MEDIA EVENTS The Live Broadcasting of History Danie! Dayan Elihu Katz Harvanp University Press lassachuret Cambridge London, Englandcoi ed nn endo pi be Sr an at Hand Unive Pepe ein, 18 say of Congo Ctslogng Fb Dts Din, Daniel 198- Ma vets the i beng ft / Daniel Daan Includes igh elrnesedinde Kan 0745939 Isevesr 59503) 1 Ten eg nes Mn CONTENTS Preface 1 Defining Media Events: High Holidays of Mass Communication Scripting Media Events Contes, Conquest, Coronation Negotiating Media Events Pesfooming Media Events Celebrating Media Events Shamanizing Media Events Reviewing Media Events Appendix: Five Frames for Aswesing the Effects of Media Events Notes References Acknowledgments IndexDefining Media Events: High Holidays of Mass Communication ‘elev at they tak pla ‘They include epie contest of polities rmissions, and the tes of pasiage of the giest—hat we cal Conte 3nd Covonations. In spite of the aire ‘ences among thet, evens such a the Olympic Games, Anwar Salat joumey to Jerusalem, and the feral of ohn F. Kennedy have given shape oa new narative genre that employe the unigue potenti ofthe electronic media o command atten tion universally and simultaneously in ender to tll a primordial story about current aflis. These are event that hang a halo over the television stand transform the viewing experience. ‘We call them collectively “media event” term we with to redeem fiom ity pejorative connotations, Alkeative, we might have “elevsion ceremonies” o “etv television,” oF yen “cultural performances” (Singer, 1968). These telecasts share a large number of common aftibutes which we shall attempt fo identi. Audiences recognize them as an init tion —even a commandmto sp their daily roa a Tliday experience. I festive viewing ist oninary viewing what holidays sre to the everyday, these events are the igh holidays of mass communication. Conceptually speaking, this book is an attempt to bring the anthropology of ceremony 1Derivine MEDIA Events (Durkheim, 1915; Handelman, 1990; Lé-Staem, 1963; “Tamer, 1985) to bea on the process of mas communication, Television Genres Uns vey recent lesson wa thought ob saying nothing wy of mane sala To propot that levon—hke ieee men an pa ec 0 Conran too och dignity, ewe were thot be wate Smzotpoprams tut tesion, They were med o be pa ‘ie and uceatve sed with sors Itended for an Siicenitedaulence with @ shor stenson san. Socal ‘EEStor the my they had stated rai thy ‘Sched for mats sponse to pean atenpt, rf the ‘fps of ace, occupation, or cs of one. Some Chez on longum els, takng note ofthe susie Sreronment wih nich TV envelope hey viewen. Others feed on th let of levison on scl ttn, sch as ie 7 Ve proces and audience alien ame the exis tcncea leviion gre, The brodcate themsev, nd te TV stings in newspapers and magazines, gull casiy ro- tame brbpe news, documenta, spon acon, ave Wane, sation comedy sap ope, tary show, me {how show, lens caron, ad thei. Researches in Maw communications employ thee eateries to, at as ste With he acto of xp oer tat dats tao {Herzog 4 Are, 144 Wane, 1962; Kaman, 1972 Model, 196% Casta 1985; Cantor and Pigs 1993 ond ‘Aen 1985) ver ite sous work hasbeen de onthe char fete of hee, how they difer fom one ana, how iy teat conepnding fos n termi, what He rrekager std ow thee meses at communicated Dernins Meoia Events 3 Systematic study ofthe news asa gene of broadcisting has secently begun to sal interest in the soap oper Epstein, 1973, Tuchman, 1978; Fiske and Hatley, 1978; Schlesinge, 1978, Gans, 1979; Graber, 1984; Mose, 1985). Cerin politicl forms—national conventions, presidental debates, plieal sdvetsing-have alo gained attention, and the station com dy is having st day (Mare, 1989; Taper, 1989), Sil, uti recently and with only ovcstonal exceptions, sci studies of television have treated the medium as whole or in terms of dlseet stimuli, without paying serious attention to its com- ‘ponent forms. The publistions of Horace Newcomb (1974) in the United States and Raymond Willams (1975) in England represent major taming points in the mapping of television ‘entry. [Ris striking how iferentis the study of flm. Cinema sties approach im witha literary perspective, as tents tobe clasfied and decoded, sociological politically, and peychoanalyialy The same Kind of clasiicaton effort has been applied — although not alvays uncondescendingy—to the other gents of popular culture. In Adventure, Mystery, Romence (1975) John ‘Cawlt elaborates on the dominant gees (he prefers to weak ‘of formulas) of populr fiction. In adventure stries—chivakc tales, war novels, mysteriesCaueli finds the mesmge of triumph over death, injutice, andthe dangerous enemy, The clase detective story ands out in his category of matey and leads the reader to 3 desirable and rational restoration of order and ofpaifestion ofthe unknown, Romance teaches the all salicency of love, celebrating monogamy and domesticity Following Cavels, Newcomb (1974) attempted to delve into the formulas of television. Tis was the frst, to our know cela, thata scholar clase television programe syste mail Fhe analyzed the program in each category and generalized shout what they had in common. Inthe proces he proposed aDernine Mein Events va much broader generalization: that television, as 2 medium, finposs an element of “fais” on each ofthe gente which it has inhesited from the other media of popular culture. In ‘ter wor, 78 Newcomb, the Westem, the action adventure, fd the detective story, nt just the soap opers or the situation Comedy is domesticated by tlevision aif ata the medium {whole tothe nuclear family, television’ original viewing ou. Television with a Halo Even those like Willams and Newcomb, who pioneered inthe clasification of television genes, approach the viewing exper- fence not in terms of dsrete programs but in terms of the pat tered sequences of stimuli (images, issues, messages stories) that constitute an evening’ viewing. ‘They prefer to speak of "sips (Newcomb and Hitch, 1983), “Row” (Willams, 1975), compounded interruption Howson, 1984), clentless mesages {Gerbmer etal, 1979, moving wallpaper, and mindless chew ing gum (Hood, 1967; Cakventihalyi and Kules, 191). ‘Even iit tue that most of television melds into some such seamles“supetet” (Browne, 1984), there are cetain types of programs that demand and recive focused attention (Liebes and te, 1990), Media evens are one such gene. Unique to tle- ison, they dif matkedly frm the genes ofthe everynight Readers wll have no trouble Wentiyng the kinds of broad. cats we have in mind Every nation has them. Our sample of {oven ofthese event, internationally, nclodes the funerals of President Kennedy and Lord Louir Mountbatten, the royal wel ding of Charles and Diana the journeys of Pope John Paul It tnd Anwar eF-Saat the debates of 1960 between John Kennedy tnd Richard Nivon, the Watergate heasngs, the revolutionary ‘hanges of 1989 in Eastern Bucope, the Olympics, and othe. Derinin MeoIa Events 5 Wehane sid acount and vio coring f hese ‘and have ourselves conducted empitical research into five of mh pic vocach no Be of “The most vin ditrece even medi eets ther fomalror gest nang tt toy aye, tote. nf thy ae noma tne er ter “Sec tena ow terest ute Ce te bolita ht hak ery rote, eon ens pepe Cscctal hing oi ent, owned Relat Srstetng speed an cee we ne ied by sero pcs atouncenet an prs Wet ano {Shy ee someting spec nd, wpm te eon af the cet, ae pied el ain Io the mat sham ‘events the interruption is menopolsic, in that all channels f tga schedled poguming etre get he, pray nv: Ral tepndet aos ude the Consus Srslentng can tardy ale re emi anouncemat fe prance fh att happen Moreover he hoping 12 The eves anit sth or nel ne the ich ol ison det. They Se hoc unptice, t atthe se a soneng hg mone Bere Ine bento symphony ones ‘contains this element of tension. ‘Typically, these events are ond ute mtn a ie ta eve her jlo (190 wos eal’ atc tat tet he tty the mc enly pve a hae ort asm Son By-nue” ween oth te ven pac co “se in td el one ae that the even rot sally teed ye Sadoting oe tintin. This Bd of comectn, in wal Sine, 0+ mee pace~oe having aire toomeceta le of Tei mw hal cov cated iho caponeDernnic MeoIA Events 6 by both broadcaers and thet audiences (Vianello, 1983) Indeed, the complexity of mounting there broadest isch, or ‘is thought to be such, that they are hailed as "miracles" by the Iroadcatters, ar much for thei technological for thei cer ‘menial triumphs (Sorohan, 1979; Russo, 1983)* The owanizes, typically, ave public bodies with whom the media cooperate, such as governments, parliaments (conges- sional committees, for example), political pats (ational eon Vertion), international bodies (we Olympics committee), and the like, These organizers ae well within the establishment “They ate pat of what Shi (1975) call the center. They sland for contenmul values ad they have the authonty to command ‘ou atention. Is no surpise thatthe Woodstock festival —the Tandmark celebration of protesting youth in the sinties—was i tnbated at film eather than a ive television event “Thus, the League of Women Voters and te two majo polit ical parties onpnized the presidental debates in 1976 and 1980, the palace and the Church of England planned and “produced” the royal wedding; the Olympics ae staged by the Intemational Olympics Committee. There may be cetain exceptions to this rule: the European Broadeating Union organizes the annual Eurovision Song Contes, for example, and the Super Bowl — the American football champonship-~involves & direct orgt= nizational input on the part of American broadcasts. But on the whole, these events are not organized by the broadcasters even if they are planned with television "in mind.” The media ste asked, or i,t join. OF coure, there may well be collusion between broadeasters sd organier, a was evident in the Gerald Focd-fimmny Cater ing ofthe symbols ofthe occasion, only rately intervenes with analysis and almost never with evs. Ofen advertising i Suspended. There ae variations the live broadcast of Sedat fal in ferusalem war treated diferent by Israeli lleision than by the American networks, which had more explaining to ho (Zatices, 1981). While we shall have occasion to point out these dtferences, they ate outweighed bythe srilaies. ven when these progam adres conflct—as they do— they elerale no once but esc? Thi is wher they Saesteaahe Gap news ven oereconfct the nent subject. Often they ae ceremonial ers to redress confit or to restore ower oy, snore ately, to isitute change. They ell fora cesation of hostilities, at east for a moment, as when the royal wedding halted the stcetBghting in Brixton and the terror in Northern Held. A rie permanent truce fllowed the journeys of Sadat to Jeruslem and the Pope to Argentina “These events applaud the voluttary actions of great pesonali- ties ‘They celebrate what, om the whole, are eablishmentni- tiatves that are therefore unquestionably hegemonic. They are proclaimed Ror “These ceremonial electrify ven lore audiones—a nation, seta nations, or the world, They are gripping, enthralling ‘They ave characterized by a norm of viewing in which people Dernin Meoia Eve 9 tell ach other that tie mandatory 0 view, that they mt put al ele aside. The unanimity of dhe netors in preening the Sane event underines the woth, even the obligation, of iw ing. They cae viewer lo elevate the event by ethring elore the television et in gros, ater then alone. Ofen the audience i gien an ative rol the exertion. Figratvey, atleast these events induce peopl to dre up, rae than de down o view television. Tse bondass intgrate soit a callctve hetbea and ahea tea of lat tthe eh ad sepia author ‘A.More Parsimonious Approach to Definition Despite its heaviness, we shall argue thatthe elements in our Aefnition are “necesary” and dat no subset of them i “su Cent” without the ther This hypathess does not mean tht the elements cannot exit without one another, bu they ate not ‘hen what we ell media events: they ate something ee Consider, for example, theTioe-broadcaing of an event which is not peplaned—say, the ive reporting ofthe leaking “WOM teigy padl at Three Mile Islnd (Veron, 1981). The leakage isa great news event, but not one of the great ceremonial ‘events that interest ws. Thus, we ae interested herein the Ken ned funeal—e great ceremonial event-—and not the Kennedy amisination—a grt news event, The messages ofthese 640 broadest are diferent, thir eet are dierent, they are pre sented in quite 2 dierent tone. Great news events speak of acci- ent, of disruption; great ceremonial events celebrate oder and ite restoation. In shor, great news Evens ae anther gente of ‘raidcstng, neighbor to our own, that will help to et the boundaries of media event" (Consider an event that Eto excite the public or one that ot presented wth reverence by the broadcasters. Such events doDern Meoia Events 0 not qualify acconting tothe definition, but they are pariully intresting because they suggest a pathology of media evens, of ‘which the former ean event manque” and the later an event “dened!” by the Broadcasters. We elaborate on such pathologies in Chapter 3. “Thus, by converting the elements af the definition into @ typology—bere elements ae variously present or absent, of pretent in varying degree can ident ateratve genes of Broadcasting that dir from one anther by virtue of a part: lr element, Examination ofthese alternative forms and the Conditions of thelr occurrence will belp deine our own events by providing boundary marker, Gre additonal operation, methedotogically speaking, can be performed on the defiition, By tansforing the elements into fariable, one can note which elements cotelate with which thers Doing so, one might ask whether, 2, the degree ofr frence invoked by the presenter corelats wh the degree of dower enhrallment Presentation ofthe genre can be formulated more elegantly, by grouping the elements ofthe definition into broader cate- ove. The linguistic categories of syntactic, semantes, and Dragmatice are well fo this purpose, ‘Syntactic, mea evens may be characterized, fist, by our clements of interruption, monopoly, being broadas lve, and being remote, ‘These a components of the “grammar” of ‘roadsting, The cancellation of regula scheduled programs andthe convergence of channels are the most dramatic Kinds of pncuston available to broadcasten. They put a fll slop erthing ele onthe ai; they combine the eacophony of many Simultaneous channels into one monophonic line. OF course, these elements ao eae semantic meaning they speak ofthe teats ofthe event. Ard they havea pragmatic aspect a well: Derinine Meoia Events 1" the interruption ofthe sequence of television pus a stop tothe normal ow of ie "The live and remote broadcast takes