Interactions between the Practices of the „Third Estate” and the „Fourth Estate” from the Perspective of the Media Research History through the Work of Walter Lippmann

Abstract

The essay shows how the relationship between the government, administration of justice and the media became problematic from the 1920s, mainly outlining the process through the work of Walter Lippmann. He described many phenomena related to the media, which were even more fully realized in Internet and social media. Such is selective exposure, attention control or agenda setting. The importance of his volume "Public Opinion", published in 1922, is also shown by the fact that it provoked serious scientific debates. The observations he made in the 1920s on the issues of social communication, public sphere and public opinion can still be reconsidered today.