A book like Alain de Botton’s The News: A User’s Manual is hard to review because it defies genre
boundaries. As a work of non-fiction, it
is both a philosophical treatise and a self-help book. It is a cultural history, an exposé, and
a historical account. It covers subjects
as varied as economics, natural disasters, politics, and celebrity. And it is as
pessimistic about the present as it is optimistic about the future of the news. The News is a book for anyone
interested in the story behind the story: how the news exploits human
psychology and how its power over us has the potential to make us better people.
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| Alain de Botton |
The News is also
difficult to review because of its unusual structure. The book is comprised of eight large sections,
each of which is split into chapters on multiple topics. For example, the “Consumption”
section is split into two chapters: “Dining, Travel and Technology” and “Culture.” Each chapter opens with a news item that
exemplifies the chapter’s topic, such as a restaurant review, which is followed
by numbered, miniature essays. These
essays often bleed into one another, but are distinguished by a particular
point or argument. In a chapter called “The Details” within the “World News” section,
there is a news excerpt from the BBC about the Ugandan government. The next couple of essays go on to criticize,
firstly, the news coverage of Uganda—as unemotional and devoid of interest for
much of its potential audience—and secondly, the choice of consumers to follow
celebrity news more willingly than an unarguably more important piece of world
news. Botton goes on to conclude that
world news will only “ignite our interest” by not trying to be blindly
objective and sterile. By letting the
artists and travel writers and poets explore the nuances of a place, they would
be able to shed light on the “less obtrusive beauty and tragedy” that makes a
country like Uganda more than the latest casualty report. The news should cover real people, and not
just the macro-statistics that describe them.
The scope of this humble book is huge. It covers an immense amount of ground in 255
pages that can be read either cover to cover or one section at a time. There is so much information that I had to
reread passages just to digest their multiple meanings. Like a scientist, Botton uses firsthand
experience to explore how current events are being communicated to the public. He analyzes the results of his investigation
and is able to make conclusions about what news actually does and what it
should be able to do. The news is not only
the main character, but it is simultaneously the protagonist, the antagonist,
and the test subject. And Botton is not only putting the news under a
microscope, he is examining human behaviour and what it reveals about human
nature. An entire section is dedicated
to “Celebrity.” After examining the
typical celebrities of ancient Greece, Botton illuminates the relationship
between the human qualities that a society values and who they choose to
emulate. Those ancient Greek statesmen,
athletes, and musicians were considered worthy guides to follow. What Botton
goes on to criticize is neither that we have celebrities nor that we want to
emulate them, but rather that they should be used more productively, “as case
studies to be pored over and rigorously dissected with a basic question in
mind: What can I absorb from this person”? News coverage of celebrities shouldn’t
evoke jealousy or ambition, it should teach us how to be better versions of
ourselves.
After reading this book, I felt ashamed of my own habits of news
consumption, and rightly so. It made me think
of how I consume news—where I get it from, what I click on, what I choose to
read—and then what I do with news once I have digested it. Truthfully, I might bring it up with a friend
as a topic of conversation, or bring it up on a date to make myself seem
smarter, but the reality is that even the phrase “news consumption” is
incredibly passive, immature and, in a word, gluttonous. But all of that is okay. By reading this book, I have become more
conscious of my own habits. I am more
aware of my power as a literate, semi-intellectual citizen of the world. I now realize my responsibility to be an
active participant in the news—to take ownership of what I spend my time
reading. Because it matters.
Alain de Botton expresses an infectious optimism towards the
future of the news, and the world, that is undeniable. In a later chapter, he states that the
reviews made by cultural journalists “should direct our lonely, confused,
scared and stricken souls to those works of culture most likely to help us
survive and thrive.” As a cultural
journalist, I believe that both The News
and the news are worth your time.
Michelle Hunniford is a PhD student studying animal behaviour and welfare. Poultry specialist. Grammar enthusiast. Orwellian and Darwinian.
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