This article explores the relationship between public sphere and mass media in Habermas' bibliographic corpus, during the 50 years that separate us from Strukturwandel der Öffentlichkeit (1962). The aim of this paper is to show that, as opposed to certain critical studies, what is found is not an investigative gap - an absence, abandonment or non-exploitation of the topic - but a secondary and implicit approach. The secondary approach to the theme is related to Habermas' original pessimistic position regarding the negative influence of mass media in the depoliticization of the public sphere. Habermas' pessimism about the negative effects of mass media maintains an internal connection to the original orientation of Adorno's critique of mass culture. This means that, despite reformulations and new diagnoses, Habermas' skeptical position with regard to the democratic potential of mass media in the repoliticization of the public sphere seems not to have changed in its foundations over these 50 years.
Jürgen Habermas; Public sphere; Mass media; Depoliticization