us back and forth between the studio and some fray place. Such broaden employ special thetorcal forms andthe technology required to aonnect the event and the studio. The language i the language of transportation —"We take you now to...” Both petres and words at slowed to a ceremonial pace, and aesthetic consider ations ae unvsualy important. The pictures of media event, relative to their words, cary much more weight than the ba. ‘nce to which we ate accustomed in the nightly news, where words are far more important than pictures (Altman, 1986, Katz, ‘Adon, and Parnes, 1977) The cently of these various ee ments of syntax is immediately apparent when one compares the ‘event il to cach subsequent representation ofthe event—the ‘wap-up, the news, and the eventual anniversaries: length i Arasicallyeut pace is speeded up, words reset their impor. tance; references to the heroic logit of the broadens diap- pear. Syntactic unpredictability (that matches the semantic "uncertainty i smoothed ove "The fac that the event i stated outside broadeating or izations, both physically and oqanizaionally implies a net ‘work of connections that dif frm the everyday. The special= ists of outside broadeasing deploy their OB units—as the Brith call them—and the studio now serves a intermediary between its people in the field and the audience, allowing some ofthe Aialogue of stage diestions between studio and field to become pat of the spectacle, Thee cadence it reverential and eee: ial “The intetption, when it comes, has been elaborately adver- ised and rehearsed. Ie ental @ major commitment of man- ‘owe, fechnology, and resources on the part of xganizers andDernnc Meota Evens, @ beats comes ota compete supe in mor nombre —butar something long antici ad Told fo Sd toe holiday. ne to makecerain that he pot {this rial feming wil tbe lot on he adience the broad Gates spend hour tometimes dy cheng he sence inthe ces inet, imeabl and symble. ven one fie event an betaine in hi ay "The mening af the events seman dimension Hep icy propre! by is onanizes and shared by the bos Caer alhough ths pot requeselaborton (se Chapter 3 Oteouse, each eet is spect his ead For example, the wyel edding was propor a» Cinder vn thee landing athe new American foie, andthe papal iplomacy as pllenmage, Regards ofthe species of each ett, the gpere a a hele cosine a eto core meanings cen loudly Frolaimed. ‘Ths al sch event te Bal hi hey ‘te to mad a now sz, shang an lao dt oF ‘inking of marke pine oan eta. Whetier ti the lpn ov Wace, Sato the Pope, the ung pint Charme of the event cota The event tures the performance of smal acs tht have scene forene or ot of the core vile of act (Ukr, 1973) By dint te cooperain ete onan and Brod. caters, the event is preset with crema reverence, i tons that exes wey and ave “The mesge one of renin, in which paripnts and adie invited tonite in he overoming of confit rat feat ini ptponenet or miitreation. Aol of these tens fave ee igus nou be nats the tincgratn of okt roped Tregmaecall, the eat ena vey lee ois A sation or sel raion, sonctine eC word, ay be ined while watching the mpedhunan achiowement of an Dennins MEDIA Events B ‘Olympic star oc an atonaut. Sedat elected the people of lac, and the Pope revived the spirit of the Polish people These ae thrilling even, reaching the largest audiences inthe history ofthe world. They ate shared experience, iting view= ‘erswith one another and with their societies. A norm of viewing ‘accompanies the airing ofthese evens, As the day approaches, People tell one another that viewing is obligatory, that no other ctv is accepabl dusing the broadcast. Viewers atively ele rate, refering to view inthe company of others and to snake special preparations—unusual foo, fr example-—in onder to stake more lly inthe event The gente is best defined, then, atthe intersection of the syntatc, the semantic, andthe pragmatic. And, as was argued above, we shall contend that ll the elements are “necessary” If we chose to apply the pragmatic eritrion alone, the events 30 defined would include television programs that entalled very lange audiences, such asthe early miniseries or pethaps even ley episodes of programs such at “Dallas” They might abo include im that attracted lage, sometimes cultih audiences such asthe Rocky Horr Petre Show or Woodstock these were indeed compulsory viewing for certain segments ofthe popula: Yion and invited widespead participation, If syntactcs were the sole criterion, major news evens woud demand tobe inloded. By the same token, ifthe genre were defined in terms ofthe semantic alone, we should number among media events al ‘hose films and programs that cisim tobe historic, preach rec ‘onciliaton, celebrate initiative, and ate produced and presented with reverence. Films ofthe Olympicr by Leni Rife, Kon Tehilawa, or Clade Lelouch, for example, might therefore ali Hence our insistence on defining the corpus of event in ters ofall thre Linguistic categories, an insistence Further jus tiled by the fet that we are desing with ceremonial perfor:Po Derinine Mein Events ry ances ard that no such performance ean be described in terms ‘ofits text alone, A ceremony interrupts the Bow of daylife (eyes it dels reverenly with sacred matters Gemantis} and it iwolves the esponse (pragmatics) of a comuted audi- Why Study Media Events? Lplicit in this dfiition ofthe genre are answers to the ques tion, Why study media event? Te student of modem society ‘ot jst of television fda dozen more powesfl a+ sons for doings. Let us spell them out T The lve brosdeasting ofthese television events ata the largest audiences in the histry ofthe world. Lest we be misun- dettod, we ar talking about audiences as age 38500 milion people atending othe same mls atthe same time, at the moment ofits emision, Ite conceivable that there were cum lative audiences of ths size rir tothe electronic age—for the Bible, for example. Pethapr one might hve been abe to say that there were feveral hundred milion people ave on earth who Id fea, oF heard tll of, the same Book, But it was fot unt radio bneadesting—and hore radio rceivers—that sinutaneity of exposure became possible. ‘The enerriy ofthis fuience together with the awareness by al fit enormity is ‘wee. It wall the moe awesome when one realizes that he subject of these broadass is ceremony, the sot which anthro pologists would ind fair iit were nt for the scale. Some tf these ceremonies are so al-encompssting that ther is nobody Jef to see at outgroup. “We Are the Worl” certainly the sppropriate theme song for media events. To entrall such a ‘ulitode smo mea feat to els their assent debs all of the ‘caveats of media-efets esearch.” Derinine Meoia Evers 5 2. The power of hes events He, fst ofall in the rr el- cation ofthe ful potential of electronic madi technol. Sti deni of mecha eects Know that at moa hes and places this potential of eadio and television ie reticted by society. In prin- ‘ipl, ralio and television are capable of reaching everybody simultaneously and direct thei message, in other words, can be total, immediate, and uirmedite, But his condition hardy ‘ever obtains. Messages ate mltiple; audiences are selective, social networks intervene; dfsion takes ime. On the occasion of media events, however, these intervening mechanitine ae tuspended, Interpernal networks and difision proceses are setive before and afer the event, mobilizing attention 4 the ‘vent and fostering intense hermenetic activity ove sinter pretation. But daring the iminal moments, totality and simul taneity are unbound: onpnizen and broadeater resonate together; competing channels merge into one; viwers present themselves atthe same time and in every place. All eyes ate fixed onthe ceremonial center, though which eah nuclear cell {is connected to all the rest. Social integration of the highest onder is thus achieved via mass communication. During these rate moments af intermission, society is both a stomized and Sr imtgated aa maiesocily theorist might. eve Ima (ommbause, 1959, 3. Thus, the media have power not ony to insert messages inte social networks but to cteate the networks themselver—to atomize to integrate, or otherwise to design social srucise— atleast momentarily. We hve seen that madi events rsy cee ‘eirown constituencies, Egypt and lac wer ited for Sadat vist nt only by images of the arial ofthe leader ofa thereto- fore hose Aa nation, but by means of an ad hoe microwave link between the broadcasting systems ofthe two counties Similary, the royal wedding reunited the British Epi, andDernine Meoia EvEnrs 16 “Third World nations joined the fist two worlds forthe Olym pies That media events can talk over and around conventional Foltcal geography reminds us that media technology is toe ‘fen overlogked by students of media effects in thei ditt of Iypothess of technologial determinism. Papyrus and ancient mpi, print andthe Protestnt Reformation, the newspaper nl European nationalism, the telegraph and the economic fnegation of American mackts, ae links between atibutes ‘of communication techvologies and socal structures. They connect por, eprodacibiiy, inary, simultane, fn the one hand, to empire, church, nation, markt, onthe ater 'By extension, it ean be seen thatthe “center” ofthese mei caendered social structres fot bound by geography either. Inthe ease of media events, the center—on which all ees ae fcund—is the place where the organizer of a “historic” cre ‘mony joins with sled beoadeaster to produce an even. In this sense, Britain soften the enter ofthe world: one has only fo compare the broadest funeral ofthe assassinated Mountat- ten wih the broadcast funeral ofthe assassinated Sadat or Indias Indira Gandhi to undentand why. 4 Conquering not only space but time, media events have the power to declare a holiday, thus to ply a part in the civil religion, Like religious holidays, major media events mea an “Freription of rutin, days of fom work, nocms of participa ton in ceremony and ritual, cancentation on some cental alu, the experience of communitas and equality in ones Tinmedate environment and of iteration with cultral en ter The reverent tones ofthe ceremony, the dressand demeanor tf thore gathered in Font ofthe set the sense of communion Sith the mass of viewer, ae al reminiscent of holy day. The {ciemonial roles sumed by viewers—mourne,sitien, juror, “Spot fan differentiate holiday viewing fom evenday viewing Deri Meors Events 7 nd transform the nature of involvement with the medium. The secret ofthe eBectivenes of these televised events, we belive, isin the role which viewers Bing with them from othe est tutions, and by meant of which pave spcttoship gives way to eetemonial participation. The depth ofthis involvement, in {GF hat relevance forthe formation of public opinion and for institations wich a plies, eli step, they enter the Zllectve meme 5. Reality iw rolls events Wan event originates {na particular locaton, that location is tured into a Hollywood set The “oviginal” is only studio. Thus conquering space in sn even more fundamental way, television causes events to ‘move of the ground and “into the ic” The era of television cents, therefore, may be not only one in which the reproduce tion is a6 important asthe orignal, as Benjamin (1968) pro- poted, butalbo one in which the reproduction ismor important than the orginal Sometimes the original i inaccessible to lve audiences ‘because staking place in London, or because itis taking place ‘on the meon, for example. Even more fundamental are those ‘evens that have no orignal anywhere Because the broadeat i 4 moatage originating in several diferent lations simultane ‘uy, The “ality” of Kennedy’ debating Non when one was in New York and the other in California snot diminished for its being inthe ait, and inthe living room. Prince Charles, the church, is wating for Lady Dina a8 her crcage is drawn through the sets of London. Ths reality. But its an ivi ible reality that cannot be apprehended as such because iti happening simultaneously at diferent places. No one person can see all of it, that is, exept the lelevision dsctor and Ihundieds of milion their homes. 16. The process of producing these events and tling their story relates to thea of television, journalism, and nataton. etn BaerFO Devine Meoia Events 6 ‘Study of the theorical devies for communicating fstvin, enlisting participation, and mobilizing consensus demands Srwetst the questions of how television manages to profect ‘ual and ectemony in the two-dimensional space of spectacle Essential to an understanding ofthese eent-—in aditon to the readiness ofthe eudiene to assume ceremonial voles—isan thal of how the story i famed, how interest is stained, Tow the event aggregates endorements, how the broadcasting Half is deployed to give dept othe event, how viewers interact vith the Steen, wat task are asigned fo the viewers. Media rents give insight into the cehelis of television reduction, together wh an avarenest ofthe nature ofthe cont that btsns between orizers and bradeaters The audience iaware of the genre of media evens, We (and cetain fellow weseatchers) recognize the constituent features of this rare bat recurrent narrative form, and so do producers and wiewets, The profesional netwots”of producer: buzz with information on the extraordinary mbilization of manpower, technology, aesthetics, and security aeingerens requited to mount media even. * At the sme ime, the networks of view ‘co eary worl ofthe atituds, reheat, and toles appropriate to thee celebration. The expectation that certain events in the real world wll be given meda-events treatment is proof of public awareness of the genre. Iaclis appealed to the High Court of Justice demanding that the warevimes trial of John ‘Denjaniuk be bradeas live.” 7, Shades a pita peTte=Ave media evens, then, eles tronie incarnaband OPE stnged evens of evolutionary regimes ind Iaterday versions of the mas als of fascism? We think fot, even if they might seem tobe. fis true that medi events ni society ina vulnerable state af as indoctrination is com ‘emed: divided into uceat cells of Family and fiends, discon- ‘nected fom the insitations of work and voluntary asocation, Derinunig Meoia Events 9 «yesand ears focused onthe monopolitie mesage ofthe center, Ihats prepared with room, This reminiscent, mutatis mtn dis ofthe socal tructre ofa disse that oikes at night, oof 2 brainwashing regimen, ‘The threshold of suggest is tts owes the mot slated the individ! ie rom others, the more secesrible he or she i othe media, the more dependent the eson is the mote the power to reward conformity or punish deviation iin the hands ofthe communicator ‘Neverthees, media events are not simply poiieal manipu- Lntions. Broudcastes—in Wester