Thussu, D.K. (2008) News as Entertainment
“I read the book “news as entertainment” by Thussu very carefully and think it provides a very good review of a lot of literature on the theme. In fact it is extremely helpful when trying to get a grip on the social science literature on infotainment.
However, I think the argument the book makes is rather weak. It continues what for me looks like a typical Frankfurt School argument, that easily dismisses all contemporary developments as media imperialism, dumbing down, an elite conspiracy to numb people’s political consciousness. Thussu takes a top down approach. He argues that the global proliferation of infotainment as promoted by media moguls – foremost the Murdoch Empire – has serious political consequences. The feel-good journalism is a deceitful force diverting attention from the inequalities of the neo-liberal order. ‘False consciousness’ effaces resistance against an unjust dominance of the new hyper-rich global elite. Infotainment is an instrument of neo-liberal imperialism attempting global dominance. The process of localisation is conceptualised as a top-down movement. Localisation is a process of transferring a core ideology emanating from the west into a vernacular medium”
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