BY Fred Vint
Alain de Botton’s most recent work revises the ethical role of the media and is essential in re-defining the role for the next generation of journalists. Anyone embarking on a career in journalism is currently faced with an industry in something of a moral crisis. The Press is either heralded as crusaders of free speech or as parasites leeching on stories of dubious worth or obtained through unethical means. This book is very much designed for the public, the consumers of the news, by addressing how we should interpret and value it within a secular society. In addition he imagines a utopian news corporations and how it would operate. Yet, it still holds enormous insight into how a journalist should operate. Crucially he provides a stark reminder to any scribbler; that the journalist has huge responsibility, not merely to sales or views or retweets but to the overall wellbeing of the readers, viewers and listeners.
The vast majority of aspiring journalists are attracted to the long held view that the Watergate scandal (which exposed and ultimately led to the downfall of Richard Nixon’s presidency) represented the zenith of investigative journalism. However de Botton challenges this preconception which he calls The Watergate Paradigm. In his typically flowery prose, he bemoans the constraints that the news places on itself by casting itself simply as an extension of the police, bringing the evil and corrupt to justice, on behalf of the voiceless public. The idea that the media’s role is to find those culpable of blame, is unhealthy and can only lead to disappointment, he argues. Instead the media should be capable of enhancing and improving the perspective of the reader rather than reducing the world to a series of civil wars, economic crashes and natural disasters. Rather than the many small acts of kindness which are of equal significance. This is one example of how de Botton suggests the media should alter its own perception. The vast spectrum of topics he covers, which makes it relevant regardless of the type of genre being pursued, which range from economics to health. Sport however is conspicuous by its absence – you can’t help but feel that the subject is deemed by the author not worthy of any philosophical analysis.
This book covers many different angles of journalism including photography which since it is the most accessible medium afforded to our Generation. Generation Z is capable of accessing a multitude of data, through Blogs such as these. Among these issues our opinion writer Joe McCarthy deals with in: So You Want to be a Journalist. A focal point of Du Buttons argument is that the constant and instantaneous nature of the news causes two problems to arise; the first that stories often do not come with appropriate context. An example provided is that de Botton highlights how often it is very hard for a reader to empathise to a situation of importance such as a case of embezzlement swirling around a Ugandan President. The argument is developed further, that the nature of the media means that perspective is often lost leading to simply confusion or at worse apathy. The second fault of the media is the seemingly arbitrariness of the media, exemplified by its use of photography. Instead of using ‘obvious images’ to illustrate an article, he demands the use of more abstract images, an attempt to shift journalism to a more artistic form.
I would not recommend this book as an all-encompassing guide to the media industry. However it does provide a fascinating and unique approach to the media through the lenses of an accessible and often witty philosopher. This book provides a challenging way to how we should approach journalism and if it is not valued by conventional journalists, then all the more reason for Journalism for Dummies to celebrate Du Botton’s unique attitude to the Journalistic profession.
Rating: 4/5
Journalism for dummies 