Pre Class 11/7 Bourdieu

Pierre Bourdieu makes many interesting points in his essay "On Television" about the power of television, the power of the media, and the manipulation they both have on their audiences. Talking about television, he writes, "It suits everybody because it confirms what they already know and, above all, leaves their mental structures intact". As viewers we created our own opinions about numerous issues and topics. We then turn to television to find dialogue which somehow justifies our opinion. A perfect example of this would be the recent Presidential Debates. Many Americans watched the debates at home developed some sort of analysis or conclusion and then listened to various television news castings to hear if what they gathered from watching the debates was in accordance with anything that was being televised and reported. Bourdieu is arguing that if you form some sort of preconceived notion or opinion about something, you will be able to find a television channel to justify that opinion.
The other interesting point which Bourdieu brings up in this essay relates to what television produces for us. "Human interest stories create a political vacuum. They depoliticize and reduce what goes on in the world to the level of anecdote or scandal". In one of my classes, a peer of mine was doing a presentation on Politics and how the American media has chosen to broadcast the debate similar to a sporting event. The point is brought up that they bring in analysts and experts with clashing viewpoints and have them argue about the candidates, their strategies and their predictions. What they don't actually do however is talk about the actually topics discussed in the presidential debates or provide the audience with any concrete numbers or figures. If they are trying to successfully present the Presidential debate similar to how a sporting event would be presented, then actual "statistics" and "highlights" would need to be discussed. Instead they talk about the level of scandal and amp up the drama in order to create a dialogue which all audiences can easily create noise about.
Attached I have a clip from ABC News which perfectly portrays this level of 'scandal' which Bourdieu talks about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4gk49UnAWQ