The spectacle of expertise : why financial analysts perform in the media

"The permanent presence of experts in the media has become ingrained in our everyday lives. Expertise is ubiquitous on TV, radio, and social media. It ranges from highly specialized and technical knowledge of the natural and social world to mundane aspects of life like our household clutter. This is particularly acute with regards to economic expertise. A small minority of people have expertise in financial economics - though everyone experiences the effects of the financialization of nearly all aspects of life - and through this knowledge and media presence, they wield a great deal of power through providing financial advice, interpreting market movements, and explaining the financial implications of political events. Most of what nonexperts think they know about financial markets comes not from their direct experience but through the media. The Spectacle of Expertise is an ethnographic exploration of how financial expertise is manufactured in collaboration between financial analysts, producers, anchors, and camera directors on TV, radio, and the internet. Alex Preda takes the reader into the world of trade fairs and investor conferences in the UK and the US, and TV and radio studios in Hong Kong. He shows how these settings deploy Goffmanian forms of talk of spectacle and games to manufacture and display expertise. Preda explains these two concepts, demonstrates the role that technology plays in these processes, shows what we expect of experts and how expert talk is created, and considers the relationship between talk and truth. In sum, the book explains the power of expertise to shape our understanding of important issues and reactions to them."