scietes—are independent {For at leas legally diereniated from, government. They Sonal dali and even commercial interest meiner oc 2 bul, Sezond, public approval is required for an een Succeed oficial eves anna Be pose onthe une ling oF tiling Third indiduals are tot lone, nt een alone ‘wh iy but in th company FBS wo they ile to iin inte til fan event and then stn fade Some vocies provide public are for such daca and interpretation of provide only Iving roms and leone Fam fends, home, and ving om future a ey context fr tating aroused eration into cllective pli tston Perth, the sine, o, hs tading se pole a gon ‘de down by some These che ‘BaRIpUTAHVe poten of media events and limit the vuler- Inlty of mass audiences. Sill, the question of hegemonic abuse mut be asked contn- wally, Almot all of these event are exteblishment inate, and only rarely, one suspects, do the broadasters say no. Instead, journaliss—sometimesreluctantly—put eral tance aide in favor of the reverent tones of presenters. Broadcasters thusDernins Meo1A EvENTs D stare the conensal occasion wth the ognize and sais the edie have hypothesaed that fey ave palit after a “4 When media event are cena a reponse rir eens cr soe eis he link to public opinion i evident. Thos, Shui media evens fave a commemorative funtion, ein fag unas on anmivenaionof what deere to be temern- tered, Others have 2 retrtve function following social trauma, The most memorable of them ave «tansfomatve faction insomuch ey the late o enact posible schtions to vocal problems, som wing yt fer events Sthch actually “change the world Inthe retrative dean, as chen dite soil confict-tvough emphasizing the {Mer bn Cones) trough raising the dees ofthe eet in hom gharstoz vested (Conquest), and trough eb Jn consensual aes do Coroaton "atthe sane ime, certain events have an neal i eating fancion,Hcleialy speaking thy ve a tans Save RERSGSN, Howes hegemonically sponsored, and how ‘her aflmately rend they invite eexamation ofthe sus ie and te a render tha aif sho of ie’ noe Taking place n'a lial context, evoking that imate of intone teflerviy which Vitor Tomer characterized asthe “Rene male of ele the pio eat he eda worl and experience a shattering of perepions ad cranes. hen if the nations in which they are immer are sho Incl and donot insttuonalize new norms teas they po Woke eaicl soars ofthe takenorgrnted and mental Sonal of tematve posites They poses a normative Srrrson inthe sense of displaying desirable leat, se Clone which ought oe but donot These ae reviens, ts of the peaps poss, gman of fare in which Dernine Meoia Events 2m the mone of sce anid o pend fev oso fw Sp Acai et pation eyo a peck wo TO. One wenden whe he meen pete at 30 coqresion os woot dai fhe action et men ‘ed ty tn gonancy ene cto. othe, a Coen yo ton mal sighing chats o- ian ten, in lane of abe story, The dst iecson wi ofl nana burner ili, te Selene per ofthe peopled theaches, he ea ingore fatal chartered ere We tan fin Soto the Pope nd change the wth he pope Gn tne to sve Atte fom dann by spring “Le ‘Si? Thelin ofthe wll one ole Sit, snl, onan, ty mocestepl tor cndetcs edn cetyl ny ned conte pt te ‘tinct. The ee fr pntares aco fo, real thc yi far ad epr edicedy tn ay From sey Ron 195) the tli of ea rena, ashen ewes ae mde fo appar move ant han tg actly wee. Ba ora events lective aoa tmy bene thas dn, The elton of ston mong pac opin newer ol ede, snd the ae tdi ned the wean of East Eaoge i he lof en I Th htriof madi eretsinvtie, too,fr wat ares ately shut te soonest deca fbllaran common, bt alo about he difence ewer ural sl scal ence and ttocen popular ad 2 cist The meta wens of eoster—he Hind we comer hee peas empl ent ‘ass support they tke the fr of pol ‘Trebroneating of heroic mioone—thowe that nite the pubsa Derinine Meoia Events 2 Tic wo embrace heroes whe have pat their ves and eputitions ‘on the linen the eause of propesed change." The ceremenis fioaitarian societies (Lane, 198) ate more commemorative They abo seek to enlist suppor, but for present and past; the First of May parade was 4 more characteristic media event io postwar Eastern Europe (Lendvay. Tolges, and Tomba, 1982) hana space shot Teronst events contrat with both ofthese Jn thie display not of persuasion but of fore, not of majesty bat of diuption and provocation, "The shelori of media evens contast—as dos journalism, senerally—wth academic thetvic in its emphasis on rest indi~ ‘ills and apocalyptic events. Where social seience ses lng tun deterministic proces, joumalsm pefors heres o villains tho get up one moming eolved t change the work. Where Teademic bistorians see events at projective of underlying trends, journalist prefer 4 roboscopc history which Moses, amatie events om and ofthe seren, heh 12 Media events gta Oe omg>Thisis where the “is: toxic" version ofthe event on view, the one that wil be entered {nto collective memory. Nowmally dh here represents areeat fom the space of public deliberation, and television is blamed, pethaps righty, for celebrating family and keeping people home {Newcomb, 1974) When itis argued that telesion presents society wih theists Ht has to face, the retort, “narcoirng ‘dsanction’=that i the false consciousness of involvement land paticipation—is quick to fllow (Lazasfeld and Merton, 1948) Yet the home may become a publi space on the osea- sion of media events, «place where fiend ad family meet o Shure in both the ceremony and the deliberation that follows Observational reearch needs to be done on the workings of these politia ‘sslons” Ironically, ertcal theorists, newly alert tothe feminist movement, now sein the soap opera and other Dering Meoia Events B family programs sn important “site of genders” ad thee derision of the apolitical home i undexoing ein But there is more fo police than fens, and me ned cevpitical saver tothe Question of wheter the home rans: formed into» polis pace dring and air a media event In fet we nee bac earch on who i home and when (night ci the growing numberof one. and twogeson howehol, tho views with whom, wh tals with whom, how opinion is formed, and how ts fl back odeciton-maten, These cv. day eccaon of opinion formation should then be compared with media event It i at to believe, but nevertbels ue, thatthe study of public opinion has become disconnected fom thestudy of mast communication. 13, Media cvent preview the ui af GR. When aio became a medium of segmentGubliing sence by age and clucationtlvaion replaced iar the medium of ‘ational ntegation, Ar the new media technology mules the numberof channel tlvition wil i become a medium f segmentation, and lession-azne ino wel pear “Tet o sation fntepation may devolve von tlw sin ceremonies of the sort we are ics here. By that ine, tomever, the nations tel may be on the way ea boundaries out of syne with dhe new media technology. Media events may then create and integrate commits le han {ps Indeod, hegre ed evel ay Tlf be een ax Fepone tothe integrative needs of national ad, increasing, international commis and organizations. Cerin multinational interes have aleady spoted the pote of international events and may sik the gene inthe Proce, Some combination ofthe televised Opes and eee tied philanthropic marathons insped the elt to enlit wove ai to combat amine in An Satelite boadatersDernine Meoia Events 7 slready transmit ive sports events multinationally (Uplinges, 1990; but see Myton, 1991). Aroused collective feling must hea gest ie to adverse, nd one wonders whether the entry ‘ofthe commercial impresario into the arena ofthese events does not augur ill for their sural as necessanly occasional, and heavily valueladen, “high holidays 2 Scripting Media Events: Contest, Conquest, Coronation |As we have said the corpus of events ean be subdivided into Contests, Conquest, and Coronation. These are story forms, ‘or “aripts" which constitute the main nartive possibilities within the gene. ‘They determine the distbution of roles within each type of event and the ways in which they will be ‘enacted. Venturing beyond the exposition ofthis typology, we shall propose that the thre story fom are dramatic embod ‘ments of Weber’ (1946) hte ypes of authority nother word, that rationality, charisma, and tition are incibed respec: Svaly in Contest, Conquest, and Coronation Certain events do not altogether corespond to any one ofthe three dominant scenarios, while ater events appear to itch in midteam, aif they were conceived in terms of competing serpt. All media events, finally, even those which stony adhere toa given srg nevertelese contain echoes of other scripts which loom in the balground or are given secondary slat, The questions of how such seit ae coven wil ao ‘ocupy usin this chapter and the next Three Basic Scripts twas television's Sadat who fret aroused our interest in media ‘vents Intl, itwas the specifics of hia example of media Aiplomacy that seemed worthy of analysis. But the similarities BPeeroRMING MEDIA Events iis ‘eque form (cult movies), that @ new typeof public event may be entering ou vs ‘Catering in amboyantlyfesich dapay toa largely adcer- ‘ent or pstaelescent public fced withthe dificult problem of enti the gene of eult movies is obviously dierent rom that cof media events, by the nature ofthe register cach invokes. Yet both may be characterized by a similar blur of the dtinetion between ceremonial performance and ftion txt. With their midnight procesions of costumed spectators, of lookalikes duplicating the main character inthe lis with the collective singing dancing, miming by which thei audience greets the sequences displayed on screcn, cult movil tat Beton texts ‘but move from mere spectacle toward the realm of performance. ‘They ae tured ito ceremonies Public events are not fixed in a given form once and forever, ‘Throughout history they have tended to aap themselves to the prevailing modes of making an event public. The donsinant ‘mode of publieness is changing now. We ate witnessing the ‘adual replacement of what could bea theatrical mode of pu Tienes-—an actual meeting of performers and public in los lions suchas paliament houses, churches, convention flor, stadiums—by anew mode of pubienes bas onthe epsation of performers and audiences, and onthe rhetoric of narative rather than the vite of contact, Born with cinema and ist described in aesthetic terms by Walter Benjani, this new mode of publics culminates in television, which transfers tt all 21exs of public if including the most taditionally sacred the politi and the eligiour—ths profoundly acting the nature of public ceremonies and ocasions. Separatal fom the large majority of thee publi, these modern sual dgplay the tex: ture, internal coherence, narrative “best” and visual gow which ured to characterine Hollywood spectacular, 5 Celebrating Media Events Media events are ritual of coming snd going. The principals make ritual enties into a sacred space, and if fortune sniles on them they mae sitalretims. The elementary proces under lying these dramatic forms isthe rte de pose, consisting of situa of separation, of entry int 2 Timinal pcod of al and teaching, and of retum to normal sci, ofen in a newly assumed Tole (Van Gennep, 1909). Such liminal periods, according to Tuner (1977), evoke the subjnetive—thoughts of what might be, or what should be, eather than what ‘These tensions in and out and between ae dangerous, and coke anxiety and enthallment in believers and well-wishers, too. Indeed, it sof us thatthe hero i taking leave it i for us that the heto is undergoing great ski stows that be will ‘return, Lift and plashdown, even more than what happened on the fice ofthe moo, are the drama ofthe moon landing, s9ys Stanford (1979), We are not surpized that lave taking ‘moved us at the Kennedy funeral, but even antagonists and gnats were moved by the leavetakng from Nixon afte his televised resignation speech (Lang and Lang, 1983) or from Pope John XXII upon his death (Crit, 1968)! No less than the principals, we—the witneses to these cyents—fraverse the same tual stages. If we accept the init tion to assume @ ritual role, we take leave of everyday routine together with our heroes, experience the liminaly of thet 19CCeveoeanne Meoia Events 10 Srey rsh vives and mae ego ‘vents invite tual paieipation, by (1) ofering ice and equal sere cine ow tne seco es Whee EES :’”=~C Ol Cetesearins Méoia Events Ri of the events, the social context of reception, and the sci Prcholog of identification and interacts Routine and Festive Viewing Festive broadists of motia events contast so sharply with rsyday boaas that itis wefl to think of thm aoe Imetia, Tue, bth propose to tanspot the viewer hom his chat tothe word outside. But the similarity tops ther Re tine nighttime viewing postions the ted viewer in font of {in the aplitcal livingroom. Evening television tls family members, ft that they want {ofeel comfortable with one another at home, a, scone, ta they wish ob amused bythe antics and crimes of familar toy ffuracters who ace ppiclly remote fom thet word, It el, them that they haves “ight” to be entertained any time atta gq shoosing, and that they have freedom of choice stwong channels amd genres Itinvtes them to consider the sdveteed Products andthe dreams or needs these fll. Some theorists think tha this kindof sunnevee aes television is 4 envasve tease. It engenden an ata of family sed rth and promises 2 fallen thats never consumer Commercial advertisements punetuate the flow offering pr ts to sublimat aroused desi. The viewer sled inte conn, ‘emiconsciousess, The “tet” isnot a proprim but the fe (Houston, 1984), andthe experience is lating, soporige, ber tunchallenging(Kubey and Culazentmihaly, 199, Gerber etal (1979) alo think ofthe viewer a victim, 5 rounded for hours on end by the substitu eeality ofthe teleug sion word, he comes to dsbeliee, or disconnect om, his ownCCexgonaTine Meoia Events m2, personal experience, The message of television i thatthe word fea fghtening pies; it mobilizes the viewer, unconsciously, to five ideological port to the fores of onder that keep the Impending cris at bay (Gili, 1980). The shows maybe one rized in thiny- oF skty-minvle programs, but this mesage inundates each and every viewing hour and creates only one compote sory Choice, therfore, is merely an illusion, a Iaegermonic device wed to perpetuate the myth of ream ‘Other scholars teat the viewer as feet, more awake, ad more adult. His viewing ele is shaped by needs—for informa on, fr entertainment, for identity—whose flllment he sels con the smal sree, From this perspective, television ia kind ‘of public utility, fering various kinds of gatification (Bhumler sel Kat, 1974), The viewer sa seeker. Cetin theovis suggest that television provokes the weer to fae