The digital public sphere, universities and intellectualising the public

This article explores the role of universities in fostering public intellectualism in the rapidly developing digital public sphere. Specifically, the paper asks: Is there a viable role for universities in shaping and encouraging critical reasoning and deliberative dialogue in the digital public sphere? This is a significant question to ask, given the often-dubious quality of public argumentation, confusion over evidential authority and epistemic expertise, alongside the spread of misinformation and bad actors intent on manipulation and disorder. In exploring this question, we position the digital public sphere in the context of democratic practices and debates over the historical role of the public sphere in developing critical reasoning publics. Alongside this, we engage in a discussion of the role of institutions, in particular universities, in mediating and filtering public opinion, making the argument that universities are well positioned to mediate the endless epistemic struggles at play in the digital public sphere. An overview of the digital engagement of Russell Group universities suggests however, that these institutions are currently far removed from such processes of mediation, instead valuing dissemination over deliberation and publicity over publicness.