Alain de Botton proposes the agreeable idea of a 'torrent' heap of information in which the audience is essentially drowned in senselessly to the extent of not being able to keep track of what is 'important' due to a greater fascination for what is 'popular'. This provides an argument which is realistically demonstrated as such is evidenced by Twitter's generally overall fluctuating reaction to refugees from Syria. Early September witnessed an uproar within the cyber-world as Tweeters expressed their sympathy for a 3 year old victim to the death toll of war-torn Syria. As November unfolds with the Paris massacre, the focus of sympathy from the general public's viewpoint switched in favour of the Western nations as mainstream news advocated a greater support for such nations, who were posed opposingly to not just ISIS, but the religion of Islam as a whole. The radicalisation of this view has led to an ever upsurging prejudice against members of the faith worldwide as 'importance' on this is 'popularised' by the hands of Rupert Murdoch's empire. 'Searching for the Taylor Swift of the day' is a schema for developing news practiced by corporations intending to serve the agenda of partnering politicians. "A good photo is a bearer of new information". Importance of empathy, "seduced into caring". "A very particular pathology" in comment section.
2) How can you link Marxism and Hegemony to de Botton's criticisms of the News?
De Botton proposes the idea that the news is tailored according to the news provider's political ties with the proletarian governing body of Rupert Murdoch's alliances - responsible for a majority of news distribution worldwide.
3) How could you use Pluralism and new technology to challenge de Botton's views on the News?
Pluralistic ideas advocative of the freedom granted to millions of social media users are contradictory of de Botton's pessimistic criticisms. The new multimedia platforms have inspired the uprise of many left-wing movements juxtaposing hegemonic ideologies reinforced by the mainstream news.
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.
SUPPORT - The Sun's headline news article reinforces xenophobic ideas favourable of the Caucasian majority of Britain, particularly those middle-classed.
CHALLENGE - The Huffington Post's web article addresses the hideousity of the article and uses social media reception from Twitter to challenge The Sun's improper content.
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