personal, social, and acthetie dilemmas, however sugaroated, to discuss and t0 judge them (Newcomb and Hinch, 1983; Liebes and Kat, 1990; Livingstone, 1990; Mosley, 1980) ‘We know oo litle—even afer forty yeas of television—t0 choose among these diferent theories of everday viewing (Sehndson, 1978; Kate, 1990). Pethaps they are all eomect—for dierent sorts of viewers, or forthe same viewer at diferent times. We simply do not know enough about the interaction batween the role expectations of viewers andthe roles ofered by the “text” We il know too litle about how people “ead ro tin television programs To make mates even more complex, itseem likely that routine television viewing x changing, i the age of muliple ss, nuliple channels, and videocassetes.Iis ‘ovng inthe direction of radi, thats, toward pester axing to diferentiated audiences. By contrast, considera report on home viewing of the Gandhi funeral: i E | CerepeariIne MEDIA Events 1B About an hour before the ceremony began, we were ready, shed and desed, aif we were going tobe pve pre entat the een. My mather nae that we wea long elthes nd cover cur hens as a mark of pet. A lige poup of people congregated at my hour at thoy dl around mos ee son sets the county. Both my servant, thei ene fx ‘ies and my neighbout (who had thet owe TV) were squashed int my tiny Tving sor, (Minwals, 1990) ‘The major media events—the wedding, the funeral, the ‘moon landing, the Olympics~follow the sime pater, We ere invited, perhaps even commanded, to attend the wedding We were urged for days in advance to prepare ourselves. The vent was well advertised and well reheated, so that viewers would know what to anticipate on the day. Breaks television Prograas inthe United States sent thee major teams o Brom ast live ftom London a full week before the actual event Throughout the English peaking worl, announcements wete made ofthe timetable ofthe event, ll aimed to engender 2 sense of holidy, of anticipation, of planning for festive viewing We were addesed as if we woul be ashed—perhaps by out gandcildren—to retell the even, to report what it elt hike, “Most ofall, we were tld that the event wat important, tht it engaged some central value ofthe ply. ‘Wecame as mourners tothe Kennedy funeral. The fst news ofthe Presidents shooting was broadcast at 140 p.m. Eastern Sandard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963. When the "port was ofcially confirmed an hour ltr, mot people inthe United States had heard—more via word of mouth than fom ‘he media (Greenberg and Parke, 1965), “For thnee and hall day following ist word oF tne asssiation,” says the norly busnesike Nelsen repest, “all commercial lesion way su ‘ended, not only as an expression ofthe nations shock and ieCCeceaeariINe MEDIA Events ry but also in order to aire prompt and complete coverage of cach succeeding development and to permit all wh had acest to-a television st to share in such consolation as could be fered by the memorial evens and funeral ts which mashed the Presidents death” The networks, all boadcsting the seme sto, al without commercial interruption, were ths “oon- strctng’—fr thee ads halfdaye—a new viewer, one seeking ether commodities nor entertainment, hardly even informa tion, but the opportunity to ind in the tlevision seta focus for cexpesion of grit? ‘We came in awe tothe moon landings. By means of sem lation techniques, viewers wer briefed for day onthe workings oftacket boosters, onthe division of abor among astronauts and mission contol, on the atmosphere ofthe moon, onthe exit ing andthe landing, The word was invited to set it alan for the hour that dhe Eagle capsule would land onthe moon. This was at 417 pm. Eastern Daylight Time on Sunday, July 20, 1969, almxt midnight in Europe andthe Near East. All thee United States networks were carving the same pictures, signal ing to viewer that this was by no means the evening news, but history Tn such a sitation the viewer aes note thatthe major chan: nels ae all caring the same program. No choice hete—excep. the residual one of choosing between channels. Not even the choice of switching off No consumerism, because advertising ‘would volte the snetiy ofthe occasion; no dozing, either, no Using TV as moving wallpaper o chewing gun. No escapism, ‘excep the demand to sbut out the concert af everyday if in {avor of single-minded atention to some share vale thats too ‘oflen unsung, Indeed, if were nt fr the motivation of view= fe to receive the program, prety television ofthe sort that ‘ecules us te woul! be an authoritarian imposition, dae Ceuessari Mein Events 15 ‘metially opposite tothe ostensibly fee choice of routine tele Audiences for Festive Television (On an average evening in the mid-1980s, about 60 percent of American households had their TV sets on, for a net prime time viewership of some 95 milion adults or 100 milion per. sons over the age of twa." Their viewing divided more or les ‘sully among the thee major networks, and the remainder were tuned to lea or eble tations, ‘Among programs commercially sponsored and competitively broadeast, the alltime most poplar single program inthe hit tory of American TV was the “MASH Special” of February 20, 1985, 2 commemorative program of vo anda half hours’ dors: tion, ts average audience was 7 percent of al sts in use (what is called shar). Next in allio populatity was the Who Shot LR? episode of “Dallas,” broadeas on Novernber 21, 1980, hich arated 53 perent of TV howichods, or 76 percent of set in use. “Root,” the annual Super Bowls, the Bob Hope Christmas specials, «1976 two-part Gone withthe Wind, and “The Day After" ( dramatized simulation of response in the United Stats toa nuclear bomb) were not fr behind with per- centages in the upper 40. Tt wll be seen that thet programs ‘ne “special” of various kinds, jut beyond the border of routine viewing: holiday progr, miniseries, highly dramatic or one time or once-ayear shows. Theit “special” character brings them to the brink ofthe gene of festive television, Indeed, the Super Bow fottll games, which annually tact close to 100 million viewers on a Sunday afternoon in January forthe lve Haylf of American profesional football, qualify as mediaCCeveoearine Meoin Events 126 ‘vents, The other, too, deserve serious attention, even they do not quai tis ate fr any segulaly broadcast series or serio attract ‘even one-quarter of households, The typical evening audience spread ise aces the wavelengths and comes together only for the extraordinary occasions illustrated above. Media events, of couse, have this special chatcter In the “idea case, they are broadcast by all ational networks and thus automaticaly ensute the lon’ share of sin wse. Sometines they ate also breast abroad. Many of them ste politcal in charater—and have to contend with the normally low level of politcal intrest in the American population, Nevertheless, the number viewing the tsignaton of Richard Nixon i extimated at more than 100 mien, and the audience atthe moment of {he landing onthe moon reached 130 milion (Lang and Lang 1983), Viewers ofthe Kennedy burial probably numbered 190, rillon, oF 80 percent of the American population of 240 mile lion. Bighy-one percent were tuned in at 3:00 p.m. on the “Monday ofthe funeral, and iti likely that most ofthe owners ofthe unvatched sels were watching in oer people’ homes tis interesting to follow the grovth ofthe TV audience fom the 20 percent who were viewing onthe Friday jst before the shooting, t0 45 percent within one hour of the Bist news, to the high vigil throughout the weekend, until the climax, then the immediate drop, on Monday affemoon For extended events such as Wateyate othe Olin, the numbers eached ae even greater. It sestimatedthat more than 70 percent of Americans sw sornehing of the live Watereate hearings (Lang and Lang, 1953, and three-fourths sw some thing of the Olympics during the summer of 1984 (Rathen- bbubler, 1985)” During thit petid, on 3 typical aemoon or ‘evening a television set war fumed on in twoshirds of house: the Olympics were on twothieds of those seteens. An Ceuesearine Mein Events 1 verge of percent of househols wee tuned to the Olympics day and night, and this proportion was surely much higher for the major contest ‘These figures ae forthe United Stats alone, Estimates of the world audience each 500 milion or more forthe ive broadcasts ofthe oval wedding, the Kennedy fineal, and the Apollo Xt space missions, although nobody can certify these nner, For balance, it swell to remember thatthe anna telecasts of the ‘Acadery Awards cleim a worldwide audience (hough not 2 simultaneous one) of 350 milion or more (Real, 1982)""Thexe Oscar awards qualify for the festive genre, to, Bu they are—as te shall note below-—a very minor sot of high holiday. That those ae the largest audiences i the history ofthe world goes ‘witht saying The Home as Public Space ‘Americans mobilize “indoor” Except fo the occasional parade ‘oF eommemoraton or potest, not much islet outdoor as fa 3 politics are concemed. Contiasting Haan and American television news, Hallin and Mancini (1964) note that Ualans “tke out” the information they receive fom television news ‘o public dscusions a local party headquate, to the bade ‘union hall, orto the coffeehouse, In Prague and in Bucharest, and at the Beilin wall, television fllowed the revolutionary asembles “outside” Americans have allowed ‘eit public ‘pace ofall into desi They do not have much that is political inside, ether. I is safe to say that Americas donot often diss politic at home “Television news gives the illusion of politcal participation, ss Lazarfeld and Merton (1948) indicated long ago, and the ecine in tal patcpation may indeed have been influenced by tis isin,Cetenearing Mein Events 1 “The occasional media event ransorns this domes stom zation. Ttvansfrms the home int public space. tonnes tetwors of ineracting india, fom house o howe, sc Nery le teitoies. While highly slecive—and biased—in ‘at ishven, teers brings inside what cane beeen eth rise: We efx not ut to event tht are physically access Tie but wo events that take place prima, somebines exo Sively inthe ais Mot ofthe great polcal Conquest (Sada thc toon, the Pop) tpl Contest (Wate, the pres ideal debts ate out of sgt of on-the-spot audiences but ‘ell within the reac of levison homes” “The Baianantopoogit Du Mats (1988 as writen of “situations in whic the house extends tel nto the te and imo the ci in such a way thatthe soil word is centalzed by the domestic meapher a} on the oer hand. =» when the see and is slues ted to penetrate the pate word of the reidenee, withthe word of the house being inerted ino the metphor of public ie” Unie pilgimages nd ili thy pads fo which one nut eave home and ey, egows procesion bring te centr represented bythe image ofthe Tlie slo on a coxsena tour of siden neighbor Ie ‘As the saint pases ad ise, the thf may tae tem ora the rp, clo oa lyst tis ne oc ‘Group ad er ls ae dae in vor ofan innate, penctatingand actveratonhip= BY toca ofthe nn a atonhip desl ht nls ail of tine uo ace flloving wel thse who ae watching Here the suas ae tensed andthe Fotes beween sec nde weaned peso, nae fs sete tthe parc andthe ble pee ioc Tre bo af edt the san. The stoner one of the tanning of lye and of opening oneself the Ceteneatine Meoia Everts 19 sacred domain. Thus, windows and doots should remain ‘open. Curtains and the best embroidered linen, as well a2 vases of flowers, ate paced inthe windows and on the vee ‘andes, All hiss done so that the int can ie” the house, in a dramatization of opening and ofthe relational domain ‘hat should pein among men and ther saint, even in het residences, where people have the songet losin, We have, thus, the sacred the sin enteing ad bring recived int the houses. (pp. 27-28) A piquant tale fom th it fhe wansfrmaton priate int pb pac te opel har meme, Oe December 21952 te Lod Ret, fone 3 ry ccc psig Cage Vo a oar mor mpesin” by ang te emp cs 1982, The ings “tocar fom myhome tye teal of ou. omen ad women oct of ye me ere tthe, ht oly ws ota en eh To Sit eh wih a Happy Chins God tes you Radi Ise in th omer dpa te ingot, Sone vin view Eng do, ently Wang stom 1 tr Chrsenas doy te oy homage th soe este viewers do ese sed up the ping ofthe satioral nom tm eens a yan el ie Se {The sll theme gat ton cee wep fap They come peed to be more Rel wh Sve ent sbout te Cunha“ Abate hou belo the caemony bea, we weedy, nad and Sone if ‘ewes going tbe psc post tin eye mote ied tht we nar lng clothe and oe or head rope inal 195) Ammicans and or pater n oe ance home fl lo the supe son Apolo Mand her Ne ‘Arts ans Ante et to te no: ThyCerearating Meola Events BO new fom newspaper, magazines, elastooms, and offices what to eect, and what to pay fr, at they seated themselves before thirst. The journey triggered all the exetement of an cake age of exploration and the opening of new fiontes. Comping. the moon flight to voyages of the Vikings and Columbus, one observer (Eisele, 1979) noes the new dimension which was added by “the many spectators who vieatiousy traveled slong a8 psengers with the space explores. With the meon Fight and Landing, a society of voyager took voyage, a space oxysey, in which we enjoyed an unprecedented potion, om which we cnfrtained the explore’ rks without risk experienced thet —that he world is, peshap, 2 more secure place thanks tothe American ag planted up there Evidence that people athe together to experience and cele byate media evens in company isnt jut anecdotal. ‘The frst ‘ver presidental debates of 1960 were viewed in groups (Kate snd Feldman, 1962). During the weekend of mourning for Kennedy, people sought out fends and relatives to grieve in font oftheir television sets (Barber, 1965). A national survey af the viewing ofthe 1984 Olympics (Rothenbuller, 1985) found ‘hat those watching the games were more likely to be in the ‘company of ethers than the minotity who were viewing nom Olympic programs atthe smc time" thin el the spl hed invited someone ove t view the games, thitd had gone to someone ele’ home to watch, and 15 percent had gone to public viewing place. Viewing with ethers was done epeately heoughout the games ‘These there wese“speca the people ce marin Mota Events Ti ‘one spent holidays with, or went out with in the evening ‘Among those watching television with others, 80 percent of Olympics viewers tale about what they wete viewing, comm aed with 38 percent of thre viewing other programs Im his study of the Super Bowl, Rea (1982) reports that “the _majoity of viewers saw the game ina goup sting, used it x 2 social occasion, talked and moved at preseribed times duting the telecast, discussed the Super Bowl with acquaintances before and afer the day of