The search for flight 370

Now about three weeks ago a Malaysian airplane with around 200 passengers disappeared.  This plane held passengers from 13 countries including 3 Americans.  The search has been progressing but with no leads, until now.  The Chinese government in partnership with NASA has no gotten involved.  CNN posted a story about a Chinese satellite that found an image of a floating object about 22 meters in length, floating in the southern part of the Indian Ocean.  The plane disappeared because it had no radar and apparently all communications were down.  Conspiracies about the flight being defective and the pilots planning this landing have been circling the media since the search began.  This is another event, like 9/11, that has now made people afraid of flying.  The truth about the plane is still a mystery as concrete evidence still has not been found.

I want to connect this article to the writings of Habermas and the "public sphere".  The Public sphere is a place where people can have a discussion without the involvement of biases or media persuasion.  Does such a place exist? I think it does.  Over the course of this search for the missing flight people have been all over the internet posting comments, articles and theories of what happened to the missing plane.  Although the internet is a powerful form of persuasion, it is also a great place to start discussions.  People have the freedom to discuss their theories from their own assumptions and beliefs because no major news organizations have posted any conspiracies. People have the ability to discuss what they want, free from biases and media persuasion.  This is a perfect example of the public sphere.