Media Event
Encyclopedia
A media event, as loosely defined by evolving modern usage, is an occasion or happening, spontaneous or planned, that attracts prominent coverage by mass media
organizations, particularly television news and newspapers in both print and Internet editions.
The element of immediacy (as in "breaking news
") is crucial in spontaneous media events, while in planned events like a major speech by a national leader or a public demonstration against a government action, the prime importance of the subject matter itself is relied upon to elevate the occasion to true media event status. When individuals or groups attempt to generate publicity for themselves through a contrived media event, the occasion almost never captures widespread interest in the way a "naturally" occurring event does—such attempts are usually thought of as instances of "spin
" or media manipulation
, despite the use of the term "media event" by advertising agencies or other planners.
to form a communications convergence able to give the man-or-woman-on-the-street the sense that everywhere he or she looked or listened, the same "story" was before them. This media saturation was greatly furthered by television
, invented in the late 1920s and reaching millions of households by 1950. Starting around 1980, 24-hour cable television
news operations debuted with great fanfare, with their signature use of new civilian satellite links that made on-camera live or near-live reporting from almost any spot on earth feasible while the event was still underway or its immediate aftermath continued to affect those involved. Finally, the emergence of the World Wide Web
in 1994, allowing for instant global reporting, debating, polling
and blogging, completed the communications environment of today, wherein a media event of global significance, or even one of limited geographical scope but consisting of particularly unusual or affecting content, can literally claim the time and attention of most of the world's people as events unfold.
Media events can hold sway on many levels, from a small city television viewership up to the entire planet, sometimes occupying a smaller audience non-stop while a larger audience is fed sporadic updates. For instance, the dramatic twists and turns of Viktor Yushchenko
's 2005 bid for the Ukrainian
presidency, featuring poisoning plots, voter intimidation, outraged citizens demonstrating in the capital city and other tense, "newsworthy" developments, easily constituted an extensive media event within Ukraine itself even as international mass media followed it closely but did not grant it uninterrupted coverage. By contrast, the September 11, 2001 attacks
did reach the plateau of a sustained, planet-wide media event, due mostly to the unprecedented realtime visuals, the involvement of citizens and perpetrators from many different countries and cultures, and a single-day intentional taking of human life not seen at such levels in the developed world since the end of World War II.
The coverage of global and national media events has become a pillar of large news organizations, which often operate at scant profitability in-between these major occurrences. Public opinion, and even baseline attitudes of one culture towards another, can be largely determined by what is seen and heard during a major media event, and the entire careers of journalists can be made (or un-made) by their conduct during these iconic situations. In the United States
, the first full bore post-World War II
media event was the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy
, and it, to a great extent, determined the unwritten hierarchy of American journalists and "news personalities" for the succeeding 40 years. The development of "glasnost
" and the ensuing fall of Communism
in Russia was a similar determinant for journalists there.
Parallel instances for almost every nation or region can be found, with the major media event corresponding to the shared memory of a "defining moment" often felt in personal, yet nationalistic, terms. The fall of the Berlin Wall
in November, 1989 was such a moment for Germans on both sides; the resolution of the Chinese Civil War
in 1950 still resounds in that nation; the achievement of independence from Great Britain
in 1980 by Zimbabwe
(formerly Rhodesia) was a defining moment which dominated news reporting on several continents at the time; the invasion, starting on March 20, 2003, that deposed Iraq
's Saddam Hussein
was one of the few modern media events capturing the attention of a majority of the planet's adults and will likely be commemorated in Iraq, in celebration or infamy, for generations, accompanied by news footage first transmitted that day. The distinguishing characteristic of all these is a day or other short period of time during which changes of great importance came to a head, lending themselves to breaking news-style media coverage.
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
organizations, particularly television news and newspapers in both print and Internet editions.
The element of immediacy (as in "breaking news
Breaking news
Breaking news, also known as a special report or news bulletin, is a current event that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming and/or current news in order to report its details. Many times, breaking news is used after the news network has already reported on this story...