the game, Especial fr the more than haf of the adult males in Ameria who watched the gate itwasa source of comvesation at work, in the neighborhood, at shops, and wherever regular or accidental interaction occurs “By game time,” Real continues, “the viewer pticipan's ‘now they ate joined with people inthe room, inthe stands — all ove the county—in following this spectacle. As Ems Cap. Sirer and others point out, the exenceof mythical belie lies in the feeling of collective participation and sharing of concerns ‘and powers beyond the potential ofthe individual human.” ‘The conversion ofthe home into a ceremonial pac, focuid fon the center and aware of all the other hoes in whieh the same thing i taking place atthe same time, reminds one of festivals such as Christmas or Pasiover. These holidays place emphasis on home rites even more than thoee of church oye agogue. They are oreited tothe extended fil and ae open to fends, even strangers. They purse a sense thatthe whole world of Christendom or Judaism is celetating imaltancouly, ising a feeling of personal and communal fatenity and spit: itvaity, These ocasions lnk families to centers, past and pres- ‘The Passover seder, especialy, is quite explicit in asigning roles tothe cclebrants and in specifying the kinds of atitudes and information that should accompany these roles. The ecle- brant is commanded “to fel personaly aif he had been liber.Cetenraring MEDIA Events BE ated from Egypt” Hei enjoined to fie the homeles and the needy The chiléten ask questions to which the ede must na tate 2 response. The saint, Elijsh, hovers overhead and is expected at any moment, and the table is prepsted For his certance to partake in the fea. The house is altogether tans. fomed—cleaned, polished, cetied, and sanctified, The night 's, indeed, diferent rom all ether night Observers ofeeemonial evente—here itis dificult o separate the eects of television fiom the pervasive eft of the event iselhave ofen remathed on the expansive alrasm and neighbovlines that accompanies them. Shils and Young (1953) tel of the reconetiation among long-hostle neighbor a the time ofthe coronation. “Hospital” sayz a writer onthe funeral of Martin Luther King,Jr. (Puph, 1968), was everywhere in flowering Alana. You could gets kif jst about anywhere and white people all over their part of town threw open their churches, and more importa, theit homes to Negroes and whites alike"The sense of featernity was so gest when the Pope visited Poland that our tanslator rematted, "We perecve our government nota 2 represve force against the papa festival, boats pciciating int and thus endangering sel” ischor- steric of such event that they bring former antagonist to reconsider, or at east to suspend, their antagonism "The eommunta of good neighborlines and shard sii ality explains. the open door ofthe seder at well asthe open ‘doors ofthe Kennedy and King mournets and of the wedding oF Olympic celebrans. A pancipant inthe King funeral sid "We can'find worst deseibe the way the fanerl has brought black and white together. Is something else. doa’ know it is because the assassination made more of ws wake to he reality that we ae ll brothers or whether wee afraid theyll bum the town down after they get him in the round (Pugh, 1965)" Ceteseating Meota Events Be “Thus, the anxiety ofthe open doors evident too; celebrant of the seder regard the outside at potentially hole ‘The thetoric of events very afen sil over into the sheteie of family: "He was our brother, not our uncle; he was the peo- ple Pope Sadat spoke ofthe family of Abraham and chatted shout gandchideen with Golda Met, The fanerale and the ‘welding ate all about fmily. ‘The reunions—the Iran and Entebbe hostages and the Koteanrefugees—ae about family Kate Smith was suregate mother, sarong heel so that her boys in the army might be beter supported (Merton, 194). ‘These references to family echo in the bosoms ofthe viewing families The hot serve refreshments. Olympic viewers shared food and drink with fellow viewers, mote than did those viewing ster programs (Rothenbuhler, 1985) ‘The viewers are focused, intent on what they are seing “When the sation signed of” said a Minneapolis viewer ofthe Kennedy funeral, we signed of.» All day Saturday and Sun- day I dont remember ding a thing. Idi get des didn't rake the beds. I did't do anything. Monday we watched all day and ered all day” Ancther peson said, “I walked around the Block because I elt fT didnt T wae going to scream. 1 thought I could getaway fom it fora while, but it was ike 2 magnet.” Abou SO perent of viewers overly mourned (Mindak and Hursch, 1965). The more they were with other people, his study found, the more they grieved. The mae viewers experi= enced gre, the more they felt something to be seriously wrong with American society: And the mare they grieved, the more they expressed a rededication to American institutions Th the ethnogrphy of media events, major importance must be asgned to the tansformation of the home into a public space, at leat for 3 moment. This transformation is secom= plished by a parallel change inthe personae ofthe viewer.CCeteneatine MeDia Events ra Festive Viewing Roles Viewers sat diferent selves in front of their sts. Skies of the influence of television on chidven suggest thatthe ci eumstances unver which a flan is viewed wll acct what i Feared and remembered, Seen at schoo, a documentary about Eskimos wll be remembered 3s a primer on igloo building: the same film seen at home will focus stention en the relations ‘betwen Poppa and Momma Esdimo (MeConnack, 1962). Seen with parent, children will lam more fom “Sesane Street” than when the same progam if viewed alone. Chilen who expect entertainment fom television wil lam leis than those who also expect o be informed (Salomon, 1979). Voters who have come to televised presidental debates for help in ‘making up theic minds wil eat and sce diferent things than ‘hose who seck arguments for use against the other sie, and those who wish to place a bet on a horse race (Blunt and MeQual, 1968). ‘This choice of roles isnt altogether under the viewer con- trol. Media technology and soil definition of media functions ho play apart, 2s do the social and psychological characteristics ‘of audience members. Radio, for example, has been redefined by society as an intimate medium in the ea of television, and thanks to transistor technology it peforms this jab even beter than before. Individuals swteh on their everhandy adios seek ing music tllored to the taste of thei age peers, or uptorthe- ‘minute trafic bulletins, ot ave on lve or the stock market ‘There is another source of constraint that contbutes tothe shaping of audience roles and expectations, This i the “text” iself—whether the text be book, film, TV progr, oF nen piper Thos, the TV enti of the New York Times hols bis nose she reviews “Dalla” writing a Fis readers have never heard EE EEEIEIS'S:S:=$~~-~ Ceteeearine Meoia Events 1s fsurely never seen. He thereby propotes an identity to bis reader, engaging in what sme socal psycologist have called ltereasting. Texts (or films or programs) are produced vith ateader in mind—one who comes prepared, ori enticed, to interac in a manner that ha been preprogrammed, wing oc not, by ts authors or dtscto (Eco, 1959). Offen literary theorists, who have eyes only for tet, presume thatthe real readers coincide wth the readers required by the texts. Cia theors—thase who have given attention to pop tla culture—also sce the predominance ofthe ent in shaping reader oes, but aher in the sense that the texts act (or ete, infect) their readers with a fale consciousness of thei social situations In contrast to scholars who infer readers fiom texts, there are thers, oriented sociopsychologically, who infer texts rom read fs. They ascribe 0 much power to the selectivity ofthe sea. ‘ence—in exposure, perception, interpretation aed seall—tet they asume that any text canbe eshaped to ft audience needs ‘These ae oventatemens, of eoune, that coe the nersight- ness ofthe literati but ascribe too much sovereignty to the reader. The fact is that only recently bas there been scholarly activity a the news of encoding and decoding. Certain trary fand eel theorists are now asking how seal veaders deal with the constrains ofthe text (Hal, 1977, Mole, 1980, Radway, 1968). And certain media researchers are now interested in how teats imi the feedor of audience perception (Blumer etl. 1971; Lckes and Kat, 1990), ‘Mei events provide good opportunity to observe the inte 2etion of real viewers with the constructed roles proposed by television texts, While ther are only few empirical studies of the roles and the “readings” performed by viewes ofthese his toric brodeass, all of us have our wm experiences to daw ‘upon. All of us~morepecsely those of who are thiy-fveCCeeeariINe Mein Events 16 or older—remember vividly the weekend of mouraing after Johin Kennedy, the moon landings, and the royal weding, We Fave boenn attendance, via television, at numberof the great ‘ren, and it isnot by chance that weave able to recollect where wwe were at the time and how we “celebrated” them. We mourned Kennedy: we explored outer space; we reaffirmed our loyally to, oF adniation fr, Bits tradition. We judged pee ‘dential debates, played jury atthe Watergate hearings, wit sid Sadat’ recognition of sel, rooted forthe Maccabi eam i the World Cup, got up inthe middle ofthe night for the Seoul Olympics. Contests, Conquest, and Coronations each define diferent we oes, 2s was noted in Chapter 2. Contsts—politcal and ‘porting evenis—inite viewers to dese rom mere spectatrsip tnd root for one of the side, But even pertsanahip is more ‘ypical of Monday night football than of “historic” contests. Tt ismor than mere partisanship when an Afican county defines its woth inthe world though the achievements of ts Olympic team, Partisanship isan undesaterent ofthe deep identifica tion with 2 home team facing outsides, whether itis at the Werld Cup, the Eurovision Song Contest, or the Olympics “The audience “on the home fron sends mesiages of undivided approval tos team, even ifthe efficent tansmision of such ‘messages must avait the day of interactive television, "Mote typical ofthe histoxie contest, pep, i the judicial role, We ae asked to decide, asa citizen jury and net ony 2s partisans, who won the presidential debates, Thee is no other judge. In evaluating the presidental debate, even the experts try fo second-auess the likely reaction ofthe audiences. Some evens, of couse, have thee own judges: the Wot Series has ‘umpires, the Demoortic national convention has delegates, Miss USA has judges, the Burovision Song Contest has jury. Even here, however, public opinion i elle upon to ply the CeteseariIne Maia Events a withthe dg, een ee gs ape a eee serine Sites Soe 84. We how that tere ate my who manage thet oy or suber ne aaa ere eterna ert iat See Sar estanteruinags‘Ceveseanine Meo1a Events 18 ‘aid they would go, We saw them defy the lw of gravity and ‘of man’s proper place. We marveled a the jeopardy in which ‘they placed themselves, fr our sk, We wer asked to ream ‘ou belief in American technological powess we were asked to fenew our suppot forthe Nations) Aeronautic and Space ‘Adminstration; we were ased to give the astronauts 2 hers ‘welcome forall they risked for ws. Tn his last geste in ofce, ovenwhled by the displ of power arayed against him, President Niton mentioned the theme of his sacrifice for the good of the nation sx times in the fily-seven sentences of his televised resignation speech (Lang and Lang, 1953, . 191), at ifthe president having chosen not to go total, was now appearing as his own character witness in television defense” Sil a Cont, it was already a Coto- nation, ots opposite, ison was contibuting to the seme ‘ning of national initutons while puting his head on the ‘lok And it was aio Conquest, lone man staring down hos. ‘iy: The network commentators warmed up. Dan Rather of (CBS sid, “Nixon went outwith touch of cas, even nobly” Public and networks were relieve that the President didnot ove contol oF mount 2 vicious attack, and the ansily evaporated ina wave of sympathy and xdoen ‘Witness the sacnfice, witnes the miracle of achievement, suspend disbelief, demand a just reward for the heroes, enter the pultch of tcifice and countesacifice—these are the audience roles in the teldrams of Conquest All these roles dif fom that of mer spectator, berause they involve a dimen- Son of commitment” Inthe eadly Christian definion of the tem, theses ave converts fo a ew definion of truth ad instuments of its subsequent propagation. In Austin’s (1962) sense, Conguets equte thei viewer to adopt a “commissie” role. They are converts, atleast fora moment, toa new def- nition ofthe posible CereseariIng Meoia Events By Coronation invite us to participate, inital as etizens and subjects, inthe rites of passage of great men and women: thet ‘wedding, funerals, anniversaries, erownings, and deerownings, As in Contests and Conquest, there ae separations and ren tees, for both principals and audience. The space of liminality here, however, is occupied not by heroic riko propored rede inion ofthe wodd, but by changes of stats in the lasic sense: fom bacheorhood to wedlock, from if to death, ‘The barometers of audience size and enthusiasm ae ea 3s 2 reconfimaton of loyalty s reiteration of the social contrat between citizens and their leaders. The penton is welcomed into ‘fice, or saluted in departte, heralded for achievement, ot applauded fr atining adulthood (Bhumler ea, 1971}. Inthe ole ofctizen, weshudder over the undoing ofa leader who symbolized the values ofan era and who succumbed tothe forces of ation. Viewers ae asked to share inthe outage, to tesolve that disorder will not be allowed to tiumph, and accept the leytimacy of the succession, But beyond the civic role isthe oe of mourner or of member ofthe wedding pic. inating expesively. Coronation cll on us to attend, to share ‘motions, and to show that we care. Austin calls thse “be- habiives: greeting, wellvishing, condoling, saluting. ‘The ‘mourning i forthe man, for order, and forthe dream ofthe es he represented: the glory of Mountbatiensempite and theater nity of war the new look of the youthful Kennedys: the Fry blend oftratition and modernization inthe Gandhi yeas. And, subjunctive, one allows oneself the hope that things may get beter again, Sometimes evens speak dtety to more than ove country— to Exypt and lire] in the cae of Sadat. Sometimes they ‘embrace the werld—as dd the moon landings and Olympics, For these national events that have sccondery aiences in ‘other countes—Indra Gandhi’ funeral, for example festiveCCeteataring MEDIA