IN HIS 2014 book, News: A User鈥檚 Manual, Alain de Botton tackles the news in all its forms. News has become almost a religion, an obligation to keep up with what鈥檚 going on around us. It鈥檚 the first thing we check when we wake up and take our coffee.
Journalists hold facts and accuracy to be sacred, with 鈥渂ias鈥 being the devil鈥檚 handmaiden. Still, the very selection of what set of facts to cover and how to put these in context clearly call for subjective judgment.
De Botton breaks down the news by type of coverage. Foreign news, from his perspective as British, though Swiss-born, tackle other countries and their crises. It raises the question of how we can even be interested in what happens elsewhere. The BBC, De Botton reports, had a bureau consisting of six journalists to cover Uganda. He wonders why. Okay, a British explorer named a famous lake in Uganda after Queen Victoria. So what if the head of the country had stolen aid money meant for to the needy? Should it bother the Brits? (That one has a familiar ring.)
De Botton has interesting takes on celebrity journalism 鈥 the rich and famous, and how they live. A 30-year-old 鈥渢echnopreneur鈥 selling his pay platform for $300 million at age 30? Does this not stoke envy in the readers? As for the section on disasters, crime, and accidents of the bloodiest kind 鈥 the evoked emotion is relief. (I鈥檓 glad it wasn鈥檛 me the police killed in a case of mistaken identity.)
Coverage of 鈥渃onsumption鈥 news is a relatively modern trend. De Botton devotes a whole section on journalistic reviews for the consumption of goods. These include travel, art, fashion, technology (which phone to buy), and food. Restaurant and hotel guides even assign stars bestowed by anonymous evaluators, sponsored by a tire company. (Yes, my dear, Michelin makes tires.)
2014 when De Bottons鈥 book came out seems like ages ago. (He has no section on fake news.) So, how do we now get our news in these parts and in these times?
The 鈥減ersonalization鈥 of the news through an app is already mentioned by De Botton at the end of his book. This trend has accelerated. Our personal selection shows preference, and, yes, bias. We read news that confirm our own views, and support what we already believe in. This is what behavioral economists call 鈥渃onfirmation bias.鈥 So, if we don鈥檛 believe in vaccination as an effective deterrent for getting the virus, but just a marketing offensive (in all the meanings of the word) of big pharma, we look for items to confirm our bias, like vaccinated passengers in a cruise testing positive anyway.
So, how do we get our news? Aside from the curated news alerts, we rely on Viber groups to feed us the latest posts and opinions. Aren鈥檛 there chat fights within the group when the pessimist spreads his fake and dated news to the consternation of the realists? (Please slug it out off-line.)
The proliferation of fake news is a recent phenomenon. It adheres to the belief propounded by Joseph Goebbels, Hitler鈥檚 Minister of Propaganda 鈥 鈥淎 lie told once remains a lie, but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth.鈥 The fake news is now even amplified by surveys to increase its credibility. Reposting and forwarding have made fake news the new chain letter.
At bottom, the question to ask is this 鈥 Who determines what facts constitute news with some relevance to the reader?
With the personalization of the news we pay attention to (or ignore), the phenomenon of selective perception now applies to current events. Unfortunately, indifference over, say, what鈥檚 happening in Burma, or, closer to home, the invasion of fishing grounds and oil deposits in the West Philippine Sea, can lead to events taking their course without any opposition.
Even 鈥渂reaking news鈥 can invite a shrug of the shoulders. As with the person called in the middle of the night by relatives or friends watching a fire breaking out in his vicinity on the news, the simple and comforting answer is plain 鈥 no, we鈥檙e fine. That鈥檚 the house across the road from us.
We can all go back to sleep鈥 unless the firemen didn鈥檛 do their job.
Tony Samson is Chairman and CEO of TOUCH xda
