Eventisation of Media
Global media events have increased rapidly and have vastly altered the way we understand the world. It is therefore appropriate to consider the eventisation of events by the media, in order to further understand how our perception of the world can be shaped due to the depiction shown. This essay will take into account two global ‘media events’, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the 2001 September 11 bombings of the world trade centre, to describe how the mediation of media events can create a global community that allows us to define ourselves and the way we interpret the world around us. I will make a case that the eventisation of global media events allows people from all over the world to further critique the social norms, not only locally, but also on a large scale basis. Throughout the essay I will be referring to the work of Dayan and Katz (1992), Green (2002) Couldry (2003), Katz and Liebes (2007) and Cottle (2008). Media events play a significant role in shaping our understanding of the world
Media events are large scale public events which connect actions across multiple locations within an overall action frame that is focused on a central broadcast event (Couldry 2003, p. 60). These events can be planned, such as the Beijing Olympics, or unplanned such as 9/11 and the death of Michael Jackson. However, they are both “shared experiences, uniting viewers with one another and with their societies” (Dayan and Katz 1992, p.13). Katz and Liebes state that the characteristics for a media event is the live broadcast, the interruption of everyday life, the preplanned and scripted character, the huge audience, the expectation that viewing is obligatory, the reverent, awe-filled character of the narration and the function of the event (2007, p158). It is therefore apparent that media have power not only to insert messages into social networks but to create the networks themselves—to atomize, to integrate, or otherwise design social structure—at least momentarily
Media events are large scale public events which connect actions across multiple locations within an overall action frame that is focused on a central broadcast event (Couldry 2003, p. 60). These events can be planned, such as the Beijing Olympics, or unplanned such as 9/11 and the death of Michael Jackson. However, they are both “shared experiences, uniting viewers with one another and with their societies” (Dayan and Katz 1992, p.13). Katz and Liebes state that the characteristics for a media event is the live broadcast, the interruption of everyday life, the preplanned and scripted character, the huge audience, the expectation that viewing is obligatory, the reverent, awe-filled character of the narration and the function of the event (2007, p158). It is therefore apparent that media have power not only to insert messages into social networks but to create the networks themselves—to atomize, to integrate, or otherwise design social structure—at least momentarily
References: Beijing Olympics 2008 Retrieved August 1, 2009, from http://en.beijing2008.cn/ Cottle, S. (2006). ‘Mediatized rituals: Beyond manufacturing consent’. Media Culture and Society. 28/3, p. 411-432. Cottle, S. (2008). Mediatized Rituals; A reply to Couldry and Rothenbuhler. Media, Culture and Society. 30 (1), 135-140. Couldry, N (2003). Media Rituals. London: Routledge. p. 60. Dayan, D & Katz, E (1994). Media Events. London: Harvard University Press. Green, L. (2002). Did the world really change on 9/11. Australian Journal of Communication. 29 (2), p. 1-12. Katz, E & Liebes, T 2007, 'No more peace! How disaster, terror and war have upstaged media events ', International journal of communication, <http://ijoc.org/ojs/index.php/ijoc/article/view/44>, accessed July 25, 2009, Vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 157-166. Milner, L & Coyle, R (2009). Global Media Studies. Lismore: Southern Cross University. p. 24. O’Shaughnessy, M & Stadler, J (2008). Media & Society. 4th ed. Victoria: Oxford University Press. p.42-43.