Events 10 viewing may be bieadly defined 25 joining in an occasion intended for somebody ele. Within the primary context of the event, however, the fac that it is not a spectacle but conce of performances may be expresid inthe language of Austins (2962) “pesformatives” The organizes, of course, have an “exeritive" tole they have the power to deci public evens Television joins them in the “expostive” role of making cleat what the organizers meant by proposing the event. The aud- nce responds "verde" in the ease of Contests, “comm sively” in the ease of Conquest, “beabiivel” in the ease of Coronstions Festive Readings Festne roles imply festive eadings that coincide wi the “dom inant” mesages ofthe text. Festive viewers enter the peli: nares witha feeling of awe in the face ofthe heroic and the Fistor. They sense tha the event i olfeed nol just to vt of the holiday from the everyday, but to mark a particular moment of transition forthe sociey. The viewer is mst likely to sense ‘isin the ase of events that ae mounted in remponte to ei the ive broadcasting of the Senate Watergate hearing, for ex ple, or the funerals of maryed leader. Other events are less Immediately associated with acute cre and offer new socal arrangements for consideration. De Caulle proposes liberation to Quebec Sadat proposes a new dealin the Middle East; Kho- mein unseat the shah and his modernation, The foneral of Enrico Berlinguer confirms the lptimacy ofthe Ralian Co -murist party and signals «national font against the polities of ‘enor and disorder (alin and Mancini, 1984). Even the royal veding—stensiby the mos rial of our events—may have reminded Britain oft identity while economic and ethnic com: Alls were raging, Lally, politcal conventions, presidential CeteoraTiNg Mepra Events 741 Aebates, even sporting events, play this wole—of puting the aly news into a diferent perspective, and calling attention to ‘the exential (or potential) sini of the society "A proper reading ofthe ental message of the event involves the subjunctive mood. If succesfully tansmited, the event ‘evokes images ofa beter world, a more fraternal or equal sc {8,2 hint ofthe pesblty of peace, a rededication to cent ineituions. Subjonctivty requires a sspension of dabei, an intermission from reali "Thus, itening to Sadat in the Kneset one might have ‘thought that Egypt had always wished Tel well that Baye vas on good terms withthe other Aab sts, indeed tht the ‘Arabe were a uited people, The audiences in Ital and Eaypt, and some ofthe secondary audiences in other counties aswell, Tene that such was aot the case. Was Sadat ying? Or was he speaking of what might Be? Only the subjunetive permits 2 benevolent reading by the festive viewer (Liebe Plesner, 1984). “The Olympic, sayz MacAlcon (1954), ate deceptive in the same sense. They present a picture ofa ruleabiding worl at lay, orig equal opportunity to blacs and white, treating socialist and capitalist regimes a interchangeable, celebrating rot ascption but achievement. Are the Olppics a calletve ‘masquerade? Only a subjunctive reading that translates the cent in term of what might be, or what ought to be, makes the “dominant” eading posible Alternative and Oppositional Readings ‘OF course it doesnot ahways work. Some people soub an event in protest, Others view, but never abandon the distant role of spectator. They rele to suspend dele. Some people enter the narative, but with a diferent exentation, an altematve, ‘even haste role. Their interaction wth the text andthe roles,CCeveanaring MEoIA Events 12 propo by the text may be quite different (Parkin, cited in Hall, 1977; also Morley, 1980). The Pasoverseder perceives this possibility clea even providing serps for those who reject the “dominant mode and choose “slteative” or “oppositional” readings. Thus, the seer service imcribed inthe Haga di- tingushes among four ideal readers, or sons” Thetis the Wise Son, who abandons the spectator role to atk his queetion fom within” accepting the legitimacy ofthe occasion and its impor tance; ad the answer he gets counts him a member of the ‘pour “becouse ofthis God delivered us fom Egypt." The Evil Son, the spectator, excludes himself. He aks, “What ill this to you?” and the textual rete offers him an answer in kind ‘The Naive Son aks, simply, ‘Whats this?” and the answer invites him to abandon the spectator role and to join in. “He Whe Docs Not Know How 9 Ask"—the fourth sont help with both question and answes Fat fro the family ethos and paternalistic connotations of the seer, John MacAloon (1954) mates a elated point in his iscusion of the four faces of involvement he divers in the Olympic Games: spectacle, festival, ritual, game. Spectacle is concerned with grandnes, with overviewing the event a8 2 swhole, a duplay ofthe combined forcer of performers, peo- ple, and power. But spectacle i seen fiom a distance. Festival ‘is total immersion where gamegoes, undirected fiom the cen- ter, contribute penonally through pines, cafes, promenades, and improvisations, adding coloe and activi tothe sene Ritual consists in invoking the continuity of the games with ancient tradition. In asigning ceremonial ols tothe pati pints openings and closings and awards—it sets the games ‘fin parentheses, from the routine humdrum of everyday in- ‘equities and infelicies, Gane, rally, the contest elf fom which the true sit of the Olympics radiates the mesage of human striving, peseverance, and achievement inthe face of enormous odds, 2d in the conte of one word (CeceoeariNG MEDIA EvewTs 1 “MacAloon ells us how the word “spectacle” became taboo in the official vocabulary of the Intetional Olympies Commit. tee, fr fer that bignes and dale would further eniphatze the show-busness aspect of the games a the expense ofthe ‘warmth, magic, and th which are the reward of genuine involvement. Instead of entering the performance system through festival, etal, er game, the distanced spectator poses questions, “s this eval" he as, if there iso much bares racy and polit? “sti ritual” if the pageantry as eeplaced ‘rededication? “I tht gare” if commercialism and nationalism Ihave itor it rth? “Even these doubts, suggcts MacAloon, may themelves lead to the conversion ofthe skepical. He describes movingly the ‘proces whereby the games sometimes convert spectitors who “merely came to lok" They fel themselves aught up in the “flow” and abandon thei suspiciournest. MacAloon wits, ‘The spectacle fame erected around ritual may serve at 3 recruiting devie, dicrming suspicion toward ‘mee ritual” and Tusing the proudly uncommited” Fer MacAloon, television viewers ae sccond-las pectators, Since “festival means being there, there tno fetal at di tance. Television, he thinks, is capable only of pectacle—~and 4 cheapened one at that. "There-may be media festivals” he says, “but a festival by media isa doubtful proposition” Here we Fart company with MacAloon, aguing that the media ‘events spectator may alo eros the liminal divide ino festival, ritual, and game, Toe, he has aces only to the r-presentation by television superimposed on the orignal; yet he also mayer ste his own home festivals and situs Certain media events, we gant MacAloon, never leave the teal of spectacle. Indeed, one wonders whether they qualify 2 more than that forthe people who are there. Many conte te ofthis character. The annual Oscar ceremony is an exam ple. Despite the huge size of is television audience to repeat,CCeugararine MEoIA Events 4 75 million domestic viewers and pesbaps 350 million interna tionally (hough not simltneousy)—wo-thieds nevertheless ceapessed indilference when quetied whaler the event should bedicontinned. Clea thts merely spoctacle about which ‘ewes have doubt, and even that ia weak word. Viewers are Well avare “that the Academy Awards are nothing more than 8 public relations event forthe film industry” (Real, 1982). “Mest serous evens have thie doubters, to. Some remained ambivalent about Sadat. In the national surey completed immediately afer the 1984 Olympics (Rethenbubler, 1985), roughly 30 percent insite thatthe game had no message for anyone but the athletes. And some syed away fiom the Water- te telecat altogether: disproporcnatly more Republicans ‘ded the broadest, and mote ofthe palitally uninvolved Those that remained didnot ll read the proceedings in the samme way, AS Lang and Lang (1983) sy about the televised hearings, “Depending on the viewers Fame of mind, the pro ceeding ould be seen at unifying event, a a teairmation of de proces before the law. Or they could be viewed oppasition- ally, a degradation ceremeny”™ Yet one can infer from viewer’ statements about certain ‘events that many do go beyond spectacle, tothe heat ofthe mate. They recognized in Sadat nota deception but the pos sibility of te peace. They made a ditinet choice btween the ‘0 competing models of Watergate as “routine polite” and as ‘morality play" They prteok of etn aspects ofthe Olympics festival a home, even if i wae less esilatating and seo tive than MacAloon’s festival. Among U.S. spectators, two thieds connected he games to ideas aboot winning and lor ing that are “important to life” and not just to athletics (eothenbubler, 1989) Tes important odsinguith among intensity of involvement, scope of involvement, and fype of involvement. Thus, Mac- Ceteoraming MeDia Everts 5 Alon’ spectator is(1) ss intensely involved, (2) mote narowly wolved, and (3) involved in a diferent role (observer than his estve” participant is. But these are quite diferent dimensions, One may became involved in the Olympics, in Watergate, of ina presidential election by placing be, by identifying with one sde oe the other, by aking interest in the rls, or by oppos- ing the event self. These are dierent types of involvement and are revealed in diferent types of “reading” The intensity of involement, in each ofthese role, may be superior rong ven opposition to an event may be intense. The seope of involvement may be defined asthe nub of dierent roles in which the paticipant joins the event. These dimensions apy to the experience of “not being there" at well sto the expe ence of being there” Diasporic Ceremonies Can we sill speak of a public event when i is celebrated at home? Is there a elletive celebration when the collectivity i both atomized and scattered? "To say no would amount to denying the sats of siialy seatered and home-based celebrations, ote including sential tenet of religious traditions, The example ofthe Passover eeder ‘illuminating because the oceasion i constitutes is aot only religious but political aswell and might serve a a paradigm of Emile Durkheim’ symmetrical theses onthe social dimension ofreligion and on therligious dimension of social The seder has served through the ages a5 «powerful means of unification, offering a ceremooilstractre that takes account of geographic dspesion by translating 2 monumental occasion ino @ multi pliciy of simultaneous, similarly progeammed, home-bound ‘microevents while focsied, however, on a symbolic center. By proposing a collective ceremony “without 2 cental uli terCeveoearine Meota Events 16 le" (olser, 1984), by tansfereing public celebration to the hhome, the model of the seder—or, indeed, the home celebra- tion of other holiday such ay Chistnat or Thankagiving-— seems to have solved a problem, mutatis mutandis, very simi lar to that now experienced by the dispersed mas f television “Media evens der fom thes hlidys in that identical cons ae delivered simultaneously to the homes of all celebrant Media events, therefor, stand midway between the mast ely cr pllrimage and the subjectively conjured image ofthe center. Tansoumig the audicnce of mass ceremonies ito the huge sudience of media events as led othe reinvention, in tty ‘ew context, of an ancient and domestic celebratory form ‘what might be called the disporic ceremony. Te, members of the audience are radically separated ffom the ceremoniat locus ofthe event and areas nolate for each eter they n0 Tonge form masses or cows excep in an abetact,staiscal sense Television celebrant cannot react dtectly to the ital performance orto the reactions of other member ofthe partic: inating public. The very hugenes ofthe television audience has radically transposed the celebration into an intimate regi ter Atendance takes ple in small groupe congregated around the television et, concentating on the symbolic enter, keenly aware that myriad other groups are doing likewise, in simular ‘manner and at the sime time, Ceremonial space hat been reconaitated, but in the home, ‘When there is no way of being ther” a ceremony is created to encapsulate the experience of "aot being there” Rather than an impoverished and demant experience, iia altogeer dif ferent experience. 