In this podcast, Dr. Spaulding provides a "think aloud" for understanding the reading from Lesson 5 that provides an example of the argumentation essay.  This essay by Mario Vargas Llosa argues how the yellow press has undermined the societal values of an informed debate, opinion, and critique and has convoluted the function of journalism so much so that individuals value spectacle and scandal and entertainment more than substance causing a cycle of "dumbing down" of the average citizen that could lead to the destabilization of democracy.