New Special Issue of Javnost – The Public 

We are excited to announce the release of a special issue of Javnost – The Public (Vol. 31, Supplement, December 2024), guest-edited by our colleagues Sašo Slaček Brlek and Jernej Kaluža. This issue examines the shifting landscape of public discourse and media in an era of digitalization, economic pressures, and political uncertainty. Theoretical discussions revisit classical and contemporary understandings of the public sphere, while empirical studies highlight how structural changes in media markets, journalistic practices, and policy decisions impact democratic communication.  

We are proud to highlight the contributions of our researchers to this edition: 

📌 Melita Poler and Tanja Kerševan explore watchdog journalism in Slovenian court practices, analyzing how metajournalistic discourse shapes legal interpretations of press freedom. 

📌 Peter Sekloča and Sašo Slaček Brlek examine the structure of Slovenia’s media market within the attention economy, shedding light on how economic forces shape media independence and audience engagement. 

📌 Igor Vobič, Jernej Kaluža, and Boris Mance provide a journalistic perspective on press freedom, presenting an analysis based on survey data from Worlds of Journalism in Slovenia and discussing constraints on journalistic autonomy. 

In addition to the work by our Centre members, this special issue includes several thought-provoking articles: 

🔹 Zdravko Kobe investigates Hegel’s concept of public opinion, questioning whether the public sphere genuinely reflects the will of the people. 

🔹 Ksenija Vidmar Horvat discusses the so-called “collapse of reason” in public discourse, arguing that the rise of irrational debate in the digital age is rooted in deeper historical transformations. 

🔹 Jure Trilar and Nina Cvar analyze AI governance in Europe, mapping regulatory developments and policy trends affecting digital public communication. 

🔹 Veronika Bajt and Ajda Šulc explore anti-refugee hate speech in Facebook comments, exposing how media and social platforms contribute to the normalization of xenophobia. 

🔹 Marja Novak Vogrič critically examines the privatization of media in Slovenia, questioning whether it has truly fostered press independence or instead reinforced political and economic pressures. 

📖 Javnost – The Public (Vol. 31, Supplement, December 2024) is available now: https://javnost-thepublic.org/issue/2024/5/