6 Shamanizing Media Events "is coneet to regard most media events—no les than the tax ditional eeemonies studied by antvopologits—a“teinforcng” ‘ot hegemonic," inthe sna that they sind acest ene their commiiments to etablshed values, offs, and penons. Occasional events, however, involve a discernible change nthe reali ofboth the symbolic and thera. ive, the proposed new values may be familiar, or sevivals of ideale that had been despaired of, and the sponsors of change may be none ater than the old elites themselies, albeit ambivalent of rec tanly. Willys, and however hegemonic in oxgi, certain media events sene as harbingers of change ‘We wll consider here the dynamics of interaction among the three contractual pariness—ovganizers,broadeates, and sd ‘ences—in a suet of events that may be described at “tone formative” Our most proninent examples, of couse, ate the Conquest—Sadat in Jerusalem and the Pope in Poland. The ‘Kovean reunion event i equally important, while the Watergate Fearing, the moon landings, and certain other occurrences ao ‘qualify in part. More recent and even more dramatic examples _are provided bythe live broadcast of the mats demand fox palit eal change in Eastem Europe in the fll of 1989. "The mage of thi proces ithe subject ofthe present chapter, ‘We demorstrte how the ceremonial broadeas ofa propos for change can, under cettin conditions, actually induce such “7Reviewing Media From the arursent ofthe previous chapters—that the experi= ence of media event ident fiom the experience of everyday televsion—it follows thatthe concepts and method that have been applied tothe study of everday medi eects may be insufcient to the task of asessng the eects of media evens Ivan efort to fd these eet a theoretical home, this chapter attempts to reall and geneclize the main efcets of media events, gathering them together Fon all over the book. That traditional eft esearch wil be found wanting i already ev- ent. The reader will have noted how frequently we invoke the anthropology of ceremony to augment propositions derived fram funcional, etal, and technologies! theorits. The Appendix. elaborates un this orchestration in an attempt to “ht” out find ings the peoinant eons of communicators Fist ofall, then, we wish to recapitulate some of the propo= sition about the effets ofthe live roadeating of public cere ‘monies that ace sprinkled thoughout the preceding pages. The ‘eader will ind them familiar because they tend ta appeae in ‘more than one place, inthe several contexts in which they were found relevant Ii important, however, to beware consing famliaity with proof As we have sid, only very ew events have been studied empiially from the pint of view oftheir fet. Although we draw at mach ae posible om events which 188 Reviewinic Meoia Events 189 Inve been studied by ounver and oter»—i is est to think cof our eatalogue of efiets a contributions toa set of intelock- ing hypotheses. "The review is organized in terms of two dimensions. A fist Aistinetion i between eects that take place “inside” the event and thre tht tae place “ouside” This distinction may sound taradosical inazmoch atthe mutual infuence of ognize, Iroadastes, and audiences—the inside ecetm—ate incorpo rated int the very definition of events. But these are among the ‘mot interesting of ects. From the moment he lights are it— inded, even a the lights ae lit inthe minds ofthe thee past ner in anticipation ofthe event—ellects begin to take place. ‘The anticipated sie of an expectant audience, for example, may aft the work ad shetori of oxganizes and broadest. Inside eet take place “during” the event, ofcourse, while ‘outside efits usally ocur “afr theevent—but may, in at, take place “before” or “during” at well Thus, during an event, the presiue forthe event to succeed it clasifed as an inside fect, whereas the cevstion of hostilities fllowing a summit meeting i surely an outside eft. Think ofa wedding: the {guess who cry a the sight of the bride are emotionally acted ‘vith the ceremony, but whether the ceremony strengthens or ‘wedkens interethnic relations in the community of atts toward the inatation of marriage i an aerefiet ofthe cere- mony. “A second dimension concerns the objet of eect. We wish to distinguish between eft onthe participants themselves coxganizes, principal, bradeating oganizations, joumaliss, ‘spectators—and eects on inttations, such a thas of politics, ‘align, Tere, and callective memory. ‘The insttional ‘ects area Iikely to result fom the expectations engendered by a succession of events—thit fom the exstence of the genes fom individual evens. Thus, while an occasionalReviewing Meota Evens 190 vent may affect the politcal stem, for example, iis not spe cific instances of such events which ae of insituionl interest ‘but ether the gene of ive political broadass of press confer- ence, party conventions, presidential debates, election night tetums, ad the lke Tn the review that follows, the discussion is divided sowghly between “inside elle” (hat tke place “during.” alec prick pants, and result fom the species ofa particular ceremony) and “outside eee (that take place “after,” fet institutions, and result from the extence ofthe gene ater than fiom a Specific instance ofthe gent). Inside Effects on Participants ‘We begin withthe moment at which the decision is made to ‘ve “media-events teatment” t0 2 patcular ceremony. To ‘examine such eflets, we must dissolve the partnership of or izes, broadcasts, and viewers in over to examine the efets ofan event, separately, on each Effects on Organizers and Principals 1. The public commitment to mount an event makes the orga= rizr politically vulnerable even before the event takes place. In the days or weeks preceding an event, policy changes ae demanded, in heping with the opensess ofthe ecaion and! ‘or its consensual claims: On the inteational scene, for exam- ple, participants in samenit meetings have lo make themselves sallble to one another and tothe pres—for more questions than they cate to answer. Silay, the counties hosing Olyn- pie Gates have epeately been pressed by ater nation to live up tothe spit of the event or be boycotted and denounced, ar wete the Navs in the cate ofa black athlete, este Owens, Reviewing Meoia Events 191 the Berin Olympics of 1936. More recent, the Cater admin- ‘tation ted unsuccesilly to presse the Soviets to relent in [Aghanitan, under threat of boycott ofthe Moscow Olympics ‘oF 1980. Pretest against Bish refusal to denounce South A= ‘an apartheid prompted twenty-seven ofthe forty-nine nations to withdraw fom the Commonwealth Games of 1986, tothe considerable displeasure ofthe British ogeizer and thee polit ‘eal leaders, including the queen.” 2. During am event, prinpals ar cast in mythic les, ft by the media, Thus, John Kennedy at his funeral is east a Line cl, and Lady Di as Cinderella. "The principals may abo we the spotlight to recast themselver Sadat and the Pope bath en- ‘eloped themselves in primordial roles the one alfred himself 48a aetifce in Jerusalem, and the other vite lepers and deliv- eed sermons from hilltop fivelas in Brazil.” 3. The lve broadcasting of an event creates prewure on the vent to svceed. Broadcaster can bring presto onthe pine pals by brandishing the evidence of publi response, which they cornmand, Depicting Saats journey asa sare, fr example, ‘evoked the non of reciprocity—the idea that he was owed Something in return—which was fed back 1 the principal a “publi opinion” and used to pressure the Iseltomanizes. Thee i, apparently, a stong fea offing with the whole world watching Thus the Reagan. Gorbachev summit in Geneva may well have been embaraed into “succeeding” by television and public opinion The exter for sucess are formolte by nego- tations between principals and broadeasten, and audiences watch for the sgn.’ The preue isnot only moral but ae thetic, The event must succeed, butt must succeed within & foreseeable time, that, in ul sigh ofthe cameras. The emo- tion generated by the event ean ony bested if the cere ‘monial progress culminates ina extharie conclusion, “The pesure to succed while onstage and within ceremonilRevtewine Meoia Evens 1 time leads to an imperative which we perceive as showmanship, but which, in Sadats declaration, aquired the mythial status ‘of natural law: the success of media events depends on thee sustained momentum, The primary elect of momentum i to propel the events beyond thelr projected boundaries 4 Live broadcasting enhancer the status ofthe principle, confring both legitimacy and charisma during the event and ste. The fet of adtesing a world constituency places 2 new sel of aims and responsibilities om the leader's shoulders, Once validated by public response, what might have bee saewey pojected image may envelop the actor himself. Media evens ‘make “elbrits” ofthe supposing eat ax well, whether they ‘xe astonauts,jouralists, assasing such as Jack Ruby, o phi lanthopist-entepreneus such a Bob Geldof of Live Ai 5. Media events fiberat leader toa mare or diferent than they cthersze might. Live Broadcasting untes he hands ofthe principals. Capitalizing on theie chaima, thy fel fee to ‘make lager gestures than usual. Reagan fl fie to change his "toric about the Soviet adveray after the Geneva summit John Paul It ignored safeguards and cautions while on stage, ‘Sadat and Begin exceeded what thei advisors and political par ties might otherwite have permited them: the congresmen of the Watergate hearings abandoned partisanship and assumed statesman snes. The confeel of charisma may lead the political actor to the experience af anew sll, ain a proces of Effect on Joumalists and Broadcasting Organizations |, Media events redefine the rule of journaliom. Journalists become priets, as we have shown, and fill members ofthe Reviewine MEDIA Events 15 ning fe pie eae et So arc ir eee wi Sreeetslinsaetein eas sab ymelisiena rege ace wae ay Wt Seeman sora pas ae Soe re eee ee Tetbacat cea ae a thle, bent a ih tat nd tei a oct te Sina ee tated eae ie ear ret vr Soho Sinise oe Ma mia her iegocte Kraehe Fossa teanen tl eet or salt asa tfoeck When hte iene neato enti nics none Te patna toe tal song eich fea Seti chines Sodas ease ‘teat se ere Large ec ae et St eine Ses eatsReviewine MEDIA Events 4 the mit ofthe principals remind us ofthe effort and sacrifice nv by the networks a prtiipants i, and patons of, the ‘sored “+ Media events provide mada orgonizations with an oppor- tunity to tet new formats and to embark on techrical exper- mentation. Media events alo provide a showeate for broad- casters to display the talents oftheir journalists and produces, thus inviting advertiser and viewers to support their regular pro= grams when normaley resumes. Indeed, medi events ply a ‘important role in the spread ofthe electonic media. The fst ceremonial tansmision of any magnitude took place fom the Basin Olympic Games of 1936, and we know the roe payed by the coronation of Queen Elizabeth I in the grand opening cof television inthe 1950s afer the war. The Olympics gave 8 big path to the introduction of television inthe Thind Wer, Altogetier, th dilfasion of television in particule countries is intimately asocited with major political events and interna tional sports. 5. For media ognizatons, the challenge ofthe vent reat ‘ater the often forgotenenthusiam ofthe beginnings of tele sion. Mobilising for the coverage of a historic event, media ‘organizations undergo the born-agin experience that Alben (1983) calls stata nescond. For ol-tines the event provides ew "honeymoon," senie of challenge, excitement, and rk, ‘They repeatedly invoke the lex *miracle™ to describe thie accomplishment. For newcomers used tan already institution alized television, the event provides a demanding ite de pessage and a taste ofthe old das when TV was al live. Even within lengeestablshed broadasting ongsizations, unusual coopera tion among the units is equited, staining the ability to deploy petsonne, equipment, advice, encouragement; and practical recipes ona very lage scale. Such events also require pooling and other forms of cooperation among normally competing net Reviewine Meoia Events 195 wots, Restated isthe sense af profesional achievement in the Service ofthe national or interatonsl community” Effects on Viewers 1, Madia events interupt the rhythm and focus of peoples lies, The momentous oceasion commands atintion to the cxclusion of all-che. The interuption is defined not just as “time out” but as “sacred tine” 2 The ive broadcast transforms the ordinary ales of viewer, caurng them to assume the roles proposed bythe erpt ofthe eremony, Even if the sti turned on intaly by escapss or tnteainment teckers, media evens invite more ative partici pation. They cal for mourners, pilgins, philanthropists, and the lke, Viewers thetey join principals and journalists in being “contracted” bythe serpt ofthe event. Some terminally il eos ple manage to postpone thir death for the'sake of a media tent ar ift were a celebration ofa mote personal kind (Phillis, 1983) Ina stunning reveal ofthe nation of "social death,” they feed on clletive lif her role keeps them alive 5. Media events give new ttf the living room. By declat- ing an event sored, and appointing the television seta its ‘medium, the homely sting takes on # new luster. Television is revved asthe family focus, commanding tention and interest and bringing farily members and fends together agai, “4 Such festive viewing leds to that allemative model of social life in which the usual down-to-earth, “indcaive” pproach to social elit giver way toa “subjunctive” and uto- plan openness to alteratine poubiies, In the cognitive dona, the interuption of social time cll fra fame aware- net, ateflexve evaluation of what serious and what is ot. ‘Or doesit give access toa higher reali? The public may reject the events claims by eventually ignoring it, or by amosingReviewing Meots Events 196 themselves a its pretentious expente. Yet its intemuptiveness may crete & heightened atention to the situation i interapt, exposing the norms of daily ie as superficial, abitary, of unfounded. Audiences are aware ofthe constructed character of he even, but the contruction may ceveal that hee own eality ‘sala relative, «constriction in tow ight 5. The event nate an upeurge of ellow feeling, an epidemic of cormmnitas. Family Gee and friendships are reactivated People telephone and visit eachother to comment onthe event; they make plans to view together. As in religious celbrations (or quase-cligious celebrations such at Thanksgiving), pies are ouganized, reuniting families, fiends, and neighbors. The event serves a pretext for putting an end to longstanding tivalies and feuds. Often, and despite the usual presence of Crowds on test ofthe even, there isa decreage in criminally CGastomary forms of entertainment are neglected or shunned. 