Published Opinion: understanding Punditry through Luhmann’s theory

Abstract

This article aims to analyze current mechanisms that lead to public opinion in Portugal, by studying one of its components, published opinion. In so doing, the profile of pundits, their agenda and the way they discuss public affairs will be analyzed. The main goal of this research is to confront its empirical results with democratic cultural understanding of public opinion and with Luhmann’s theory on this subject. Will public opinion’s main cultural values be found in the Portuguese Op-ed pages; or will its characteristics be empirical evidence of Luhmann’s theory on public opinion? Despite the fact that in traditional cultural identity of the public sphere, diversity and pluralism of voices, themes and perspectives are considered to be structuring values that society esteems and that allow the building of enlightened public opinion and social consensus; the empirical results discussed in this article, however, indicate that Portuguese punditry seems to be an empirical evidence of Luhmann’s symbolically generalized communication media, serving the political system’s self-referential closure.