") is crucial in spontaneous media events, while in planned events like a major speech by a national leader or a public demonstration against a government action, the prime importance of the subject matter itself is relied upon to elevate the occasion to true media event status. When individuals or groups attempt to generate publicity for themselves through a contrived media event, the occasion almost never captures widespread interest in the way a "naturally" occurring event does—such attempts are usually thought of as instances of "spin
Spin (public relations)
In public relations, spin is a form of propaganda, achieved through providing an interpretation of an event or campaign to persuade public opinion in favor or against a certain organization or public figure...
" or media manipulation
Media manipulation
Media manipulation is an aspect of public relations in which partisans create an image or argument that favours their particular interests. Such tactics may include the use of logical fallacies and propaganda techniques, and often involve the suppression of information or points of view by crowding...
, despite the use of the term "media event" by advertising agencies or other planners.
Overview
Media events in the serious contemporary sense of the term have been happening roughly since the early 1940s, when the ubiquity of movie-house newsreels joined with the established presence of newspapers and commercial radioRadio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
to form a communications convergence able to give the man-or-woman-on-the-street the sense that everywhere he or she looked or listened, the same "story" was before them. This media saturation was greatly furthered by television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, invented in the late 1920s and reaching millions of households by 1950. Starting around 1980, 24-hour cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
news operations debuted with great fanfare, with their signature use of new civilian satellite links that made on-camera live or near-live reporting from almost any spot on earth feasible while the event was still underway or its immediate aftermath continued to affect those involved. Finally, the emergence of the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
in 1994, allowing for instant global reporting, debating, polling
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
and blogging, completed the communications environment of today, wherein a media event of global significance, or even one of limited geographical scope but consisting of particularly unusual or affecting content, can literally claim the time and attention of most of the world's people as events unfold.
Media events can hold sway on many levels, from a small city television viewership up to the entire planet, sometimes occupying a smaller audience non-stop while a larger audience is fed sporadic updates. For instance, the dramatic twists and turns of Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko is a former President of Ukraine. He took office on January 23, 2005, following a period of popular unrest known as the Orange Revolution...
's 2005 bid for the Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
presidency, featuring poisoning plots, voter intimidation, outraged citizens demonstrating in the capital city and other tense, "newsworthy" developments, easily constituted an extensive media event within Ukraine itself even as international mass media followed it closely but did not grant it uninterrupted coverage. By contrast, the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
did reach the plateau of a sustained, planet-wide media event, due mostly to the unprecedented realtime visuals, the involvement of citizens and perpetrators from many different countries and cultures, and a single-day intentional taking of human life not seen at such levels in the developed world since the end of World War II.
The coverage of global and national media events has become a pillar of large news organizations, which often operate at scant profitability in-between these major occurrences. Public opinion, and even baseline attitudes of one culture towards another, can be largely determined by what is seen and heard during a major media event, and the entire careers of journalists can be made (or un-made) by their conduct during these iconic situations. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the first full bore post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
media event was the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
, and it, to a great extent, determined the unwritten hierarchy of American journalists and "news personalities" for the succeeding 40 years. The development of "glasnost
Glasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
" and the ensuing fall of Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
in Russia was a similar determinant for journalists there.
Parallel instances for almost every nation or region can be found, with the major media event corresponding to the shared memory of a "defining moment" often felt in personal, yet nationalistic, terms. The fall of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
in November, 1989 was such a moment for Germans on both sides; the resolution of the Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
in 1950 still resounds in that nation; the achievement of independence from Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
in 1980 by Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
(formerly Rhodesia) was a defining moment which dominated news reporting on several continents at the time; the invasion, starting on March 20, 2003, that deposed Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
's Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
was one of the few modern media events capturing the attention of a majority of the planet's adults and will likely be commemorated in Iraq, in celebration or infamy, for generations, accompanied by news footage first transmitted that day. The distinguishing characteristic of all these is a day or other short period of time during which changes of great importance came to a head, lending themselves to breaking news-style media coverage.
General sources
- Daniel Dayan and Elihu Katz, Media Events: The Live Broadcasting of History (Cambridge: Harvard University PressHarvard University PressHarvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
, 1992).