Public journalism as a journalism of publics

This article addresses the alleged gap between academic scholarship on the public sphere and journalistic work in the public sphere by demonstrating how Fraser's (1990) four-part critique of Habermas’ (1989) theory of the public sphere bears on the theory and practice of public journalism. Fraser's work not only directs attention to theoretical issues regarding ‘publicness’ that have received too little attention, but also implies pragmatic guidelines for public journalism efforts – a means of evaluating the democratic viability of public journalism theory, and a normative basis for promoting public journalism practice. Some practical implications of each of Fraser's lines of criticism are illustrated in a discussion of the Akron[Ohio] Beacon Journal's Pulitzer Prize winning race-relations initiative, ‘A Question of Color’. We show how Fraser's criticisms not only direct attention to problematic aspects of the campaign, but also indicate what the Beacon Journal could have done differently and better.