ABSTRACT
If the mass media are to provide some kind of public sphere, the audience must be capable of critical response. Not only are certain institutional arrangements required for democratic participation, but citizens must possess and exercise certain skills. For many, including Habermas, the mass media is often seen as undermining critical response and, hence, as undermining the public sphere. However, a growing body of research would seem to counter these arguments and those of the Frankfurt School more generally, suggesting that audiences are diverse and informed, able to respond critically to the mass media as well as to other sources of talk in their everyday lives. Moreover, the members of the audience are ever more experienced, critical and sophisticated in their reception of the media as they become increasingly familiar with its forms and production processes.