6, Ths, the event connects center and periphery, not ony through the expeence of communitas, but through direct om ‘manion with cental symbols nd valves, through the asump- tion of ritual eoes ina ceremony conducted by establishment leaders, and though the presence af small groups of nown and valued others Linked by networks of long seaching ani, the ‘mass audiences of television events patialy overcome thet di persion and stomization 7. Media events offer moments of ‘mechanical solidarity” A comiaqence ofthe new model of public ceremony is thatthe ‘whole of population i allowed—and expected —to ated. As ‘opposed to many tribal ceremonies, ot royal pogeses, oF ¥en tothe reatvly recent example of Lincoln’ funeral in ineteenth-centry America the event can neither be declared of limits to any willing participants nor made-up of diferent Psentations to diferent segments ofthe public* The event Reviewine Meoia Events 197 offer, and afirms, shared membenhip in national or inter. ‘national communi. "The ceremonial of medi events embraces ene societies, and sometimes the globe Al those within rach of television Set ae sialtaneousy and equally exposed and they share the Snowledge that everbody else is too. Technology her allows the spit of communitas to overcome the divisions inherent in “organic elder.” Durkhemians would agre thatthe one i prerequisite tothe other 8. Media events hove the power fo redefine the boundarin of Locieten, They can determine with which eters we will share ‘an experience. One of the suongest eects of media evens is immanent to their performance: i consists in the mapping of new constituencies (by linking the TV networks of Ireland Egypt for Sadat vist, for example) ov in the eeactvating of ‘obsolete constituencies (as when the broadest of the royal wed ding momentarily revived the Bitch Empire, just asthe Popes televised vst revived dreams ofa European Poland. Indeed, the social formations integrated by media evens ofen are their own creations, Such ceremonies are fragments ofthe cil tlgian of polities that may exist ony forthe duaton ofthe broadcast ‘More than retrospective celebrations ofthe symbols that are con tel to the identity of an extant society, some events ate bets the advent of rome ft society? '9, The sucess of an event ia cathartic experience for viewer ‘Medi events respond t needs that are fll bythe viewers" conscioumess of the sheer sive of the audience and by the oceanic” feeling of being immesed init. These needs are also fale by the ceremonial peogesion af scenario which aes viewers trough the many steps that lead fom a criss, tual or slveacled, to proposed solution—oras Lévi-Strauss would put it the “aesthetic resolution” of myth, Ducumented by a whaleRewewine Meoia Events 195 ary of sides, the cathartic efctivenet of Job Kennedys faneral owed much to its symbolism, staging, and timing. The faneral was able to provide an aesthetic sense of completion, feng ¢ response to many dae of taro. 10. The attudes engendered in secondary audiences reach beyond the cognitive, sometimes triggering syrpathtic interest inthe ways in which other people rejoice, mou, play. or pay. The empathic experience which media events engender—shring “anaher nations inner eng, 35 nthe Kenedy funeral or the royal weding—may be counted strong eects. Until now, only ect personal contac of the sort that characterizes wat, colo als, and ours induced this kind of intimacy ‘Outside Effects on Institutions To ases the impact of the gens, we ak how the punctuation of ou lives bya regular st of momentous ceremonies, broad- cast ive and in teal time, might fet not the immediate con teat in which cach event takes place but societal insittions more generally. For example, it is sid of the novel that it ‘changed the composition ofthe reading publi, created. new forms of book distebution, portrayed a certain picture of the social classes, gave voice to suppressed mation, and contibe ted to the emergence of individvalism and the liberation of women. This is different, of course, fiom saying that Hasiet Beecher Stowe’ novel wat contbuting cause ofthe Civil War and the libeation of black slaves inthe Amentcan South. Both of theae are ouside ellots—one generic, the other specif ‘We shall proceed telegraphic, as before, to outline a vai- ty officcs ofthe medi-events gene as documented in exer ‘pats ofthis book. Widening the spectrum, ve examine generic 25 well as specific efets on public opinion and on the insite tional realms of polite, diplomacy, fal, leisure, eligin, Reviewine Meoin Events, 19 clletve memory. We conclude at our own doortep, 2010 speak, with a consideration of how the genre has afected the ssthtics of public ceremonies Effects on Pubic Opinion 1. Inthe ey of public opinion, media events confer status om the institutions with which they dal. Thus spt and athletes ae reinforced by the Olympie Cares the royal wedding gave a new luster to monarchy; the Watergate hearing gave new Pro- Inence tthe legiaive branch of government. NASA and the svocates of technologial innovations were strengthened bythe succes af the Apollo pragra an severely weakened by te lve coverage ofthe Challenger accident." Functioning san oficial “ealing card,” the event led to reconsidered attitudes, The Apollo moon landings were accepted by world opinion as renewed prof of American technological peo 2. Melia evens fcus publi opinion and activate debate on 2 given sue or set of ives, although not al sides benef from equal attention. Media evens seck to enroll support but they alo atact opposition. Their agenda-setting power acts hike 2 magnet, gihering protests and demonstaions. The attention lavished on them makes therm ideal targets fr terrorist 3. Thus, madia events may act public opinion by encour- aging oF inhibiting the expresion of reference, value, oF bli. On the one hand, media events tend to inhibit manies tation perceived as haste tothe values conveyed bythe event. ‘Typically, potential disentereareotaczed. Sometimes, how ver, an event may also unwind the “ial of silence,” feng the expresion of previously unpopular atitudes on given tues, ‘The papal vst to Latin America, for example stimulated 2 Arr of proclamations by theologian of Hbeation 44 Media evens may ulin attitude change of major mag-Reviewinc MEDIA Events 20 nitude, a8 evidenced in Sadat veveral of the Isaei appeal of Egypt warlike intentions. Less dematic but no les pervasive waste influence of the Watergate hearings on American opin- ion toward Richa Nixon, ‘The impact was such that legitc mized the ute of adil procedure aginst recently eles president and made impeachment conceivable 5 Certain events ertallize latent tends in public opinion, _iving ce to formerly inarticulate ordomant proposal. Th, ‘Sadats vt Jerusalem reactivated a longslenced sei with for peaceful integration in the Middle East and almost sue ceeded in achieving it; John Paul Is tip to Poland reamed the cently of a Catholicism which had been speaking in whispers Simla, the faneral of Enrico Beringer confirmed the depiee of recognition and widespread legitimacy alxined by the Talian Communist party within the national consensus, while the Watergate hearings revealed a convergence between tadical movements on the one hand andthe silent msionty on the other. Mia events thus legitimize groups whose goal are aligned with the occasion, even though in the cae of "teansor tative” events these groups may previously have been litle own ot heard, 6, Besides coalescing subteranean trends and allowing the ‘emergence of latent consensus, media events may soetines serve as catalyats to unexpected socal movements. Something Tike this took place in Easter Europe, when television con- firmed the legitimacy of opposition in. Ceechealovakia and Romania. And it took place in the family reunion event in South Korea: starting at brosdcat commemoration ofthe war between the Koreas, the event was apd taken over by its aud ence, who reseriped it into a huge campaign aived at reuniting famulies whose members had been dipered by the war. "Through 2 spontaneous collective agreement, the commemo- ration of wounds was ened into healing ital. Reviewing Meoia Events 201 7. Melia events afect the international image of the society in which they take place, Suc evens increasingly eck an iter- ‘atonal audience, and are designed to be seen beyond the ‘atonal boundaries aswell. For a given society, an event ofthis ‘ype isa “cultural performance,” in Milton Singers sense, of ing the opportunity ofa solemn “preentaton of sell to oer sorictics Major media evens thus picture socetit a those ‘moments when their actual practice and explicit ideals eoin- ie, fects on Poltical Institutions 1, Maia event sailize citizens tothe political structure of saciaty, Olympic Games, Miss America contest, politcal con ‘entons, andthe urban marathon races sy something about the structure ofthe societies that engendered ther, no les than Memorial Day in Yankee City displayed the town's clas and fratenal composition, the reviewing tnd in Moscow on May Day diplayed the hierarchy of Soviet power, and the pli dis plays the boroughs of medieval Siena. AS “eultural perfor rmances” these happenings may symbolically emit social ele ments that stand outside the consensus, as Lukes (1975) has noted, But they ae nonetheless instructive ofthe order of soe ‘ty—including omisiony—and sometimes they give genuine insight into the workings of the stem, as did the Watergate hearings, the Tran-conta hearings, election night igs, or the Indira Gandhi funeral.” The live broadcasts of political debate in Pago, in the very inde of revolution, foretold the change that was infact already in progres. 2. Media events reinforce the stat of leaders. Presidents and prime minisers are tobe seen and heaed not nly in politcal onventions or summit meetings, but a Olympic Games, dur- ing moon landings, and soon. ‘Te result, onthe whole, is toRewewunc Meots Events 202 ‘enhance the personalization of pelts and to asclate leader ‘hip with consensual causes." Sometimes, a jn 1989 Ceecho- slovakia and Romania, new leaders are put on display. 3. Media events diplace intemediarie. ” The cumulative ct of sch event isto downplay the roles of intermediaries and subordinate-—even those instrumental in organizing the frent—but especialy to weaken paiiamens, Charles de Gaulle, with ie fae for events and hie fondness fr reerene dure consultations, often stretched French democracy into 2 dialogue between himself and a public whom he addesed directly, and fom whom he expected equally unmediated response. Inatittionalied cepreentaton is short-circuited thereby, leading to a potentially dangerous concentation of power and to an inflated image of unanimous fllowership, Indeed, the dangers ofthe “imperial presidency" ae what the ‘Watergate eatngs were about. In tht cate a lest, Congress sed the gene ie to stage its own event in reasetion ofits mediating ole 4, Dirt access to top leaders tnds to reduce the operation of selectivity in exposure to political communications. Belore the cof lve political broncating, citizens exposed themicles ‘much more selectively to their “owa” side. We have sid that ‘media events promote consensual polities, but when the event is contessuch as presidental debate ora politcal party convention—the citizen i ikely to give equal attention to both ‘eontestanis, a an ideal democratic polity would hope. Some Scholars believe, however, that such balanced preseiation— indeed, the politcal balance of television news altogether — vod to tun citizens into apolitieal spectators." 5. The organizational farms of pois av affcted by media vents, Poitial earpaignin, of course, has moved into the television studio bt litle oft tates the frm of live event withthe major exception of presidential debates and political Reviewinie Meors Evens 203 ‘conventions. The live reporting of apolitical convention abal= ies the architecture of the convention hal it pves atleast as rmvch attention, perhape mot, to what is happening in the wings and onthe floor a fo what is happening on the strum. ‘Television journalists also anticipate draematic disclosures and set a provocsteurs. The highlight of the Republican conven- tion of 1950 war a ive barpaining sesion between candidate Ronald Reagan and former president Gerald Ford, who was sven the opprtunty of publicly delterating—before the tele- tislon audience, not the plenum ofthe convention—the con Uitions under which he would agree to accept a coprsidency arrangement. The 1988 campaign featured @ spontaneous debate between newacarter Dan Rather and the Republican ean- date forthe vice presidency. Similar bargaining sometimes ‘hacactrize the live broadcats of election turns. Responding to televised projections ofthe vet long before they ate officially valkated, party tepesentatives in Ine, for example, have ometimes entered into “asi” coalitions before the mast eee tion-night audience (Levin, 1982)” (6 Same media events lead dirmctly to social and political change. Ultiately, one can edt the Camp David peace tls (although they almost filed) and the weivigoration of the peace ‘movement tthe impact of Sadat visit to Jerusalem; one can trace the rise of the Polish workers movement Solidarity tothe Popet vt The demand forthe liberalization of Kore, and for progress toad its reunification, may be connected to the fam- iy reanion marathon." Televison contbuted to the velvet zation of the Grech revolution, 7, Media events Breed the expectation of openness in politics and diplomacy. Even if their continuation was delayed for sia teen year, the fist television debates which opposed Kennedy to Nivon in 1960 put steady pressure onthe political sytem to ange for similar confrontations between the major candReviewing Meoia Events 2 date. Moreover, the institution of five televised debates has been exported to other counticeeven reluctantly democratic ‘ones if the confrontation between candidates in an election ‘campaign were an intrinsic part ofthe television itl. The most “open events im our corps are the live broadasts fim the Eastem European revolutions of 1969 8. The live broadcasting of media events con integrate nations. As media entertainment become: erecsngly 66 mented ~as cable, satellite, and computer technologies mult ply the numberof channels and diversify choice—the integra tive role ofthe electronic medi wll tend to wane, The desire to give expression to national belongingnet, howevcr, and desi for seme shared experince of he “centr” wil be fl 3t ‘vatous levels of the polity. Radi played this role unt it was supenedal by television. As television goer the way of rao, ‘media evens wil om time to ime, sound a call for undivided attention, Effects on Diplomacy |. Media events abet summitry and lke national and local polities, diplomacy b thereby infected by the peronaliation Of power, Medin eventr—as Abba Eban sys—short-cicait existing diplomatic channels. Ambassadors are made redun- dant, their oe trivialized. Nowadays they may often be reuced {to warming vsing statesmen against breaches of local etiquette and cultural faux ps 2. The pressure of media events on diplomacy ito go publi However public, the miepplied“patamentarianian” of inter national assemblies prevents the exercise of diplomacy by replacing dialogue or negation with harangues aimed a con- sents back home and sured majorities. Bat what takes place ‘in media events seems afar ey fom international execies in Reviewing MEDIA Events 205 name-calling, Public exhortations presure negotiators into not slamming doors. Losing face consists in failing to emerge with ‘postive statement. The dma of diplomatic media evens i tone of overcoming diferences. When all else has failed, media ‘iene may succeed in breaking diplomatie deadlocks or in sur- ‘mounting stalemates by creating 3 climate conducive to nego- tation, one in which the pubic signal its anticipation of ree onciation 5. Media events erate @ new resource for diplomacy. The diplomacy of gesture may have the power to create a favorable timate fora contactor to seal 2 bargain. Gestures cannot replace negotiation; indeed, they themselves are often the result af arduous negotiation. An “open” negotiator is contronted with the impossible tsk of addressing his own condtuency tock home, his partners constituency, and, lst but nat least, wold public opinion-—all at the same time. And yet it can be done; the fact that media events manage to deliver diferent messages simultaneously. Their power in dificlt of blocked situations

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