In this lecture, I will first briefly discuss recent definitions of and research on the EPS. Research in political science has frequently applied quantitative content analysis as well as frame analysis to press reporting and has then concluded that a European public sphere could be detected. Furthermore, I will discuss qualitative, interdisciplinary research in Critical Discourse Analysis (the Discourse-Historical Approach) which has illustrated - in contrast to many quantitative studies - that national Weltanschauungen, traditions and political interests as well as the political affiliation of news papers override common European agenda and interests. Moreover, many studies seem to neglect the East/West divide which stems from the post-war period and the Cold War as well as other, more recent divides (’New Europe-Old Europe’). Thus, the main questions to be asked are: in which complex ways do (European) politics, (European) history, and media interact? Do studies on media reporting convey useful and adequate information on the emergence of a European public sphere? And lastly, when studying European media since the 1950s up to 2006, has there been a convergence, and if so when and in which way?

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