1) I agree with Alain de Botton's view that we aren't taught how to ingest the news, and that there is an excess of news. This view is quite relevant in today's society as the majority of the population cannot distinguish between important news and soft new. we also have become quite desensitised as a society to hard news, in particular world news. As Botton as mentioned we lack empathy towards news which are related to disaster, and this is a result of the excess of news blurring the real priorities, and the lack of reporting on these countries prior to their crisis. I also agree with the fact that we as an audience are indoctrinated to see the status quo as common sense, this is a sign of the impact that the news agenda and news bias can have on the audience.
2) Marxism and hegemony can both be linked to to de Bottons criticisms of the news. Botton criticises the news for breaking down the hierachy of news. The lack of distinction between soft news and hard news can be linked to the theory hegemony and how the ruling class are now imposing this soft news to "dumb us down". The news also disuades us from thinking that these stories keep coming round to make it seem fresh so it can continue getting money, which links to the marxist view of the news being run by the elite so they can continue to get richer and impose the status qou. The relationship between media and politics, can also be seen as having a negative impact, politics can easily manipulate the news agenda.
3)De Bottons views on the news can be challenged against the concept of pluralism. De Bottons claim that there is a lack of distinction between soft news and hard news can be challenged through the pluralistic idea of audiences having the free will choose what they want to watch and what they want to believe. A pluralistic would also disagree with Botton's belief that the news is continuing release the same archetypal stories to make money, and instead argue that the elite control the news to allow for there to be a flexibility in the news hence the reason for all types of news, whether soft or hard being published.
4)
News story that supports de Button's views
News story that challenges his belief that the news is used for social control
This news story can be argued to challenge Bottons belief that the news is used for social control in particular by politics as this article is clearly criticizing a politician, which would be highly unlikely if the news was solely used for social control.
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