Episode 6: Screening Journalism

This is Episode 6 of the State of the Theory Podcast. Politics. Power. Popular Culture. And other stuff, probably. In this series, we’re like super nerdy philosophical DJs: mashing up Serious Academic Questions with the most topical news and trends in pop culture. Each week, we’ll tackle a new topic and collide it with ‘critical theory’ (we’re pretty loose with our definitions, though, so expect the unexpected). Our aim is to destroy the stuff we know, explore the stuff we don’t and unsettle everything we think we know about the world. We take the obvious, the commonsensical, the certain, and then we rip it all to shreds. We are your theory doctors and we are always on call. In this episode, we focus on the relationship between cinema and journalism. In the week "Spotlight" won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and Al Jazeera America closed down, we explore the value of journalism in today's world. Using the theories of Pierre Bourdieu and Rodney Benson, we interrogate the place of investigative journalism in the 21st Century. The theoretical texts we refer to are: "On Television" by Pierre Bourdieu (http://www.amazon.co.uk/ON-TELEVISION-Pierre-Bourdieu/dp/1565845129) "Outline of a Theory of Practice" by Pierre Bourdieu (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Outline-Practice-Cambridge-Cultural-Anthropology/dp/052129164X) "Bringing the Sociology of Media Back In" by Rodney Benson (Link behind Paywall: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10584600490481299?src=recsys) Our theme music is "The Face of God" by The Agrarians (freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Agra…he_Face_of_God) State of the Theory is brought to you by Hannah Fitzpatrick and Anindya Raychaudhuri Find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/stateofthetheorypodcast/?fref=ts) or Tweet us @drhfitz and @DrAnindyaR