Media event
A media event is an event or activity that exists for the sole purpose of media publicity. It may also include any event that is covered in the mass media or was hosted largely with the media in mind.[1] Media events may center around a news announcement, a press conference in response to a major media event, or planned events like speeches or demonstrations.
History
The term pseudo-event was coined by the theorist and historian Daniel J. Boorstin in his 1961 book ‘’The Image: A guide to Pseudo-events in America’’:[2] “The celebration is held, photographs are taken, the occasion is widely reported”. The term is closely related to idea of hyperreality and thus postmodernism, although Boorstin’s coinage predates by decades the latter two ideas and the related work of postmodern thinkers such as Jean Baudrillard.
In recognizing the differences between a pseudo-event and a spontaneous event, Boorstin states characteristics of a pseudo-event in his book titled "Hidden History." He says that pseudo events are: dramatic, planned, repeatable, costly, intellectually planned, social, cause other pseudo-events, and that one must know about it to be considered "informed". [3]
A number of video artists have explored the concept of a pseudo event in their work. The group Ant Farm especially plays with pseudo events, though not so identified, in their works "Media Burn" (1975) and "The Eternal Frame" (1975).
Types of media events
A news conference is often held when an organization has an announcement and wants members of the press to get the announcement simultaneously. The in-person events may include interviews, questioning, and show-and-tell.
Photo ops are considered a type of media event, where the event is orchestrated for the sole purpose of photography for the media.
A protest may be planned almost exclusively for the purpose of getting media attention to an issue or cause.
A planned presentation or speech such as on company earnings or the President's State of the Union Address is a form of media event.
Historic examples
Media events began in the 1940s and the following decades, as television and radio introduced same-day news cycles.[citation needed] The emergence of the internet led to many media stories being published Live from the media event, real-time Twitter coverage, and immediate analysis of televised media events. "From 9/11 to Terror War: Dangers of the Bush Legacy," identified the September 11, 2001 attacks as a media event orchestrated by terrorists to use the press to sow fear in the American public.[4]
References
- ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. "media event". Houghton Mifflin Company. Retrieved 2006-09-15.
- ^ Boorstin, Daniel Joseph (1961). The image: A guide to pseudo-events in America. New York: Vintage. ISBN 0-679-74180-1.
- ^ Boorstin, D. Hidden History. Harper & Row, 1987. 279-280. Print.
- ^ Douglas Kellner. "Theorizing September 11: Social Theory, History, and Globalization". UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. Retrieved 2006-09-15.
General sources
- Bösch, Frank: European Media Events, European History Online, Mainz: Institute of European History, 2010, retrieved: June 13, 2012.
- Daniel Dayan and Elihu Katz, Media Events: The Live Broadcasting of History (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992).
External links
- History and Television
- Consumer Product Events
- How Mass Media Simulate Political Transparency
- Post Graduate Programme: Transnational Media Events from Early Modern Times to the Present
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