This past January, a gunman held members of Congregation Beth Israel hostage during a livestreamed service. 44-year-old Malik Faisal Akram was later identified as the gunman who trapped four adults inside of the synagogue during the service. Reports also found that Akram may have had ties to Al Qaeda. His weapon was purchased off of the streets, and he also had a number of mental health problems. Terrorism like this seems to continually affect our country, especially towards the Jewish community. Over the last 10 years, the number of attacks at Jewish institutions have increased, including places such as the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Young Israel of Century City in Los Angeles, California.

In a public sphere, every individual should be respectful to the beliefs, values, and identities of the people around them. People can collaborate, deliberate, and incorporate their own thoughts into the world to create a diverse environment. Habermas’s ideal of the public sphere is always changing and developing. While there is a lot of good that comes out of public spheres, they may also exclude others out of it. In this scenario, the Jewish community is being discriminated against by others in the public sphere for holding their own beliefs. This is an unfair practice that can only continue with ignorance to social issues.

To stop these attacks from happening, it is important that we educate the youth and older generations who may not understand why these situations are detrimental to society. It causes so much polarization between groups of different identities and forces a negative mentality into those who may be against the Jewish community. We are able to identify these individuals as the “counterpublic.” The counterpublic is formed around groups that are being excluded. These individuals can even contribute to the exclusion because they believe that they are “above” the oppressed group.

All of the individuals who have contributed to attacks on the Jewish community, and even those who made antisemitic remarks against them, can all be categorized as the counterpublic. This group believes that they are superior to the Jewish people and will use their power to bring them down in anyway they can, whether that be spreading harmful messages or shooting up an entire synagogue. They may not realize that their actions are so negative when they initially spread them, so it is necessary for society to educate them. Everyone in the public sphere must be respectful and mindful of others who surround them. With this mindset, we can strive towards a more equal society.

The role of media in politics has had a huge impact on consumers of media and the choices they make when deciding their beliefs. Nowadays, people only watch, read, or listen to one news source because it is the most efficient for their interests. However, only keeping up with one source is harmful to the individual in regards to what they understand is occurring in the world.

A Pew Research study done in 2020 found that out of 30 given sources, meaning different names of news companies, Democrats trusted 22 of the sources, while Republicans distrusted 20 of the sources. News companies such as MSNBC, CNN, and The New York Times are just a few of the sources that Democrats trust, as they speak to more of their views and interests. On the other hand, companies such as Fox News are geared to right-wing, Republican individuals.

When individuals are exposed to only few types of companies and sources, they tend to become blind to other websites, shows, or articles that display an array of views and ideas. This is known as cultivation. They block out all existing beliefs and consume media that appeals to their interests. Sure, if you are a type of person that only wants to hear one-sided news, then relying on one or few sources may be easier to understand since it is catered to your beliefs. However, this limits the ability to explore multiple views on trending topics, and alters one’s views on reality.

Political journalism has been used for years to get individuals interested in politics, and spread information to the public that is easily accessible. In our century, individuals are able to access articles, links, and interviews at the click of a button, a page in a magazine, or a column in a newspaper. While there is a wide variety of companies who post unbiased, fact-checked news to their sites, multiple companies tend to leave out certain pieces of information so their viewers only rely on their site.

Donald Trump is one of the many politicians who spews misinformation to his supporters and others who align with his beliefs. In an interview with Fox News in 2018, Trump stated, “I would bet if you took a poll in the FBI I would win that poll by more than anybody’s won a poll.” People who do not support Trump would argue that this statement is untrue due to the fact that there is no hard evidence to back this claim. Trump knows that he has an army of supporters who would attempt to defend this statement, and these are people who only believe his words.

Statements like these contribute to the act of only listening to one-sided news. An individual who only uses Fox News, or even only listens to Donald Trump, would believe this statement because it is all they are used to. They do not read articles in MSNBC that oppose these beliefs because they do not support it. They are only exposed to one side of the political spectrum, and may not have any interest in diving into the entire array of political viewpoints.

It is necessary that individuals like these are exposed to fact-checked information so they do not believe meaningless information, and spread it to others who may be impressionable. Looking and listening to all sides of the political field helps to get a feel for the types of information that is spread, and also for information that should be avoided.