1) To what extent do you agree with Alain de Botton's views on the News?
I strongly agree on Alain's view of the news. The fact that the two possibilities of keeping control of the population is very fascinating. People aren't being informed of how the content has developed and established itself over the years which means we would neglect its legacy and take it for granted. The news give the audience so much news that they will forget about it. This is something that still is in use today, as there will be so many news headlines the audience member will find it hard to keep track of what they just read a few hours later.
2) How can you link Marxism and Hegemony to de Botton's criticisms of the News?
Most news corporations are very much trying to control and influence the consumers by the content they give out. This links in with the Hegemony theory as the news tires to inflict its power amongst those below it, be it the lower class etc. Alain says particularly in economic news, people aren't listening to more ideas and opinions through news because news institutions like BBC want to have balance and sugarcoat some panics in society. This is because of people in power controlling what should be news (ruling classes) so preferred readings can be met.
3) How could you use Pluralism and new technology to challenge de Botton's views on the News?
We could argue that new technology has lead to audiences having more control on what news they want to view. Alain de Botton believes that news is constantly publishing/presenting news of any scale which audiences aren't too worried about. However, there wasn't a lot of reflection on the other side of the argument. That digital media has allowed audience members to challenge those views.Things like blogs and comment sections allow the audience to give their opinion on a news story and if a particular issue is found, it can quickly raise awareness than it previously wouldn't have had.
4) Choose two news stories from the last six months - one that supports de Botton's views and one that challenges his belief that the News is used for social control.
News story: US election
This is a story that again that made the consumers sick and tired if learning more about it. News coverage of the candidates for the election was non-stop for the last 6 months leading up to election day. so much coverage, although it got people knowing about the event, it made people (including US citizens) uninterested in learning more about the election as they had been fed too much of it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/us2016
News story: De-railed train
This news story of a train that de-railed in England was a story that was quite significant locally, but was a story that the majority of society had forgotten. Stories such as Andy Murray's number 1 ranking was one of many stores that week that overflowed this stories significance. Even as a consumer myself, I had completely forgotten that this story even existed as there was so much news being pumped out that it was hard to remember what had even happened yesterday. So much news is being reported, that there will only be 30% that we will remember the next day and will probably forget the next week entirely.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-165524/London-train-carriage-derailed.html
1) To what extent do you agree with Alain de Botton's views on the News?
I strongly agree on Alain's view of the news. The fact that the two possibilities of keeping control of the population is very fascinating. People aren't being informed of how the content has developed and established itself over the years which means we would neglect its legacy and take it for granted. The news give the audience so much news that they will forget about it. This is something that still is in use today, as there will be so many news headlines the audience member will find it hard to keep track of what they just read a few hours later.
2) How can you link Marxism and Hegemony to de Botton's criticisms of the News?
Most news corporations are very much trying to control and influence the consumers by the content they give out. This links in with the Hegemony theory as the news tires to inflict its power amongst those below it, be it the lower class etc. Alain says particularly in economic news, people aren't listening to more ideas and opinions through news because news institutions like BBC want to have balance and sugarcoat some panics in society. This is because of people in power controlling what should be news (ruling classes) so preferred readings can be met.
3) How could you use Pluralism and new technology to challenge de Botton's views on the News?
We could argue that new technology has lead to audiences having more control on what news they want to view. Alain de Botton believes that news is constantly publishing/presenting news of any scale which audiences aren't too worried about. However, there wasn't a lot of reflection on the other side of the argument. That digital media has allowed audience members to challenge those views.Things like blogs and comment sections allow the audience to give their opinion on a news story and if a particular issue is found, it can quickly raise awareness than it previously wouldn't have had.
4) Choose two news stories from the last six months - one that supports de Botton's views and one that challenges his belief that the News is used for social control.
News story: US election
This is a story that again that made the consumers sick and tired if learning more about it. News coverage of the candidates for the election was non-stop for the last 6 months leading up to election day. so much coverage, although it got people knowing about the event, it made people (including US citizens) uninterested in learning more about the election as they had been fed too much of it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/us2016
News story: De-railed train
This news story of a train that de-railed in England was a story that was quite significant locally, but was a story that the majority of society had forgotten. Stories such as Andy Murray's number 1 ranking was one of many stores that week that overflowed this stories significance. Even as a consumer myself, I had completely forgotten that this story even existed as there was so much news being pumped out that it was hard to remember what had even happened yesterday. So much news is being reported, that there will only be 30% that we will remember the next day and will probably forget the next week entirely.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-165524/London-train-carriage-derailed.html
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