Javnost - The Public, Vol. 33 - 2026, No. 2
Operationalising Platform Public Sphere Contentiousness: a Descriptive Framework for Public Discussion
This study proposes the concept of platform public sphere contentiousness and further develops it into an automated measurement framework based on unsupervised learning methods, aiming to provide a descriptive-analytical approach for public discussion research. Addressing the limitations of existing studies that reduces the quality of public discussion to its proximity to rational consensus, this study is grounded in the Chinese context and defines contentiousness as the extent to which public disagreement unfolds and diffuses within the public sphere. Drawing on and reconstructing the Discourse Quality Index (DQI), the study develops, based on this concept, an indicator system comprising four dimensions: diversity, oppositionality, rationality, and reciprocity. Taking Weibo and Douyin as case studies, the research conducts cross-platform comparisons at both the account and topic levels to demonstrate the application of the indicators. Based on an analysis of more than 300,000 cross-level data entries, the study finds that contentiousness is highly sensitive to discussion contexts and platform structures. The study understands the public sphere as a discussion structure that is continuously generated and adjusted within specific institutional and media conditions, thereby providing a reference point for public sphere research under similar non-ideal institutional conditions.
When Red Turns to Maroon: the Resemiotisation of Political Discretion in Audiences' Re-creations of Chinese State-sponsored Dance Dramas
This article examines online re-creations of Chinese dance dramas (CDDs), a state-sponsored artform that over the past two decades has diluted its distinctly “red” appearance. Arguably, this transformation reflects China’s “discreet” top-down political communication approach that seeks popular consent while minimising overt, Party-based, “red” messaging. I analysed audiences’ re-creations and interviewed creators of such derivative works to understand whether/how their works sustain that political discretion. I argue that while audiences’ re-creations shift away from the original political tones to focus on individualistic expression, they nonetheless constitute China’s dominant yet discreet political discourse in a resemiotised form. CDD re-creations afford popular and disembodying qualities, inviting audiences’ neoliberalised participatory and re-creative practices that align with the state’s popular and discreet political discourse. This article offers an instance of how the depoliticising logics of neoliberalism are given a distinct national articulation by catering to people’s political (dis) taste and individualistic purposes. In this process, explicit forms of state political indoctrination become diluted while at the same time the state’s official discourse gains bottom-up popularisation.
Who Gets to Appear? Algorithmic Publicity and the Crisis of Democratic Visibility
Digital platforms transform public visibility through algorithmic systems that sort and prioritise content according to engagement logics. This article introduces the concept of “algorithmic publicity” to analyse how platform infrastructures reshape the conditions of public appearance—a central concern for debates on publicness (Öffentlichkeit). Rather than treating visibility as discursive competition, the concept foregrounds the infrastructural mechanisms governing the distribution of attention. The argument unfolds in three movements. First, it shows how platform capitalism operates through infrastructuralisation, as platforms evolve from discrete services into foundational systems that organise social coordination while capturing attention and extracting value. Second, it develops algorithmic publicity as an analytical category and distinguishes it from adjacent concepts, including regimes of visibility as well as approaches to algorithmic governance and surveillance capitalism. Third, it examines how the feed operationalises these dynamics, producing measurable inequalities of visibility and pre-structuring public experience. By focusing on the infrastructural production of visibility, algorithmic publicity helps explain how platform environments reconfigure democratic publicity. The article concludes that the crisis of the public sphere stems not from communicative dysfunctions alone, but from the infrastructural transformation of visibility conditions, requiring a shift beyond better discourse toward different architectures of public appearance. The article makes a primarily conceptual contribution, illustrating the framework through selected empirical cases and opening a comparative research agenda.
Exploring Digital Divide From a Discursive Perspective: Representations of the Digital Divide in the New York Times and China Daily
Using discourse studies, this study interrogates the media representations in The New York Times and China Daily concerning the digital divide from key fields of research interests, that is, problem definition, causal attribution, solution interpretation, and outcome evaluation. Reports in The New York Times tend to represent the digital divide through individualized disparities and policy-oriented debates, emphasizing its socio-economic impact on marginalized individuals. By contrast, reports in China Daily consistently represent the issue within narratives aligned with state-driven developmental objectives, foregrounding governmental agency and policy initiatives in advancing technological equity. The analysis demonstrates that the divergent representations reflect the distinct socio-political and economic contexts shaping each publication’s editorial discourse. The study makes a valuable intervention by shifting the analytical focus from measuring the digital divide to examining how the issue is discursively constructed for public audiences.
The Reconfiguration of Rural Public Authority: Village Officials and Affective Governance on Douyin in China
This article examines how village officials in China mobilise affective governance as a platform-mediated technique for reconfiguring rural public authority on Douyin. Drawing on interviews with 11 village officials and an iterative analysis of 220 short videos and related livestreaming practices, it shows how village officials mobilise intimacy, self-sacrifice, and public-minded authenticity to perform three interrelated functions: constructing everyday public authority, rendering policy work and governance performance legible to local publics, and framing commercial practices as public service. The article argues that platformisation reshapes the conditions under which grassroots state power becomes visible, relatable, and publicly recognisable in rural acquaintance-based society. In this process, village officials increasingly operate through a hybrid logic that combines bureaucratic authority with influencer-style self-presentation. While such practices can enhance the visibility and responsiveness of grassroots governance, they also generate tensions around performative intimacy, the commercialisation of public service, and the remaking of professional authority.
Still a Shared Communicative Space? the Ongoing Fragmentation of European Public Spheres in the Digital Age
The article discusses the state of the public sphere in Europe in the context of concerns over a possible fragmentation brought about by presumably increasing ideological and affective polarization in European societies. If confirmed, such a fragmentation of the public sphere would be detrimental to the functioning of democratic deliberation in European representative democracies and could constitute an important ingredient in the further development of post-truth political cultures. The fragmentation of the public sphere is here understood as the process through which the public sphere gradually loses its status as a shared and inclusive communicative space for deliberation on matters of public concern and is replaced by a multitude of competing semi-public spheres of the likeminded. To evaluate claims about such a fragmentation, we analyze available data on the development of media consumption and trust in media at the European and national levels. Our analysis shows that despite certain concerning developments, many European public spheres are still integrated around key leading media. However, developments in recent years also highlight a need for political theorists to reflect on ways to reinvigorate the public sphere beyond the level of deliberation in the forums of the mass media.
The Role of the Public in the Governance of Public Service Media–the Rise and Fall of the Citizens' Councils in Greece
The Hellenic public service broadcaster, ERT, represents a pivotal case in public service media (PSM) governance and citizen participation. In 2013, ERT was abruptly shut down by the Greek government amid the financial crisis, provoking public outcry and raising concerns about censorship and political interference. Following sustained public resistance, ERT was reinstated in 2015, introducing the Citizens’ Councils to institutionalise public participation, enhance transparency, and promote democratic engagement. Despite this formal mechanism, meaningful participation was limited by entrenched organisational cultures and ongoing political pressures. This case highlights the tensions between citizen involvement and institutional structures, particularly in politically and economically unstable contexts. Situated within broader European debates on media governance, the study argues that without cultural shifts embracing public engagement, mechanisms like the Citizens’ Councils remain insufficient to democratise PSM. The paper underscores structural and cultural barriers that continue to constrain public influence over media policy and practice.