, Downing
said, is formed in the counter-public sphere, which is based on
emotion as much as logical reasoning.

Social movements, Downing said, “bring attention to things we
brush aside as insignificant.” He said that a movement that does
not act as a mob and remains disciplined and dedicated to the cause
could effect great social change.

He alluded to the Boston Tea Party of 1773 where a group of
protestors dumped tea into Boston Harbor to protest British trade
policy. Downing attributed the success to the alternative media of
the day that helped spread the news through the colonies and helped
promote the spirit of independence.

“The rich can lay claim on a variety of resources to gain
government influence,” Downing said. Yet, there are many other
outlets for social movements to gain influence without money, he
said, such as sit-ins and protests. Social movements that function
as rational actors, “Use those things that we can get access to to
push the agenda.”

Without emotion, however, nothing would be accomplished. “People
wouldn’t get off their backsides from in front of the television to
get the information out without emotion,” Downing said.

Without the aid of the alternative media, however, nothing would
ever be accomplished, Downing said. From the beginning, alternative
media has been intimately connected with social movements, helping
to fill the void when a movement loses momentum, he said.

Downing cited media sources such as Democracy Now! and the Web
site alternews.com as prominent sources of information from a
non-mainstream source. He said that people can find alternative
media everywhere.

“The term [alternative media] is a plus because it directs
attention to a whole mess of information. Even hobby magazines,
which tells us something different from the mainstream.”